Welcome to Week 39 of my wild challenge! By my calculation, because I’m working towards 356 days of wildness and not 365 (because I only decided part way through January I was going to do this – see my note at the bottom of the page…), I’ll get up to Week 50.8 by the end of the year. Not a very neat number! But I’m closing in now and that’s scary!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading about my wild encounters from the week. Doing this challenge has made me realise just how easy it is to embed wildlife into my daily life and I would strongly recommend it to anyone and everyone!
A few of my highlights from Week 39 include:
🐣 Watching some very interesting ostriches in a new doc (seriously, have a look at this even if you read nothing else!)
🌿 Reacquainting myself with the garden
🐦 Looking out for fieldfares
🦋 Learning about how to support butterflies and moths over autumn
Read on to find out more! Thank you 😊
Monday 4th October 2021
My ‘act of wildness’ came a little late in the day today. And, to be honest, I didn’t manage to get through it all – I’m notoriously bad at falling asleep on the sofa while watching TV in the evening. But my drowsiness certainly wasn’t a result of the content I was watching: Attenborough’s new documentary called The Mating Game.
The highlight of the first half that I watched was the ostrich segment. While watching this, I realised I’ve never looked at an ostrich properly before. They really do look like dinosaurs and, this is probably quite odd, but, to me, their necks look like snakes. So when they run, they look like snakes on massive legs… And the dancing is just something else. Even if you don’t see the whole doc, I’d definitely recommend watching a snippet of the ostrich segment (which you can do above!)
Tuesday 5th October 2021
I had one of those moments today where you feel like the stars have aligned. It started with an art tutorial that I caught up with after work – this was led by Samantha Clift. She runs a little community on facebook for people who love to draw and paint. Though the subject of the tutorial wasn’t a wild animal (it was a dog), the content was very relevant to my artwork – this first tutorial focused on drawing eyes. I’ve seen some absolutely amazing pieces of pencil art on social media over the past 18 months or so and now I know a bit more about how to improve my pencil technique. So, when I have a moment, I’m going to try an eye.
And how did the stars align? Well, after finishing the tutorial, I got a book out called Into the Tangled Bank by Lev Parikian and started reading a new chapter. This one focused on animal art and the importance of actually looking properly at the natural world. Samantha Clift’s tutorial was similar – the eye only worked if you looked properly at the shapes, light and shadow.
Wednesday 6th October 2021
Taken at 07:26 
Taken at 17:31
I had three different walks today. Walking still definitely boosts my mood so I was determined to go out this morning. I’m so glad I did. The light was as beautiful as ever. I nipped out to the shop at lunchtime so that was walk two. And then walk three was straight after work – I went to Honington and then through the meadow. The autumn trees caught my eye while I walked through this little hamlet.
Thursday 7th October 2021
Anemone 
Firethorn
This sounds really bizarre but I realised this morning that I haven’t actually been into my garden properly for weeks. I’ve walked through it (usually to lure the cats inside) but I haven’t stood in the garden and looked at what’s growing or changing. So that’s what I did today. The main things I spotted were the single remaining petal of the anemones and the bright red berries of the firethorn.
Friday 8th October 2021
Today’s ‘act of wildness’ is a little depressing, but there’s also a ray of hope. I had a read through the Butterfly Conservation’s review of the ‘Big Butterfly Count’ from summer. Unfortunately, the overall count of butterflies (despite more people getting involved than ever before) was the lowest it’s ever been. I definitely haven’t seen as many peacocks, red admirals or painted ladies this year. In fact, I think I’ve only seen a single painted lady.
As I say, there’s a ray of hope. Ringlets and speckled woods, on the other hand, have been a frequent sighting on walks. And the Butterfly Conservation has launched a new strategy to try and halve the number of butterflies and moths that are considered ‘threatened’ in the UK and improve landscapes and wild spaces. This useful blog also gives some tips to keen gardeners about how to be more mindful of butterflies and moths when gardening in autumn. I hadn’t considered that clearing leaves and putting them in the green bin could actually kill off a load of wintering critters. So, this year, I’m going to pile them up on the flower beds instead.
Saturday 9th October 2021
Well, it feels just like summer again! I had a beautiful walk through the meadow and into town in the sunshine this morning. As I walked, I had my eyes peeled and wondered about the fieldfares. I think you know you’re a proper nature nerd when you have a dream like mine last night – I dreamt that the fieldfares had come back. So while I was out walking, I wondered if my dream would come true. Long story short, it didn’t. But I imagine the fieldfares will return soon. Perhaps after our ‘second summer’ wanes…
Sunday 10th October 2021
We visited my partner’s family today. His brother lives in a little village not far from Eynsham in Oxfordshire and it was lovely to see him and my partner’s nephew. The village is beautiful and it was quite nice to visit somewhere near Oxford that’s still totally surrounded by fields and countryside (though, I have to be honest, you would definitely be paying substantially for the view if you lived/rented here – just sayin!)
Out the back of their garden is a field full of cows and this enormous bull caught my attention while we were there. I also spotted these lovely white and pink flowers as we did a short loop around the village. I’m not sure what they are yet but I’ll try and find out for next week!
*For anyone new to my blog, let me explain a bit more about what these posts are about. Every week I share a summary of my daily ‘acts of wildness’. This wildlife challenge was inspired by ’30 Days Wild’ and ’12 Days Wild’ from The Wildlife Trusts. The ‘356’ isn’t a typo – typically, I only thought about doing this after 2021 had already started so I won’t be able to do a full year this time. Next year will be different though! Thank you and I hope you’ve enjoyed the post!
Ramblings of a (very!) amateur artist 