Chris Skinner's Countryside Podcasts

High Ash Farm
  • 5.0 (7)
  • NATURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

  Nature, Wildlife and Countryside Living with Chris Skinner from High Ash Farm Chris Skinner, a Norfolk farmer, takes a unique approach to farming, prioritizing biodiversity and wildlife conservation in every practice. Tune in every Sunday morning as Chris, alongside broadcaster Matthew Gudgin, explores topics on nature, wildlife, and rural life. Join them for strolls through High Ash Farm and beyond, spotting wildlife and addressing your queries about the natural world. Email questions for Chris to answer to Chris@highashfarm.com

  1. 6D AGO

    Episode 2.65 - Owl Odyssey and Second Chances

    Send us Fan Mail Fresh from a successful quadruple bypass at Papworth Hospital, Chris Skinner returns to High Ash Farm after nine days away, still bruised from head to foot but glowing with renewed purpose. In the living room he shares extraordinary stories of the operating theatre where three members of the surgical team recognised him from the podcast and asked (unsuccessfully) to play it during the nine-and-a-half-hour procedure, and of the young farmers from the Philippines and South Sudan working in the UK to buy tractors and sunflower seed for their families back home. A gentle drive across the farm reveals hares hunkered in the overwinter seed mix, roe deer, and a young Chinese water deer, while a visit to the barn owl box — an old dog kennel Chris installed in a tree twenty years ago — shows it occupied for the fifth time, the female likely already incubating. Rat the terrier sits proudly on the day’s emails as a living paperweight, and listener warmth pours in: support for Rat’s antics, toad-spawn ribbons in Kent, bumblebees diving into daffodils, a returning rookery in a spinney, and a clever robin learning to steal from tit feeders. This reflective episode marks a new chapter for Chris and the farm, full of gratitude, second chances and the quiet return of spring’s familiar rhythms, ideal for cherishing the living heritage that surrounds us. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18921358-episode-2-65-owl-odyssey-and-second-chances.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This 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-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

    49 min

  2. MAR 22

    Episode 2.64 - Spawn Surge and Mad March Hares

    Send us Fan Mail Just days before his successful triple bypass surgery at Papworth Hospital, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin stand at the overflowing lake at High Ash Farm, where a sodden winter has triggered one of nature’s most spectacular annual events. Hundreds of frogs and toads have emerged from hibernation in a single night, laying millions of eggs: the frogs producing huge glistening rafts of “tapioca pudding” spawn, while the common toads create long, double-rowed ribbons resembling delicate strings of pearls stretching metres across the water. Chris explains the frantic amplexus mating ritual, how the spawn sinks then floats, the tadpole lifecycle, and the low survival odds against herons, otters and dragonfly larvae. A gentle ramble reveals a young roe buck close by and, in the overwinter wild bird seed mix field, “Mad March hares” hunkered in their forms before lolloping away, accompanied by rising skylarks, flocks of linnets, corn buntings and a hovering kestrel. Listener warmth flows in: toad rescues in Kent, bumblebees diving into daffodils, clever robins learning from tit feeders, and messages of support during Chris’s recovery. This episode captures spring’s dramatic, slippery rebirth in all its watery glory, ideal for celebrating nature’s determined renewal after winter’s long wait. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18880984-episode-2-64-spawn-surge-and-mad-march-hares.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This 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-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

    40 min

  3. MAR 15

    Episode 2.63 - Cricket Bat Canopies and Tally Tales

    Send a text In the soft pre-dawn light of mid-March at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner sits patiently in the Fox's Grove hide hoping for a glimpse of the elusive willow tit, one of the farm's dwindling specialities, while blue t**s, coal t**s and long-tailed t**s swarm the feeders. Later, joined by Matthew Gudgin in a newly planted extension of Woodcock Wood, they celebrate the willow – all five British species thrive here, from towering white and crack willows to the three sallow species. Chris cuts a whip of goat willow, its yellow catkins (known locally as goslings) providing vital early pollen for emerging bumblebees. The trees' rich history unfolds: their flexible wood once used for coracles, baskets and cricket bats (with a family link to the famous Watts bat makers), and the dramatic tale of how pollarded willow tally sticks accidentally burned down the Houses of Parliament exactly 200 years ago in 1826. A thrilling red kite spirals and stoops dramatically overhead, while purple emperors are known to lay eggs on the willow canopy. Listener letters spark lively discussion: debate over wild brown trout fishing, complaints about Rat the terrier's barking, clever robins stealing from tit feeders, and striking photos of elm bark beetle galleries. This episode honours one of Britain's most versatile and historically significant trees, ideal for marvelling at nature's quiet ingenuity as spring awakens. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18842511-episode-2-63-cricket-bat-canopies-and-tally-tales.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This 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-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

    45 min

  4. MAR 8

    Episode 2.62 - City Coos and Collared Comebacks

    Send us Fan Mail In the bustling heart of Norwich city centre beneath the clock tower of City Hall and the ledges of St Peter Mancroft, Chris Skinner answers listener Jocelyn Baxter’s question about five different-coloured pigeons in her garden. Surrounded by swirling flocks of up to 500 feral pigeons (the domesticated descendants of the wild rock dove), he traces their extraordinary journey from remote Scottish cliffs and Welsh caves to urban rooftops, including their role as ancient Egyptian messengers under Rameses III and heroic WWII carrier pigeons. Back at High Ash Farm the story unfolds across all five British species: the abundant wood pigeon — agricultural pest number one with its soporific five-note call, white wing crescents, flimsy stick nests and protein-rich “pigeon milk” for squabs; the collared dove, once Britain’s rarest bird and now one of its fastest-spreading success stories since the 1950s; the rapidly declining turtle dove with its gentle purring song and iconic summer sound; and the often-overlooked stock dove, a hole-nester in tree trunks and specially made boxes. Listener gems add extra delight: Phil Getty’s photo of house sparrows outwitting bird spikes under a louvred sunshade in America, Kerry’s striking elm bark beetle patterns (the tiny architects behind Dutch elm disease that changed the Norfolk landscape forever), and Chris from Masham’s trail-cam footage of hedgehogs still active in winter thanks to garden feeding. This episode celebrates one of our most familiar yet frequently misunderstood bird families, perfect for appreciating the remarkable adaptability and hidden histories all around us. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18802012-episode-2-62-city-coos-and-collared-comebacks.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This 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-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

    49 min

  5. MAR 1

    Episode 2.61 - Brimstone Breakthrough and Violet Ventures

    Send us Fan Mail On a gloriously mild first day of March at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin are stopped in their tracks before they even leave the yard by the season’s first brimstone butterfly — a dazzling male sulphur-yellow vision emerging from dense ivy on the stable wall, its ivy-shaped wings proving once again why this hero plant is the ultimate winter refuge. Just yards away, the 42 sparrow nest boxes are a riot of chatter and activity, every one occupied in a heart-warming reversal of the old “Sparrow Clubs” that once tried to eradicate them. In the south-facing edge of Cantley Hill Plantation, sweet violets have already been blooming for weeks, while the common dog violet carpets the bank in pale purple drifts, its delicate spurred flowers and honey guides a masterclass in miniature beauty. Crossing into the southern fields of Stoke Holy Cross, they find field pansies (Viola arvensis) and their close cousin the wild heartsease glowing among the overwinter seed mix, alongside groundsel’s tiny yellow stars (the “old man’s head” of folklore) and shepherd’s purse with its triangular seed pods. High above, buzzards spiral and stoop in early courtship displays against the blue sky, while skylarks pour out song and Rat the terrier digs frantically for whatever scent has caught his nose. Listener warmth arrives from North Carolina with photos of the famous white squirrels of Brevard and from a local angler thrilled by underwater footage of a River Tas brown trout. This episode captures the very first tender stirrings of spring — butterflies, violets, pansies and hopeful nesting — ideal for celebrating nature’s quiet, colourful return after winter’s long wait. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18761657-episode-2-61-brimstone-breakthrough-and-violet-ventures.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This 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-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

    39 min

  6. FEB 22

    Episode 2.60 - Pine Pillars and Peacock Pauses

    Send us Fan Mail In the crisp northerly chill of late February at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin explore the historic carriage store turned log haven, where a meticulously stacked pile shelters hibernating peacock butterflies—jet-black camouflaged wings mimicking shrivelled leaves, their glycerol-laced blood warding off frost amid tales of metamorphosis from egg to voracious nettle-feeding caterpillars, red pupae, and nine-month lifespans, alongside brimstone and small tortoiseshell kin snug in ivy nooks for six dormant months. A serendipitous skyward spectacle unfolds: three buzzards in courtship spirals, their four-foot wings tilting in thermal-less winds, stooping and stacking in a turret display over Cantley Hill Plantation, heralding early nesting in mature conifers. Amidst Barn Wood's narrow 400-meter belt—planted for timber and shooting with towering 150-year-old Scots pines scarred by lightning—they unravel Britain's biodiversity tapestry: from oceanic influences moderating our island climate to coastal marshes, upland ptarmigan haunts, wetland egrets, grassland skylarks, and arable hedgerows, emphasizing habitat diversity's role in fostering specialists like mountain hares, noctule bats in trunk scars, long-tailed t**s roosting in communal huddles down woodpecker holes, and wrens probing ivy for prey. Farm vignettes add charm: geese laying chilled eggs in shaded nooks to delay incubation, fallen sycamores hosting rot and invertebrates, and rabbits burrowing in sandy gravel. Listener insights illuminate: global well-wishes from Ohio to Wicklow, debates on climate change's extremes amid Norfolk's floods, swift migrations evading Congo competition for UK's insect bounty and nesting sites, and etymological nods to "bald as a badger" from piebald black-and-white markings. This episode weaves winter's resilient refuges with spring's stirring skies, ideal for cherishing nature's intricate habitats and seasonal rhythms. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18718266-episode-2-60-pine-pillars-and-peacock-pauses.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This 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-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

    51 min

  7. FEB 15

    Episode 2.59 - Redwing Rallies and Snipe Searches

    Send us Fan Mail In the drizzly gloom of mid-February at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin marvel at a restless flock of 200 redwings—migratory thrushes with speckled breasts and rusty flanks—congregating en masse on close-grazed pastures, their seep calls and defensive flights a prelude to their North Sea crossing back to Scandinavian breeding grounds, amid tales of nocturnal migrations, tundra nests, and communal roosts, while watchful goshawks and buzzards lurk nearby. A zigzag quest across overwinter wild bird seed mixes yields elusive common snipe—amber-listed wetland waders with probing bills and jinxing flights—displaced by flooded river valleys, alongside diminutive jack snipe and insights into their mechanical "drumming" displays from vibrating tail feathers, proven by 19th-century cork experiments. Serendipitous sightings abound: bounding hares, a rare grey partridge (England's native red-listed heart-marked gem) evoking coveys and courtship chases, skylarks trilling aloft, pheasants flushing at close quarters, and pregnant Chinese water deer lolloping uphill. Amidst emerging daffodils and sweet violets, they spotlight diminutive wildflowers: star-like chickweed buds feeding finches and buntings, and orchid-esque red dead nettle with hooded pink blooms and honey guides, a harmless mint-family mimic thriving on disturbed soils. Listener echoes enrich the ramble: urban moorhens in London gardens, sparrowhawk pursuits through hedges, badger etymology linking "bald" to white stripes or shaved pelts, starling serenades, and debates on thrush family classifications. This episode celebrates late winter's fleeting visitors and resilient blooms, ideal for embracing the subtle stirrings of spring's approach. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18674464-episode-2-59-redwing-rallies-and-snipe-searches.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This 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-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

    43 min

  8. FEB 8

    Episode 2.58 - Goshawk Glimpses and Woodcock Waves

    Send us Fan Mail In the cruel grip of February's easterly winds at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin brave the chill to explore an eruption of woodcocks fleeing frozen Europe, their numbers swelling amid redwings, fieldfares, and nomadic lapwings, while frost-lift threatens crops and prompts calls for protecting red-listed species like the beleaguered grey partridge. A thrilling discovery unfolds: a new badger set, the farm's third, teeming with four displaced newcomers—including a pregnant sow gathering bedding for imminent cubs—amid sandy excavations on a west-facing slope, their nocturnal labyrinths a testament to delayed implantation, worm-rich diets, and territorial scent-marking, all captured on trail cams in a habitat ripe for mustelid marvels. Nearby, a roadside vigil reveals plump young buzzards and a rare goshawk perching in pine copses, drawn to hay-spilled seeds and small mammal feasts, showcasing raptors' adaptive hunts from aerial strikes to ground pursuits. At dawn, a robin sings "inwardly" through a closed beak in the frosty farmyard shrubbery, its muffled melody echoing Gilbert White's notes amid emerging lords-and-ladies and snorting horses. Listener warmth flows: global well-wishes for Chris's triple bypass, tales of enhanced nature appreciation from Snettisham to California, and queries on conservation reforms to safeguard biodiversity for generations. This episode blends winter's harsh arrivals with hopeful habitat triumphs, ideal for embracing nature's resilient rhythms in the face of seasonal strife. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18635838-episode-2-58-goshawk-glimpses-and-woodcock-waves.mp3?download=true Support the show Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to Chris@highashfarm.com This 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-12 or from the Podcast page here: Podcast | High Ash Farm

    45 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

  Nature, Wildlife and Countryside Living with Chris Skinner from High Ash Farm Chris Skinner, a Norfolk farmer, takes a unique approach to farming, prioritizing biodiversity and wildlife conservation in every practice. Tune in every Sunday morning as Chris, alongside broadcaster Matthew Gudgin, explores topics on nature, wildlife, and rural life. Join them for strolls through High Ash Farm and beyond, spotting wildlife and addressing your queries about the natural world. Email questions for Chris to answer to Chris@highashfarm.com

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