Country diary: The unlikely success of wildlife in lead country | Mark Cocker

Bonsall, Derbyshire: It was, in fact, the poison in the ground that prevented this patch from becoming cattle country - then nature took care of itselfIf you stand on Bonsall Moor facing north, you look across a highly unusual patch of the Peak District. It is, for example, totally unlike the encircling cattle country, most of which is a uniform monoculture of chemically inflated emerald.The fields here, by contrast, are tiny, irregularly contoured and across all, to the horizon, are thousands of mature hawthorns, some of them self-coppicing giants, and sprinkled with elders or gorse bushes, with a scattering of elm and ash. The land looks complex, of varied hue and wildlife-rich. It is great for flowers and insects, and any layperson could readily guess its attractions for birds. In this celebrated mast year, the hawthorns are weighed down with crimson and scarlet fruit, and you can almost hear now the winter thrushes that will descend to feast on its bounty. Continue reading...