What a busy week! And we’re totally storming towards Christmas which is a bit scary!
In between the buzzing around, I enjoyed some more wild moments. Quite a few of my wild challenge contributions were small things that I slotted into each day. Having these brief moments of wildness definitely gave me some much-appreciated headspace!
Nothing could beat Wales last week, but I still had a range of highlights, including:
🐦 A read of some rare bird alerts
🌈 Good ol’ walking therapy
🍒 Fieldfares and berries
🐢 A tortoise called Madame Cyclops
Hope you enjoy 😊
Monday 15th November 2021
History nerd alert! I read an article today about the moment animal rights in the UK changed – in 1838 when a lawyer called Richard Martin brought a badly abused donkey into a British court as a ‘victim’ of the cruelty of the defendant. Though it’s an awful topic, the change in attitude towards animal welfare has always intrigued me. Why did we suddenly care? Or had many always cared but weren’t heard? And why do many still not care?
The article suggests that the main reason for change was the growing divide between the social classes of the Industrial Revolution – “the upper and middle classes retreated from bear pits”, for example, and pet ownership grew rapidly. The working classes and their living conditions, on the other hand, were seen as morally abhorrent and campaigns to eliminate animal cruelty apparently merged with those to “alleviate the moral condition of the poor”. Very interesting!
Tuesday 16th November 2021
And another alert – rare bird alert. I haven’t looked at the weekly round-up for a little while so I perused the list this afternoon. My favourites this time were the Northern Harrier spotted in Ireland, Red-breasted Geese in Essex, the Desert Wheatear in Kent and the Red-flanked Bluetail in Yorkshire. Further afield, the Siberian Rubythroat seen in Sweden was pretty spectacular too.
Wednesday 17th November 2021
I was treated to some beautiful clouds during the sunrise this morning. Just one of my usual walks near the river – though I’m finding it much harder to walk as frequently at the moment! – but the clouds made the sunrise all the more beautiful.
I just love the almost pockmarked pattern in the sky. Trying to observe and look properly at these sorts of views is definitely helping my artwork. When you think of a sunrise, you often forget that clouds turn the light into weird and wonderful shapes.
Thursday 18th November 2021
Buzzards. I’m seeing a lot of buzzards at the moment. Last weekend, I saw one perched on a dead tree trunk – it looked magnificent propped on top of it, with it’s almost-white breast. Then, this afternoon, I saw about three in the farmer’s field. They all took off at the same time and I wondered whether one of them was the young one my partner and I had heard squawking and squealing for food from a nearby barn over the summer. I watched them for a while before they flew off into the dusk.
Friday 19th November 2021
I was very tired when I set out on an afternoon walk today. Tired and had tonnes on my mind. Work had been successful – my colleague and I had run a good session in a school with some Year 11s this morning – but I was feeling frustrated. I’m really trying to get some voluntary experience in something like wildlife education but I’m having no luck.
As I walked, the magic started to happen. I was unconsciously sorting through all this bad stuff. I decided on a few additional things I could do to explore my volunteering options and then realised that the bigger issue might actually be the cold spot that seems to exist in South Warwickshire – there really aren’t that many opportunities nearby. Something to definitely ponder. And I finally concluded, by the end of the walk, that I was getting quite irritated for no reason. I’m such an impatient person sometimes and there’s literally no rush. Now I’d say that was some useful therapy!
Saturday 20th November 2021
The fieldfares are definitely back and I’m very excited about it! I’d suspected they’d already made it to the fields around Shipston – I’d heard their calls – but, this afternoon, I got a proper look at a group of them while I was out and about. They must have arrived around the time I went to Wales. They’re such loud birds and, I have to say, I find it a bit baffling to think that I’d never heard of them before last year. I’ve certainly banged on about them enough this year! They’ll now stay here until around March time, eating as many berries (like the ones in the photo) and worms as they can!
Sunday 21st November 2021
I’m reading quite an interesting account of a weird and wonderful childhood in My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell at the moment. Durrell was a British naturalist and zookeeper and I think the Sunday Times’ simple, but accurate, endorsement (“A bewildering book”) says it all! The book recounts Durrell’s childhood on Corfu. Eccentric doesn’t even cover it when it comes to his family. Although this makes it an entertaining read, the descriptions of Corfu’s scenery and wildlife is exceptional – it transports you there.
This morning, I read a section on tortoises. A whole load of the reptiles had just emerged from their underground hibernation and the then 10-year-old Durrell had taken a particular liking to one of them:
There was one large honey-and-tar-coloured female who was unmistakable, for she had only one eye. I got on such intimate terms with her that I christened her Madame Cyclops (Gerald Durrell, My Family and Other Animals (2011, Penguin Essentials Edition)).
That definitely sounds like something I’d do!
*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 