Spring is very much here and I hope that makes you as happy as it does for me,

• Dawn Chorus: Last week I made a 4am pilgrimage to Knepp, England’s premier rewilding site, to listen to the loudest dawn chorus I have ever heard in the UK. It was sensational. Caring about nature these days is generally a depressing or infuriating experience. Knepp, by contrast, is a place of hope and optimism. Step back, do nothing for nature, and watch how fast the land heals itself. Listen to this recording of the birds I made, and then depending on your interest levels about rewilding failed, nature-depleted, intensively-agricultural land, read this joyful article, this uplifting book, or this nerdy in-depth tome. We need more Knepps in our world!
• App: My Dad makes the Luddites look like tech-savvy, Silicon valley hipsters. So I was delighted when he decided to download his first ever app. Even better, it was the Merlin bird ID app which is one of my favourites. It answers you, in real time, what birdsong you are hearing. “What bird is that?” Merlin will tell you. Absolutely brilliant.
• Gardens: If you have a lawn, please don’t mow it this May. Take part in No Mow May – it’s great for nature.
• New Book: My new children’s book, Against the Odds, is now available to pre-order on Amazon or Bookshop. Even better idea: ask your local independent bookshop about it.
  
• Al meets AI: Annoying that my name looks the same as ‘artificial intelligence’ when I type it out… It’s coming for our jobs, it’s coming for my name! Anyway, I think ChatGPT is fascinating, so I had a chat with it about rowing the Atlantic Ocean.
• Book Design: Speaking of AI, I have been fascinated with the prospect of using it to help design the cover for my book about exploring the single local map that you live on (hopefully coming out in the next few months). I’ve begun playing with Midjourney to come up with artwork for the cover, and it has been a fascinating experiment. Here are some examples, each generated by me in a matter of seconds.

• Book Title: Speaking of that book, please can you help me choose what it should be called? I’ll give you a 20% discount if you take 20 seconds to answer this poll. Thank you!
• Article: Staying on the topic of my book, it is currently too long and needs trimming. I know this, I will do by best, but I’m also resigned to it being longer than it ought to be when I finish it. This article about choosing what to leave out is superb.
• Running: The World’s Oldest Ultramarathon Runner Is Racing against Death.
• Film: Follow a group of skiers, snowboarders, scientists and healers to the birch forests of Japan, the red cedars of British Columbia and the bristlecones of Nevada.
• Photography: A Single Drop of Seawater, Magnified 25 Times — beautiful!

Let me know if you have a relevant project that my readers would appreciate. Here’s what you guys have been up to recently:

Shouting from the Shed 53

BICYCLING FOR LADIES

An Illustrated 1896 Manifesto for the Universal Splendors of the Bicycle as an Instrument of Self-Reliance, a Training Machine for Living with Uncertainty, and a Portal to Joy.

QUESTIONS ON FOOD AND CLIMATE CHANGE

This feels like a good time to question the way we’ve always done things.

WHITMAN ALABAMA

I have a deep yearning to travel round the backroads of the southern States of the US. This film series ticks the boxes of travel, curiosity about different lives, and Walt Whitman. I wish I’d had the idea.

YOUR TOWN LAID OUT LIKE A SPIDER WEB

I’m not quite sure why I find this website so pleasing. Type in a few towns you know (or some random places) and see them differently.

ANOTHER 100 ADVENTURE FILMS TO STREAM FOR FREE

From desert treks to kayak expeditions, from Himalayan summits to the North Pole, this collection of 100 adventure films, both classic and contemporary, offers something for everyone.