Wednesday 21 June 2017

Day 21 - Solstice Gloaming

It was a joy to be out in the cooler air of the evening tonight around Barrington in Somerset for an evening stroll and enjoy the twilight song of the Blackbird and Song Thrush. Even Red Admirals were still flying around 8 pm! The longest day of the year and I still haven't achieved my aim of walking through the night on this night - maybe next year! At any rate the soft evening light was delightful.


Tuesday 20 June 2017

Day 20 - Moths

An Elephant Hawk Moth is resting on our parquet floor in the living room at the moment, no doubt awaiting the cool of the evening before it flies again and we will then release it outside. What a guest though!

Also on our greenhouse, this Emerald moth was resting - so it's been a pink and green moth fest tonight! We really must get that moth trap out!

Emerald Moth

Elephant Hawk Moth

Monday 19 June 2017

Day 19 - Smelling the Jasmine

Day 19 was even hotter than Day 18! My vegetable seedlings are wilting away so I planted some more this evening and have just watered them all and wished them well and smelled the jasmine's beautiful scent. yes, we have a jasmine hedge, which is truly delightful!

Sunday 18 June 2017

Day 18 - Eggardon Hill again

It might be Day 18 of 30 Days Wild, but it was Day 2 of my creative writing workshop at Askerswell/Eggardon Hill and another scorcher. Again I was glad of the breeze as I sat and contemplated what this landscape would have looked like as a gleaming white beacon, ravaged of its lush verdant beauty. I was glad to see it in its regeneration, revitalised - for once human intervention has enhanced our landscape - let's hope it stays that way.

The poetry - well, amongst other things, I wrote a haiku:

Eggardon


Home to Meadow Brown
And the summer song of larks
In exaltation

Eggardon Hill - south face

Quaking Grass and Hawksbit

Saturday 17 June 2017

Day 17 - Eggardon Hill

A day spent on a breezy Iron Age hill fort in rural Dorset, admiring the butterflies, birds, moths and orchids and musing on what has changed in the landscape over the past 2500 years nd what remains the same and trying to write poetry about it.

It was a delightful way to spend the hottest day of the year, immersed in nature, watching red Kites, Buzzards, bees, beetles,moths and even grasses just blowing ever so gently in the breeze.








Friday 16 June 2017

Day 16 - Large Blue at Collard Hill

What a wonderful day to spend on day 16 of 30 Days Wild! This was my fourth year of going to see these creatures which have an incredible success story. Once extinct in Britain, they are now thriving in several British locations, the most accessible being on the National Trust's property at Collard Hill near Street in Somerset. this year we had by far the best views we've yet had of these butterflies and I wish I'd worn blue in their honour!




Day 15 - Nature Ramble at Cerne Abbas

A small group of enthusiastic nature ramblers set off today for Giant Hill, a utopian chalk downland for wildlife. Armed with our binocs, cameras, hand lenses, notebooks and identification charts and books and, most importantly, bags of enthusiasm, we aimed to cover no more than 3 miles in as many hours.

I think we managed one mile in that time span; there was just so much to see. Whilst I enthused about Thick-legged beetles, someone else spotted yet another Six-spot Burnet Moth and we learned A LOT about the folklore of many of the downland plants, musing over why so many of them have local Somerset names. Here are a couple of examples:

Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris) - Cross-flower because it was carried in processions at Easter time.
Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria) - Lemonade because lemons, oranges, ginger and sugar were added as a cure for the common cold.

A wonderful morning out in the sunshine.

6-spot Burnet Moths

Small Heath

Thick-legged Flower Beetle

Thursday 15 June 2017

Day 14 - Cloud Study

I love my morning walk to work. It's just over a mile of pavement walking, but I try to observe and take note of everything I see so I have just about built up a complete map of the whole walk and know what species I can see on that walk. I would like to do the walk later in the day too when the butterflies and insects are buzzing too. At 7 am there's not much in the way of insect life about!

Today as I crossed the Tesco bridge across the dual carriageway I lifted my eyes skyward to behold the most wonderful cloud study. Alas! I only had my phone to capture that moment. How wonderful are these ethereal creations which are ever changing, creating shapes and illusions from water particles. How dull the world would be without clouds and yet we think of a dull day as being one that is cloudy and overcast. Clouds, like many things in life, as Joni Mitchell discovered, can be viewed from both sides and we discover that it's often our perspective that changes. And that's why I love being in nature so much - it gives me a whole new perspective. Thank you 30 Days Wild for giving me the opportunity to stop and reflect about such beautiful things!


Day 13 - Pondering the pond

Another day at work so little time to sit with nature and breathe in its scent. We have, however, taken to sitting in the garden with a cup of tea after work and just reflecting on nature in the midst of urbanity (relative urbanity that is). There's our pond with the pond skaters having been fruitful and  multiplied, there's the fruitful gooseberry bush and every day one or two strawberries, both cultivated and wild varieties. The cooking apples are getting bigger, as are the damsons and we are looking forward to picking the harvest from our own garden. Sitting in the warmth reflecting on these things is good for the soul I have found, and hopefully will soon be good for the stomach too!

Monday 12 June 2017

Day 12 - Hummingbird Hawk Moth


Just when I thought I was going to struggle to get anything for today, having been at work all day, we sat in the garden with our cup of tea in the late afternoon sunshine and I turned my head just in time to see a Hummingbird Hawk Moth buzz round the pansies. It didn't linger (I don't think it likes pansies). I must get some red valerian and wait for our fuchsia to flower. I nearly went out and bought some straight away, I was so keen to see it again. But what a delight! (No time for a photo)

Sunday 11 June 2017

Day 11 - Green Scythe Fair, Muchelney

I think this was the 13th annual Green Scythe Fair, but the MC's PA system worked only every second word so I may have got that wrong. Anyway, what a way to celebrate Day 11 of 30 Days Wild. There was certainly lots of wildness about today. We did the environmentally friendly thing and walked to the Fair, at least we walked from Kingsbury Episcopi a couple of miles away from the fair ground. This way we got some exercise and saved £5!

The walk takes you along the River Parrett where we saw Kingfisher, Small Tortoiseshell and Banded Demoiselle as well as lots of water lilies and the delightfully named Thorney Silent Mill.

The fair was apparently busier than ever with lots of colours, sounds, stalls, cakes, ciders and, of course, scythes! Close up you can hear that wonderful swooshing noise the scythes make, but from our distance with the general hubbub of the crowd, that sound was lost. It was wonderful to see children playing in the cut grass and building a hay lady and then the fun of building a haystack and deciding which was the most stable (yes, this is a genuine competition). We watched all sorts of traditional crafts - bodgering, leather making, music making, withy weaving, forging, sawyering, apple juice making, tool sharpening . . .

The scything competition was great fun. We watched from a distance and admired the almost dance-like movements of the scythers as they moved gracefully with the grass.

A wonderful day out celebrating crafts and trades which embrace wildness.

Banded Demoiselle, River Parrett

Creating electricity by pedalling - I made bubbles!











Saturday 10 June 2017

Day 10 - Bincombe Beeches Fair, Crewkerne - EuCAN and Butterfly Conservation Stall

Further to my last post in which I bemoan the lack of summer thus far in 2017, I will reiterate my complaint to whomsoever it might concern! We had agreed to help at the Bincombe Beeches Fair today at the nature reserve I am ashamed to say we had not yet visited.

Bincombe Beeches is a delightful little site and a haven from the hustle and bustle which defines and gridlocks this old market town most days. It is managed by Crewkerne Town Council and today we were honoured to meet the Mayor of Crewkerne and the Town Crier and managed to hold several conversations whilst also holding the gazebo down which was trying to make itself into a parachute and blow away!

Kids were colouring butterflies and coming up with names for them whilst we talked about the valuable work of the EuCAN volunteers who work tirelessly throughout the year in Somerset and Dorset for organisations and charities such as National Trust, Wildlife Trusts and Butterfly Conservation helping to manage sites and keep them wildlife-friendly.

It was a challenge keeping the gazebo down and avoiding hitting anyone on the head with our big display boards whilst trying to enthuse about butterflies and conservation work, but I think we managed it and had a great day. I just want the rain to go away so we can go bat detecting again!


Day 9 - Bat detecting

After a day of gardening, visiting and (excitingly) planning a holiday, my major 'wild' activity was saved for the evening. I was very excited about going out with Paul and our various bat detectors to pick up their echo location calls. Where we lived previously, a bat walk meant picking up three or four different species of bats on a regular basis. We have not had as much luck here. Paul's bat detector is on every night and so far we have had one bat, a noctule, flying over.

It is the one thing about our previous home that I miss - the wild action of the night!

Like a child waiting for Christmas, the sun finally set last night and we were ready with our bat detectors and, sadly, waterproofs. Come on! Does the world not know it is June and approaching the solstice? I want to feel that longest day approaching and be fully aware of it. Please may it not arrive in drizzle and somberity! (My made up word from sombre.)

The flying creatures of the night do not like rain, at least the bigger ones don't; moths are often brought down to moth traps in fine drizzle, but bats, wisely, stay in their roosts unless they absolutely HAVE to go out and feed.

Anyway, we managed to pick up two species of bats - a pipistrelle and a serotine. I love hearing their feeding buzz, which is visible on the sonogram as the bars all huddled closely together. Sadly, we didn't manage to record the songs of the night, so we shall await a finer night and be more closely tuned in!


Thursday 8 June 2017

Day 8 - Silver-studded Blue Workshop at Portland

Led by Professor Jeremy Thomas, this was a day not to be missed and I was so pleased I managed to understand all of it - even the nitty-gritty differences between the three species of ants (Lasius alienus, lasius paralienus and lasius nigers - Hairy, Mohican hairy and non-hairy for a non-scientific explanation) To be honest I can't see myself wanting to get that close to ants, but I'm glad someone has and still does and probably always will because it's fascinating stuff and crucial to understanding the ecology of this declining species and therefore to manage its habitat and ensure its future survival.

The ants look after the pupae and even attend to the adult Silver-studded Blue butterfly and if the pupae feel they're not getting enough attention they've got these cool tube things which squirt out nice juice to the ants to say 'Hey, don't forget about me!' it's like their own sort of water pistol. I'd lvoe to see that happening. So the pupae excrete this sweet, sticky substance to feed the ants which perhaps otherwise would eat them, the ants protect the caterpillars and pupae from other predators and continue to attend to the newly-emerged butterfly.

And the icing on the cake (to continue the sweet sickly theme) was seeing Portland's first adult  Silver-studded Blue butterfly freshly emerged and posing nicely for a photo in the strong coastal breeze.

And - the cherry on the icing on the cake was seeing the tiniest egg in the world in the form of a Small Blue's egg on its food plant, Kidney Vetch - now that took some finding!

What a great way to spend Day 8 - it's going to be hard to beat that!

Lasius alienus attending to the Silver-studded Blue pupa in their nest

Freshly emerged Silver-studded Blue

Silver-studded Blue

Small Blue egg on Kidney Vetch

Small Blue egg on Kidney Vetch

Wednesday 7 June 2017

Day 7 - Uitwaaien - to walk in the wind

Robert Macfarlane is a hoarder of words and I love his book 'Landmarks' which is a glossary of dialectal nature words and terms which are gradually disappearing from common usage.

During my short lunch break at work today I sat outside in the strong breeze and watched the bees on the lavender and logged on to Robert's twitter feed to see what his word of the day was. I was in for a delightful surprise.

Uitwaaien - a Dutch word meaning 'to clear your head or lift your heart by taking a brief break in nature'. I had certainly had a brief break in nature and my spirits had been lifted as a result just watching those tiny tenacious insects clinging on, gathering nectar and pollinating flowers. Inspiration for my much more mundane task of typing letters! Thanks Robert!

Follow his excellent  twitter feed on https://twitter.com/RobGMacfarlane?lang=en

Image from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/361343570081929045/




Day 6 - Pond skaters on our pond

Day 6 was another miserable day and a day at work too so a challenge to do anything too exciting. I spent some time watching our pond skaters who seem undeterred by all the rain we've had. We started with one pond skater, watched him/her be joined by another and now we have lots of baby skaters skidding all over our pond.





Monday 5 June 2017

Day 5 - Swifts by Ted Hughes

Well, it's Day 5 and I've not made it outside other than my walk to work with head down and brolly just about staying up.

I'm not convinced that I've not been transported back to March! To remind me that nature is very much alive and kicking I've been watching the clouds scud across the sky and looking for swifts. In their absence I've decided to relook at Ted Hughes' wonderful poem 'Swifts' which describes how I feel when I catch my first glimpse of the year's returning Swifts - those great symmetrical acrobats of the sky. I'm quoting an extract here, noting that I saw my first Swift this year on 7th May, a few days before Ted Hughes on this occasion! Let's hope our summer is still all to come!

Fifteenth of May. Cherry blossom. The swifts
Materialise at the tip of a long scream
Of needle. ‘Look! They’re back! Look!’ And they’re gone
On a steep
Controlled scream of skid
Round the house-end and away under the cherries.
      Gone.
Suddenly flickering in sky summit, three or four together,
Gnat-whisp frail, and hover-searching, and listening
For air-chills – are they too early? With a bowing
Power-thrust to left, then to right, then a flicker they
Tilt into a slide, a tremble for balance,
Then a lashing down disappearance
Behind elms.
                                  They’ve made it again,
Which means the globe’s still working, the Creation’s
Still waking refreshed, our summer’s
Still all to come –
 – From Swifts by Ted Hughes.

Day 4 - Walk at Sherborne

OK. so not as exciting as day as the past 3, but hopefully we have passed on just a tiny bit of knowledge to the group we regularly walk with. As this is more of a walking for exercise, than walking for looking at nature group, we don't usually stop to admire much in the way of flora and fauna, but we did pause at the local nature reserve and point out the Speckled Wood butterfly on the picture and ask folk to look out for them. Also pictured on the information board was a Goldfinch, which just happened to be singing its little heart out atop a TV aerial so I pointed that out too. On the walk we saw lots of Speckled Woods and, by the end of the walk, everyone had remembered the name of this ubiquitous butterfly, so I consider this a small but important step for nature!

Saturday 3 June 2017

Day 3 - RSPB Ham Wall and aerial combat between Marsh Harrier and Bittern

Wow! It was difficult to choose what to use as today's 30 Days Wild entry and with the age-old computer and internet problems, time is running short on this, Day 3 of 30 Days Wild. But the highlight of an amazing day had to be watching the Marsh Harriers at RSPB's fantastic Ham Wall reserve mob a Bittern repeatedly. We watched it for about five minutes with the Bittern coming up and fighting back. Never seen this before. Absolutely amazing. A young birder there dubbed it 'Bird World War' which was quite apt.

It's taken too long to upload footage, but here's a link to my twitter:

https://twitter.com/BeckyIslay/status/871097391906160640

and here's some photos of my favourite time ever at this incredible reserve.

Bittern

Black-tailed Skimmer (m)



Cormorants

Four-spotted Chaser

Great-Crested Grebe

Great White Egret

Marsh Harrier

Friday 2 June 2017

Day 2 - Wildlife Discovery Day, Forde Abbey, Dorset

What a fabulous day this was! There was so much to see and explore and we had the moth traps out (I'm afraid it wasn't me who got up at 4 am to go and check the moth traps this morning!) It was so encouraging to see adults and children alike enthusing about the moths. It was a little damp for butterflies, but we certainly made up for it with the number and quality of moths we caught overnight.

Favourites of the day were:

Buff Tip (This got a lot of 'Wows' from everyone.)
Eyed Hawk Moth - we loved it's 'I'm so scary when I flash my wings open and reveal my hidden eyes' look.
Privet Hawk Moth
Elephant Hawk Moth
Brimstone
Peppered Moth

And I learned today that some hawk moths do not have mouth parts. They eat so much as caterpillars that they don't need to feed as adults. And when you look through the hand lens at the Buff Tip, its face looks remarkably like a teddy bear, but that's not a very scientific thing to say!

Favourite quote of the day, "All these moths aren't from this country are they?" I was pleased to inform the questioner that not only were they from this country, but they had been caught in our moth traps last night" Great to get people excited about moths. I hope this event is repeated every year. How I wish this were my day job!

Buff Tip


Eyed Hawk Moth

Moth trapping

Add caption


Elephant Hawk Moth


Day 21 - Solstice Gloaming

It was a joy to be out in the cooler air of the evening tonight around Barrington in Somerset for an evening stroll and enjoy the twilight s...