Loading...

PODCAST

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts

Nature, Wildlife and Countryside Living with Chris Skinner from High Ash FarmChris 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

science nature

All Episodes

44:20

Episode 2.73 - Holly Blue Heaven and Fox Cub Frolics

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/05/23

Send us Fan Mail On a bright late-May morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner is thrilled by the appearance of a stunning male holly blue butterfly basking in one of the wildflower meadows. He explains its remarkable two-brood life cycle — using holly in spring and ivy later in the year — and the joy of seeing these tiny blue gems after a cold spell. The pair then head to Cantley Hill Plantation, where a family of young fox cubs has taken over an old badger sett. Chris shares trail-came...

en-gb

48:33

Episode 2.72 - Stoat Kittens and Soaking Rain

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/05/16

Send us Fan Mail On a welcome rainy mid-May morning at High Ash Farm, after weeks of drought, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin celebrate 10mm of soaking rain on the overwinter wild bird seed mix. They reflect on past hedge removal and changing farming practices while exploring an old clay quarry where solitary bees nest in ancient clay-block walls. The highlight is a remarkable stoat family: Chris shares stunning trail-camera footage of a female stoat (Mustela erminea) repeatedly return...

en-gb

41:56

Episode 2.71 - Aphid Aerial Plankton and Blossoming...

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/05/10

Send us Fan Mail On a chilly, grey early-May morning with a brisk northerly wind and five weeks of drought at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin explore the effects of the dry spell. Skylarks hover and sing over parched grass fields, while swallows sweep low hunting for insects. In Fox’s Grove, they examine sycamore leaves glistening with honeydew from vast colonies of green aphids — prolific breeders that provide vital “aerial plankton” for summer migrants. Chris then admi...

en-gb

39:30

Episode 2.70 - Sand Martin Spectacle and Earsham...

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/05/02

Send us Fan Mail On a breezy early-May morning, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin visit Earsham Gravel Quarry on the northern edge of High Ash Farm to witness a wonderful spectacle. Hundreds of sand martins swirl around the towering sand cliffs, pouring in and out of nest holes like a living Swiss cheese. Chris explains their colonial lifestyle, playful feather-chasing games, tiny size, brown collar, and long journey from the Sahel, while noting their sharp national decline and dependence on n...

en-gb

45:13

Episode 2.69 - Bluebell Batteries and Badger Bedding

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/04/25

Send us Fan Mail On a bright but brisk late-April morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner welcomes Matthew Gudgin with a fresh sense of wonder after his recent heart surgery. Starting close to home, he shares honey with common ants in a plant pot and explains their vital place at the base of the food chain — fuelling the swarming “aerial plankton” that feeds swallows, starlings and green woodpeckers. Just yards from the back door, four well-grown robin chicks sit ready to fledge in a Vi...

en-gb

45:19

Episode 2.68 - Morning Melodies and Orange-Tip Eggs

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/04/18

Send us Fan Mail In the soft pre-dawn light of mid-April at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner steps outside at 4:45 am to capture the awakening countryside. A blackbird sings gloriously from a nearby tree, its rich, fluid notes carrying beautifully in the cool, still air, while wood pigeons coo and the first lesser black-backed gulls drift overhead. Chris explains why birds sing so early — advertising territory, the sound travelling farther in dense cold air, and the simple fact that it’s still to...

en-gb

41:14

Episode 2.67 - Spring Swallow Spectacle and Woodland...

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/04/11

Send us Fan Mail On a gloriously warm early-April morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin celebrate the long-awaited arrival of the swallows — fifteen adults sweeping in together in a single batch, already busily cleaning and repairing last year’s nests in the stables. Chris explains the ingenious double-roofing solution he installed to prevent the young from overheating in summer, and the epic 5,000-mile journey these tiny birds make each year from South Africa. A gentle w...

en-gb

47:24

Episode 2.66 - Firebug Frenzy and Min-Till Marvels

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/04/04

Send us Fan Mail A beautiful early-April morning at High Ash Farm and Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin are treated to classic “Mad March hares” — pairs and trios boxing and chasing across the overwinter seed mix, the females standing up on hind legs to fend off over-eager males. A short drive to the oat field reveals Neil’s min-till cultivator at work, its wide array of angled discs turning the soil with minimal disturbance while a swirling flock of rooks, jackdaws, carrion crows and gulls fe...

en-gb

48:51

Episode 2.65 - Owl Odyssey and Second Chances

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/03/29

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 Suda...

en-gb

40:11

Episode 2.64 - Spawn Surge and Mad March Hares

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/03/22

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...

en-gb

44:37

Episode 2.63 - Cricket Bat Canopies and Tally Tales

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/03/15

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 tits, coal tits and long-tailed tits 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...

en-gb

48:34

Episode 2.62 - City Coos and Collared Comebacks

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/03/08

Send a text 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 mes...

en-gb

39:02

Episode 2.61 - Brimstone Breakthrough and Violet...

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/03/01

Send a text 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 ...

en-gb

50:56

Episode 2.60 - Pine Pillars and Peacock Pauses

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/02/22

Send a text 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 tortoiseshe...

en-gb

42:40

Episode 2.59 - Redwing Rallies and Snipe Searches

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/02/15

Send a text 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 qu...

en-gb

45:08

Episode 2.58 - Goshawk Glimpses and Woodcock Waves

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/02/08

Send us a text 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 ...

en-gb

49:32

Episode 2.57 - Bypass Journeys and Thrush Tunes

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/02/01

Send us a text In the cosy confines of High Ash Farm's office amid blustery rains, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin sift through aerial snapshots chronicling decades of agricultural evolution—from bustling dairy herds and beef cattle in clay barns to solitary stewardship amid modern uncertainties. Chris recounts a train odyssey to Papworth Hospital for his impending triple bypass, traversing Breckland's pine corridors and sandy warrens, then plunging into Cambridgeshire's jet-black fens teemi...

en-gb

38:48

Episode 2.56 - Fungal Flurries and Mole Mysteries

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/01/25

Send us a text In the rain-softened fringes of Fox's Grove at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin recount Rat's near-fatal burrow plunge into a rank-scented fox den, thwarted by a timely tether amid the terrier's muffled underground barks. Amid global well-wishes for Chris's heart surgery—from Yorkshire's aconite admirers to Michigan's feeder-watching fans—they explore nature's revival rhythms: annuals racing seed-to-seed in one fervent burst, perennials like bluebells and snowdro...

en-gb

42:07

Episode 2.55 - Foxglove Flourishes and Teasel Triumphs

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/01/18

Send us a text In the sun-dappled depths of Fox's Grove at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin thwart Rat's subterranean ambitions with a timely tether, averting a repeat of his 30-minute underground escapade amid fox burrows scented with rank winter musk. Delving into nature's revival, they unravel the rhythms of plant life cycles: annuals sprinting through seed-to-seed in one fervent year, perennials like enduring bluebells and snowdrops returning eternally from bulb-bound solar...

en-gb

45:16

Episode 2.54 - Frosted Footprints and Floral Pioneers

Chris Skinner"s Countryside Podcasts ·

2026/01/11

Send us a text Amid the thawing remnants of a harsh January frost at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin witness the Norfolk countryside stirring from snowbound stillness, where a mild south-westerly wind sweeps away icy veils to reveal resilient early blooms like sweet violets, viper's bugloss with its ox-tongue bristles, and cobalt-blue speedwells defying the chill on sandy slopes. Chris shares a personal turning point—clogged arteries leading to urgent bypass surgery, echoing h...

en-gb

159 results

Similar Podcasts

NÖÖRDS - Der Podcast

NÖÖRDS

Autobiography of an Electron

Charles R. Gibson

Behavioral Grooves Podcast

Kurt Nelson, PhD and Tim Houlihan

Big Picture Science

Big Picture Science

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary

Stuart Gary