Michael Warren | Lightnews

Michael J. Warren

@drmjwarren.bsky.social

900 followers 870 following 540 posts

Writer, naturalist, medievalist, teacher. Trustee of Curlew Action. The Cuckoo’s Lea, Bloomsbury, out now: birds in our ancient and modern senses of place. Marshes. Winter. Whisky.
https://linktr.ee/cuckooslea
www.birdsandplace.co.uk .. more

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Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · May 25

Well, here it is. My copy arrived. Out 5th June. This is the beautiful indie-exclusive edition with it’s gorgeous sprayed edges. Thanks ever so @amyjanebeer.bsky.social, Mary Colwell and @jon-moses.bsky.social for your generous cover quotes. @chiffchat.bsky.social #naturewriting

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 1h

And everyone should be sure to check out too … goldengrenades.com/podcast/epis...

Episode 22: Nicola Chester

In this episode of Golden Grenades nature writer Nicola Chester discusses her work and recently published memoir, On Gallows Down. Why do people keep giving her dead things in a Bag For Life?

goldengrenades.com

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 11h

Thanks Lev. I had a great time chatting with Kit.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 11h

You’ll also find episodes there with San West, Mackenzie Crook, @amyjanebeer.bsky.social @themarshtit.bsky.social @nicolawriting.bsky.social @levparikian.bsky.social @willrose.bsky.social @lucylapwing.bsky.social and many others!

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 11h

It’s available today, my episode with @yolobirder.bsky.social for his brilliant @goldengrenadesco.bsky.social podcast. Listen on to discover my chosen 5 birds to join me in Armageddon (plus chat on #thecuckooslea)! goldengrenades.com/podcast/ #GoldenGrenades #naturewriting #birdsandplace

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 1d

😁

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 1d

Ah thank you, Laura. Delighted it’s going to be a Xmas present. 😁 Encourage your gifter to seek out the lovely indie bookshop edition while some are still out there: www.bookabookshop.co.uk/shop/the-cuc.... Not all indies sell it online, so check details before purchasing.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 1d

Me neither, until Bloomsbury told me. @chiffchat.bsky.social

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 1d

Well now, #BBCWildlife magazine, glad you think so. ☺️ Right there with the likes of @sophiepavs.bsky.social and @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social and @nicwilson.bsky.social. #naturewriting #bestnaturewriting2025

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 1d

@horatioclare.bsky.social @adamgopnik.bsky.social

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 1d

Well now, I wonder what my next book is going to be about? Entering research stage. See you on the other side. #NewBook #naturewriting #Winter

A selection of books on the subject of winter.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 1d

☺️☺️☺️

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 1d

Pleased to see #thecuckooslea is on display to the left. And I’ll count as one of your interviewees in a couple of weeks’ time. ☺️

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 1d

Bird place-name of the day 116: ULEHAMS FARM (Essex). OE ule + ham. ‘Owl-haunted farm/estate’. #birdsandplace #placenames #naturewriting

OS map showing Ulehams Farm on the Dengie in Essex.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 3d

Bird place-name of the day 115: SNITTON (Shrops). OE snite + tun. Possibly ‘snipe frequented estate/settlement’. #birdsandplace #placenames #naturewriting

OS map showing Shropshire village of Snitton.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 3d

Top of the list! www.birdsandplace.co.uk/raven

Raven — The Birds and Place Project

www.birdsandplace.co.uk

Reposted by Michael Warren

Bloomsbury Wildlife @chiffchat.bsky.social · 4d

🚨 BLACK FRIDAY DEAL!

Join @drmjwarren.bsky.social on an lyrical journey around Britain in search of the birds that haunt our place names.

The Cuckoo's Lea is on offer from Amazon for a limited time! Don't miss out!

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

*Detectorists

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

Hah, yes, Sarah. I’m a massive Dectectorists fan! I thought of that often when writing the book, and @yolobirder.bsky.social and I discuss this connection in the recent @goldengrenadesco.bsky.social episode I recorded with him (out in 2026 I imagine).

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

People of Norfolk, come and spend a cosy winter evening with me, @themarshtit.bsky.social and @timholtwilson.bsky.social as we talk birds, landscape and history at NWT’s Cley reserve on 5th Dec. Tickets here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tales-of-b.... #NorfolkWildlifeTrust #NorfolkNature #naturewriting

Pink-footed geese over north Norfolk coast.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

Hah! 😁 Thanks for reading my book. Hope you’re enjoying.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

If you live in north Norfolk Sarah, you might be interested in this on 5th Dec: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tales-of-b...

Tales of birds, Brecks and Broads through time

Explore East Anglia’s ancient landscapes, wildlife, and history with Dr Michael Warren, Tim Holt-Wilson and NWT Ambassador Nick Acheson.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

Well both are adjacent to Norfolk. I guess the Cambridgeshire Yaxley is more like much of Norfolk: very flat agricultural land. Although technically speaking Yaxley is on the high ground, literally right on the drop off to the Fens.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

Ah yes, Rob of Yaxley. Which one though, Cambridgeshire or Suffolk?

Reposted by Michael Warren

Sarah Pettegree @sarahpettegree.bsky.social · 5d

I expect you know @robyaxley.bsky.social that you are part cuckoo?

(Source @drmjwarren.bsky.social’s, so far, excellent “The Cuckoo’s Lea”)

Excerpt from a book describing how the Old English “geac”, meaning cuckoo, became Yaxham or Yaxley in East Anglia.

(Apols for playing fast and loose with copyrights)

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

Eagles are safe enough, although we can’t say for sure whether some refer to WTE or golden. Most in England though are surely WTE, especially given the presence of this eagle in zooarchaeological records and their prevalence in medieval lit.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

True enough, and some I contest. Including, controversially, stork places-names. We’re probably safer with ancient cat names; at least some must refer to wild cats, especially since we know their range was not restricted to Scotland in the past.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

Oh for sure, but we can’t assume that elite sources are representative of all, by any means. Elite or not, early knowledge about the natural world was far more nuanced and expert than we have previously allowed. It was not, to quote one 20th cen. author, ‘retrograde and not oriented towards facts’.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

Hah, that’s great! She’s brilliant. I’m not sure I’m fully convinced by her argument, but it is well argued, and certainly offers an intriguing possibility.

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

Glad to have brightened your commute/journey. 😁

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · 5d

worked the land very closely. You might enjoy my chapter on the descriptions that turn up in Anglo-Saxon land charters on this point—rare evidence for the peasant perspective.

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