Ok, Week 2. It’s been a pretty bleak week in the West Midlands – the weather has really taken a turn for’t worse. That said, I have managed to end the week pretty sunburnt…!
Monday 8th June – I heard a peculiar kind of tweeting coming from our cherry tree. I definitely don’t take enough breaks while working from home but the sound pulled me out of whatever non-essential task I was doing at the time. To my absolute delight, the source of the sound was a beautiful goldfinch.
Tuesday 9th June – It didn’t rain too badly today so I went outside to water the garden. I spotted a bumblebee buzzing around looking for nectar and witnessed it venturing into the peonies to get its fill.
Wednesday 10th June – It was pretty rainy all day and I didn’t even have the windows open while working. I was therefore oblivious to the absolute racket that the starlings were making until I went out to top-up the bird seed. It was pretty outrageous!
Thursday 11th June – I perused a wildlife magazine that arrived a couple of weeks ago. I was drawn to a snippet about pipistrelle bats. Apparently these common bats have their pups around this time. They’re so small that, according to the article, “the feat is comparable to a human female giving birth to a five-year-old”… I’ll leave that one with you.
Friday 12th June – I booked annual leave for today so decided to have a bit of an ‘art day’. My main achievement was completing a watercolour painting of a European turtle dove. According to this Guardian article, numbers of the IUCN vulnerable bird decreased by 51% between 2013 and 2017 and it’s now on the brink of extinction.
Saturday 13th June – Went out for a long, 8.5 mile walk in the Cotswolds. When we set off, it was pretty cloudy. Within 5 minutes it was glorious sunshine! My sunburn paid for it but I think it was worth it overall! We saw quite a few bits and pieces while we were out. The thing I kept on seeing, though, was – after some quick research – the common blue damselfly.
Sunday 14th June – And so approaches the end of Week 2 of #30DaysWild. And the thing I keep seeing (and have seen again today) is the juvenile blackbird. I mentioned this little critter in last week’s post and it’s amazing how quickly it learns and grows. It’s still quite fluffy but it’s able to find its own food now and doesn’t rely on Dad so much.
Ramblings of a (very!) amateur artist 