Oh my lordy! We’re onto Week 40!
Another busy week but my acts of wildness kept me sane (just about). These were some of my favourite wild highlights:
🍄 Learning some weird and wonderful fungi
🐦 Watching the pied wagtails
🕊 Spying on some redwings
🐴 Being totally mesmerised by a flock of golden plovers (I think!) on White Horse Hill
Hope you enjoy reading the full story – thank you! 😊
Monday 11th October 2021
I had a good ol’ walk at the end of the day today. The sun was shining low in the sky and I trekked to Tidmington and back. While I was out, I had to remember that the sun was on the opposite side of what I’m used to – I only ever really walk here in the mornings when the sun’s rising, not when it’s setting!
I really needed this walk. This is a big week for me with things – entirely of my own doing – causing some stress. The walk helped!
Tuesday 12th October 2021
Fungi. Have you ever learnt any types? I had a look at this article about woodland fungi today and was totally mesmerised by the colours (not to mention the names!)
I’ve seen various fungi around but, while reading through, I was trying really hard to work out which ones they probably were – I’m thinking I’ve potentially seen a horn of plenty mushroom and the many-zoned polypore. I’d love to see the bright red sickener mushroom, plums and custard and King Alfred’s cakes. See what I mean about the names?!
Wednesday 13th October 2021
I had a wander this afternoon to clear my head and thoughts. I’d had a tricky day and felt quite drained. My head was whirring and, though a trip to spend some garden centre gift vouchers that I received for my birthday was tempting, I knew deep down that I needed to walk the stress off.
As I went through the meadow, I saw some small birds flitting around chasing each other. They were quite far away so they were difficult to make out at first but then I saw a few more of them a little closer to me – they were pied wagtails. I absolutely love pied wagtails. They are some of the most delightful visitors to agricultural spaces.
Thursday 14th October 2021
This afternoon required a trip onto campus. It was a bit of a long afternoon/early evening and, though it was nice to see colleagues, I hadn’t been surrounded by so many people for a very long time. On my way back to the car, as I was trying to wind down, I walked past this gaggle of geese at the side of a pond near the road. What I absolutely love about this picture is the greylag goose, presumably pretending to be a Canada goose.
Friday 15th October 2021
An article I read brought history and the natural world together today – a History Today write-up by Alexander Lee (a fellow at Warwick University) about Frederick II’s obsession with falconry in the 13th century. Apparently he ‘acquired falcons and hawks from Greenland and Arabia, cranes from Malta and falconers from England’ and wrote his own book called De arte venandi cum avibus (On the art of hunting with birds). It’s little wonder such beautiful birds drew the attention of kings (or Holy Roman Emperor’s!)
Saturday 16th October 2021
With my mum and dad visiting this weekend, it would’ve been rude not to take them to Brandon Marsh. I think I’m averaging a visit per month at the moment. No otters or kingfishers for me today – though my dad did actually see a kingfisher apparently! – but we were treated to some snipes and redwings. There were also some huge flocks of gulls and lapwings over the larger pool and two groups of greylag geese took their turn to circle the water and then land (rather ungracefully!)
Sunday 17th October 2021
A trip to Swindon to see some friends gave my partner and I an opportunity to visit the Uffington White Horse. When we lived in West Oxfordshire a few years ago, we’d regularly have a trip to the White Horse. Now it’s a bit of a trek so we thought we’d tie it in with our journey to Swindon.
White Horse Hill provides some really lovely views and, despite the grey weather, we had a good walk around. A kite was having a wonderful time riding the currents and the skylarks were singing their lovely tunes. We saw a huge flock of birds in the distance over some arable land. They were difficult to make out, but they looked brown on top and pale underneath. They also let out a call that reminded me of the sea but they definitely weren’t gulls. After some research, I think they might’ve been golden plovers, flocking together to get ready to move to lower ground.
*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 