Fewer honey bee colonies were lost over last winter in Northern Ireland than the year before, according to a survey by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute. About one in four colonies were lost in 2025/26, down from a third the previous year.
A deaf cat named Quinn, missing for six weeks from St Helens, was found at a motorway services in Peterborough after apparently hitching a ride in a vehicle. Staff and a local volunteer helped her, and her owner made the round trip to bring her home.
Lily Herniman, 18, has volunteered at the UK Wild Otter Trust near South Molton in north Devon for three years. She was named Countryfile Young Countryside Champion at the BBC Food and Farming Awards in Belfast, and she said she was completely overjoyed.
A chimney sweep in Polperro, Cornwall, spotted an owl trapped inside a stove during a routine clean and carefully freed it. The bird flew off from the back garden after being released unharmed.
