Chris Skinner's Countryside Podcasts

Join the hosts at High Ash Farm as they marvel at the stunning sulphur polypore fungus and bid farewell to swallows, celebrating over a hundred fledglings raised this season. Wander through fields of sunflowers and mints, discovering the hidden beauty of aromatic plants and wildlife's essential roles. Delve into the complex dynamics between butterflies and hornets, and ponder the impacts of hunting on ecosystems. This exploration of nature's wonders captures both the joy and challenges of countryside life.

Join the hosts as they wander through High Ash Farm, celebrating the arrival of autumn with the vibrant autumn hawkbit and the striking Viper's bugloss. Discover the mysteries behind partridge populations and the unusual noppergalls affecting local oak trees. Hear captivating listener tales of nature's oddities like robin’s pincushions and tardy tadpoles. The episode blends personal anecdotes with vibrant descriptions of the changing landscape, all while emphasizing the importance of community engagement and the joys of seasonal transformations.

Join the hosts as they revel in the beauty of a lakeside ecosystem, witnessing a young mute swan and vibrant wildlife like kingfishers and swallows. Delve into the alarming effects of lead poisoning and the importance of preserving natural habitats. The rejuvenation of an orchard brings a bountiful harvest of plums and apples, intertwined with tales of wildlife interactions. Reflect on the bittersweet transition from summer to autumn, complemented by a poignant poem that captures the essence of changing seasons.

Send us a textIn this breezy episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin confront August’s slate-grey skies at High Ash Farm, where autumn’s approach stirs poignant reflections. The grey partridge, a red-listed farmland icon, haunts Chris’s memories—once shot in coveys of 50, now vanishing due to habitat loss, early harvests, and predator control, despite biodiversity plans. Chris’s experiment with bird scarers mimics shooting’s toll, revealing an 80% drop in bird numbers on disturbed fields, a call to halt the hunt. Swallows cluster on wires, juveniles dreaming of South Africa, their parents teaching the final flights. Listener queries on box moth woes, chaffinch displays, and dry ponds enrich this lament, as peregrines prowl and the farm’s live show looms on October 19th at Norwich’s Maddermarket Theatre under scudding clouds.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17722572-episode-2-34-grey-ghosts-and-autumn-winds.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast toChris@highashfarm.comThis podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us a textIn this breezy episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin witness High Ash Farm’s summer crescendo, where flocks take flight. Mixed groups of goldfinches and linnets—up to 250 strong—swarm over chicory fields, their silvery undersides gleaming as they devour seeds, evading kestrels and peregrines in a dazzling display of survival. Clouded yellow butterflies, migrants from southern Europe, flutter over lucerne, their orange wings a rare treat in this drought year. A hollow oak harbours a hornet hive, its paper artistry humming with queens and workers, a marvel of nature’s engineering. Listener tales of hares, little owls, and swallows enrich this journey, as swallows skim low and the hay mower carves paths under a scudding sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17679645-episode-2-33-finch-flocks-and-clouded-wings.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast toChris@highashfarm.comThis podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

In a gusty exploration of nature, August reveals its charm at High Ash Farm. Discover the vibrant beauty of rowan trees and the bounty of sloes, perfect for a cherished family gin recipe. Fascinating tales unfold about wasps as vital pollinators and predators, intertwining humor with ecological insights. Listener stories paint a vivid picture of wildflowers struggling under drought conditions, all while preparing for an exciting live show in a clearing blue sky. Embrace the beauty and stories of countryside life!

Send us a textIn this tender episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin greet August’s first whispers at High Ash Farm, where summer fades into autumn’s embrace. Migratory swallows—juveniles from the north—sweep overhead in chattering flocks, while Barnfield’s wild bird seed mix bursts with flax, its Wedgwood-blue blooms echoing 1950s harvests, alongside thistles, mustard, and sunflowers yielding oil-rich seeds for winter’s hungry gap. A rare meadow clary, its deep purple spikes rising from chalky soil, surprises on a south-facing slope, its seeds once a remedy for clear eyes. New barn owl nesting boxes promise hope, as gatekeeper butterflies pirouette and listener tales of teasels and poppies enrich this dance of nature’s farewell under a low, golden sun.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17593715-episode-2-31-swallow-flights-and-flaxen-fields.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast toChris@highashfarm.comThis podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us a textIn this vibrant episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin revel in a glorious late July morning at High Ash Farm, where nature dons its finest. Over a purple knapweed sea—its hard heads buzzing with bees—six-spot burnet moths dazzle with jet-black wings and crimson spots, emerging from reflective cocoons after a cyanide-rich diet of birdsfoot trefoil. Parasitic wonders like yellow rattle and lesser broomrape thrive, their seeds hinting at future life, while the regal wildflower field bursts with poppies, yarrow, and cornflower blue, a Van Gogh palette revived from set-aside days. Listener tales of window-struck warblers, brown tail moths, and swift absences weave into this tapestry, as swallows feast under a cotton-wool sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17556276-episode-2-30-burnet-wings-and-knapweed-crowns.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast toChris@highashfarm.comThis podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us a textIn this captivating episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin explore High Ash Farm amid its third heatwave, where nature’s cycle thrives. In Fox’s Grove, bluebell stalks release shiny black seeds, their retractile roots pulling bulbs deeper into gravelly soil, a silent promise for 2026’s bloom. Along the hedgerows, large bindweed’s bell-shaped flowers—white with pink stripes—curl anticlockwise in a thigmotropic dance, feeding moths, while hogweed’s umbrella heads grace the chalk pit field, their seeds poised for wind’s dispersal. Chris pans for gold in a digger bucket, harvesting yellow rattle seeds worth £200 per kilo, a testament to the farm’s diversification from past cereal days. Listener tales of wood pigeon brawls, kingfisher feats, and swallowtail sightings weave into this tale, as nature’s resilience shines under a sun-scorched sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17515208-episode-2-29-bluebell-seeds-and-bindweed-bells.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast toChris@highashfarm.comThis podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us a textIn this enchanting episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin embrace a damp July morning at High Ash Farm, where a farm miracle unfolds. By the lake, tens of thousands of froglets and toadlets leap from their tadpole origins, abandoning the water in a breathtaking exodus, their tiny forms navigating metre-high grass to escape herons and owls. Half a mile away, a kingfisher’s azure brilliance—cobalt wings and halcyon hues—dazzles from a crafted perch, its dives snaring young rudd and gudgeon, a fledged nest now a silent triumph. The teasel maze stretches across five acres, a pollinator haven humming with bees and red admirals, its clay-cracked paths whispering Saxon history. Listener tales of parasitic wasps and sand martin boxes weave into this journey, as nature’s miracle thrives under a softening sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17493040-episode-2-28-amphibians-to-azure-a-farm-miracle.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast toChris@highashfarm.comThis podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm