"This diary chronicles the turning of my world, from spring to winter,
at home, in the wild, in my head. It travels from the west of Northern
Ireland in County Fermanagh to the east in County Down. It records the
uprooting of a home, a change in county and landscape, and at times the
de-rooting of my senses and my mind. I'm Dara, a boy, an acorn. Mum used
to call me lon dubh (which is Irish for blackbird) when I was a baby,
and sometimes she still does. I have the heart of a naturalist, the head
of a would-be scientist, and the bones of someone who is already
wearied by the apathy and destruction wielded against the natural world.
The outpourings on these pages express my connection to wildlife, try
to explain the way I see the world, and describe how we weather the
storms as a family..." Teenager Dara McAnulty has fast become one of
Britain's most acclaimed nature writers and activists. His debut work
'Diary of a Young Naturalist' salutes the wonders of the natural world,
the threats they face, and details his own life as a 14-year-old with
autism, campaigning to protect the wilds. Read the prologue here.
