It’s been a challenging week. It was always going to be and, writing this at the end of the week, I can say that I feel much better than I did at the start.
Although it’s been tough, I still wanted to write down my wild encounters because, as cliche as it sounds, they really did help. Thank you for all the warm wishes and thank you for reading.
Monday 22nd March 2021
I had to travel up to Skipton in Yorkshire today. Thankfully, overnight stops in hotels are allowed for people attending funerals. Though I wish I was visiting in happier circumstances, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to seeing some of the Dales.
On my way up, not far from Skipton, I decided to stop off. I picked a spot that I know quite well, at the top of Elslack moor. Elslack is a very small village about 10 minutes away from Skipton and it sits at the bottom of very hilly moorland. I stopped so I could take in the views and have a moment to myself before I took my next steps. The photos were taken before I carried on my journey to the hotel.
Tuesday 23rd March 2021
There’s a little bit more to say about today. It was the day we said goodbye to Grandad.
I didn’t sleep very well and decided to set off on an early walk so I could have some time alone. It was a little moment of escape that I felt I needed. I got up at 6.15am and headed out.
The Leeds-Liverpool Canal runs through Skipton and as soon as I joined it and headed west (towards Liverpool), I saw all manner of wildlife. It started with a couple of swans who moved elegantly alongside me on the water. I also saw lots of mallards – especially males – blue tits, great tits, wrens, robins and blackbirds. The beautiful songs of goldfinches and a thrush also comforted me as I thought about the day ahead.
Away from the water, I couldn’t believe how many rabbits were in the fields. They were jumping and running about here there and everywhere. And then there were the little lambs. At one point, some canada geese took flight from the canal and swooshed overhead and a couple of buzzards were circling too.
There were also a couple of special highlights. I heard an odd, high pitched noise above me and looked up to see a couple of birds flying over. I realised they were oystercatchers. I hadn’t seen oystercatchers since being by the sea in Harlech (Wales) last year. A little further up, I heard another odd noise. This time, the sound/s belonged to a small group of lapwings in a field. I’m not sure when I last saw lapwings. My Grandad would’ve loved to see them too.
Later in the day, it wasn’t possible to stick around for long after the funeral and I couldn’t drive the three hours home straight away. So I headed up Elslack moor again. I parked up, had a moment to myself and then put my walking boots on and headed up Pinhaw Beacon – basically the top of the moor. There were more lapwings up here and lots of red grouse too. When I got to the top, I took in the view and thought about my Grandad. It was here that I said goodbye to him. It couldn’t have been a better place.
Wednesday 24th March 2021
I didn’t have a lot of opportunity to properly reflect yesterday. The 23rd marked a year since the first Covid-19 lockdown was announced in the UK. So I took a moment to think about the loss I’ve experienced and the worry for loved ones. I also thought about the loss others have experienced, whether that be directly from the disease or in other ways. Plans that have been postponed and things we always took for granted being stopped or put on hold. I thought about how surreal it is that not hugging family members in times of grief is now the way we do things. So unbearable and yet completely necessary.
I reflected on all of these things on a local walk in Shipston. The walk helped me remember some of the better moments as well. Like seeing the first snowdrops of the year in my local area – something I’d never experienced or appreciated before. Or like spotting a chiffchaff in the trees this morning. Finally giving a face to a name (to passers-by, I was probably a bit too excited). It’s a cliche but the small things really are important.
Thursday 25th March 2021
I definitely felt a bit more like myself today. It’s small steps but I’m getting there and I made the most of the sunshine this afternoon by heading out for a longer walk. I really enjoyed seeing so many flowers on my ramble. The daffodils were beautiful, as were the pansies. A lovely patch of primroses also caught my eye. I read about primroses a little earlier in the week in BBC Wildlife Magazine (April 2021). Apparently primrose flowers can take one of two forms. Some primrose plants have flowers with a small green disc in the centre and others have flowers with a ‘dusty cluster’ instead. The male and female parts of these flowers are arranged in slightly different ways which helps with cross-fertilisation when bees and other insects visit them.
Friday 26th March 2021
I decided to take a leaf out of The Well Gardened Mind book today and started planning a few things for the garden. We don’t have a very big garden and quite a few plants already call the space their home. We also don’t get much sunlight on that side of the house – usually only first thing in the morning until early afternoon. So I feel a little bit limited in how much I can plant or change. That said, I found some useful advice from The Wildlife Trusts and have bought some hanging pots to put up on the fence. I can’t wait to get some flowers for them!
Saturday 27th March 2021
I’ve spied a few posts about a peregrine falcon pair in Leamington recently. I remember this pair from last year but I didn’t really follow many updates about them so I thought I’d check them out properly today. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has a live webcam set up at the top of Leamington Spa Town Hall so people can see their nest. I had a little look and saw one of the peregrines – I think it was the female – sat on the clutch of eggs. Apparently the third egg was laid just a couple of hours before I tuned in. The third is usually the penultimate egg and, according to these handy FAQs, the peregrines don’t incubate the early eggs immediately because they could develop too quickly. By waiting until the next-to-last-egg has been laid, all of the eggs should hatch on the same day. I think I’ll be keeping more of an eye on their twitter account this year!
Sunday 28th March 2021
I’ve been working on a few art pieces this week but they deserve their own post so I’ll save them for another time. Instead, today’s ‘act of wildness’ was listening to a podcast about the white stork project on the Knepp Estate. The aim is to have at least 50 breeding pairs in southern England by 2030. It sounds like an amazing rewilding project. The podcast was recorded last year sometime but it looks like the storks are doing well again in 2021 – apparently one was even spotted checking out a Gloucestershire farm earlier in the month!
Ramblings of a (very!) amateur artist 
One thought on “356 Days Wild: Week 11”