Michael Leeder and Ruth Eversley respond to Oleksandr Ruchko’s account of the arrival of spring and the return of white storks
I’ve avidly read the country diary for more than 50 years. Many of the contributors have made me gasp in wonder at their sense of being humans in their natural landscapes of time and place, most notably in times of war (from anthologies) or in their natural landscapes of home. Yet nothing published on the natural world until now has made me cry more than your inspired contribution by Oleksandr Ruchko from Lviv, Ukraine (14 April).
The very fact that the storks of the Ukrainian marshes and the strife-torn life of its naturalists should reach your column is a magnificent “Yes!” against the many evils being perpetrated in that besieged country. Thank you.
Michael Leeder
Brooke, Norfolk
