Week 8 was very up and down but I’m glad I was able to squeeze in some wildlife to brighten up the days. Thank you for reading x
Monday 1st March 2021
I’m reading a new book at the moment called Incredible Journeys: Exploring the Wonders of Animal Navigation by David Barrie. It gives a bit of an overview of the range of different – and incredible – journeys that animals make. Today, I read a small section about the bar-tailed godwit, or, rather, a particular bar-tailed godwit that had made a particularly incredible journey! You see, one of these birds had been tracked in 2009 flying non-stop across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to New Zealand. That’s 11,680km. And it did that journey in 8 days. Mind. Blown.
Tuesday 2nd March 2021
I’ve started to get excited again about the prospect of seeing new places and we have a provisional plan to walk the entire length of the Kennet and Avon canal in August. We’ll start in Reading and walk 80-odd miles to Bristol at the other end, covering about 10-12 miles per day, apart from on a couple of longer days!
So, this afternoon, I decided to dig a bit deeper into the sorts of wildlife we might see on this canal adventure. I really do love walking along canals. The town I grew up in sits alongside the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and we’ve seen all sorts on there in the past, including kingfishers and mandarin ducks! An old newspaper article from 2010 noted that wildlife had ‘soared’ along the Wiltshire stretch of the canal and that sightings had included otters and water voles. I’d love to see an otter!
Wednesday 3rd March 2021
I started watching the BBC’s new documentary called Attenborough’s Life in Colour this evening. If you haven’t seen it yet then I’d highly recommend! Seeing the scarlet macaws in the first episode was quite a highlight. It made me a bit sad because we were hoping to see these birds during a planned trip to Peru that got cancelled last year, but, it’s definitely still something to look forward to!
Thursday 4th March 2021
I got introduced to something brilliant today: Lucy Lapwing birdsong lessons! I’m doing quite well at teaching myself bird sounds and songs but ‘Lucy Lapwing’ really brings bird songs to life. Her tips and tricks for remembering songs are fun and memorable. I only watched her introduction, blackbird and chaffinch videos so far but I’m definitely going to listen to more. Her tip for remembering a blackbird’s song is that it sounds like an old man whistling away at the bottom of the garden without a care in the world. For the chaffinch, the way it goes down in pitch reminds her of a waterfall.
Friday 5th March 2021
I received some sad news about a family member today. Though it wasn’t unexpected, these things are always difficult to accept and process. Particularly in these circumstances. The day was quite a blur and, as you can imagine, my wild challenge was not at the forefront of my mind. That said, my grandad and I shared a love of birds and a love of painting. I thought about that a lot today. And, right now, birds are helping me through the first stages of grief.
Saturday 6th March 2021
I wasn’t able to get a lot of wildlife into the day today, but I spotted something earlier in a recent Warwickshire Wildlife Trust update which was quite interesting. It was about a willow tit project in the West Midlands. I know very little about these birds. I didn’t even realise you could get them in the West Midlands! According the project outline, willow tit numbers have declined by 94% since 1970. That’s difficult to comprehend.
Sunday 7th March 2021
I enjoyed an evening walk as the sun was setting today. It’s been a difficult few days and I imagine it will be hard for a bit longer, but having a wander, taking in the sunset and looking out for the birds enjoying dusk on this fine March evening – mainly blackbirds! – helped to clear my mind and get ready for another week.
Ramblings of a (very!) amateur artist 