CABINET OF CURIOSITIES

  Caught a brief glimpse of an otter fishing in the river Wear, just upstream from Prebends' bridge in Durham city this morning. Only ha...

  The two commonest craneflies - Tipula oleracea and T. paludosa - are dull-coloured insects but this female orange-sided comb-horn Ctenop...

  The river Wear begins its great loop around Durham cathedral peninsula here, at Elvet bridge. It’s always a busy spot. Aside from the rowi...

The last Saturday before Christmas dawned under leaden skies and deteriorated into torrential rain. In need of fresh air and exercise, we d...

This little alien weed is gallant soldier Galinsoga parviflora. It's   a native of Peru but is currently flourishing in cracks on...

Today's Guardian Country Diary describes a visit to Low Burnhall farm in Durham, now the site of a Woodland Trust major re-forestin...