One Bean Row

An Irish Nature Year is an illustrated day book filled with plants, animals, birds and creepy-crawlies from all over the island of Ireland. I’ve written one short entry for every day of the year (including February 29th — so it’s relevant in leap years too). The idea is that you can dip into it with your morning coffee, on your commute, or when you are snuggled up in bed.

Inside, you’ll find out about about the ‘weeds’ in the pavement cracks, the things you see along our beaches and hedgerows, the birds that visit our gardens, the spiders that wander into our houses, and much more.

My book follows the natural events that happen throughout the seasons — migrant birds arriving or leaving, plants flowering and dying, creatures coming out of hibernation and raising their young, flying ants taking to the sky, butterflies floating in from abroad. It’s all happening out there. You just need to know where to look.

The beautiful illustrations are by Robert Vaughan, a Donegal-based wildlife artist.

An Irish Nature Year is published by William Collins, a subsidiary of HarperCollins (£14.99). It is available at all good bookshops and online at many outlets.