So my wild year has somehow come to a close. Done. Dusted. Finito. I can’t quite believe I made it!
I’ve already shared one of the reasons why I endeavoured on my wild journey – I’d experienced the positive benefits of wildlife through 30 Days Wild and 12 Days Wild and wanted to set myself a bigger challenge. But there were a couple of other motivations too.
Firstly, I wanted to find some more inspiration for my artwork, a hobby that I wouldn’t have taken up again had we not been plunged into lockdown. Secondly, and much more importantly, I couldn’t bear to have a ‘lost year’. I wanted a record of all my adventures and experiences despite the turmoil we’ve all experienced. Life’s too short.
So this post is as much for me as anything else. A summary of all of those ‘random acts of wildness’. Inevitably, some of the more memorable moments are those ‘larger’ wild encounters, but I’ve included a short list at the end of the sources of inspiration for the smaller moments. If you find yourself joining me on this final adventure from 2021, I hope you enjoy the ride. Thank you for reading 😊
January 2021
I remember ‘experimenting’ a lot at the very start of last year – I was certainly finding my feet with the challenge. Luckily (and unluckily), there was plenty of time to settle into some wildness, with the lockdown and all. I was determined to have some variety with my daily notings so there was a good mixture of wintery walks, magazine articles/books and podcasts. I remember I learnt about collared doves and their rapid spread across Europe in the mid-20th Century in The History of the Countryside (Oliver Rackham). There was also some artwork like this chaffinch.
February 2021
February was all about the snowdrops and winter flowers. I can still remember the first place I spotted the beautiful white flora as I walked towards one of my local villages – right near the old toll posts on the way to Honington. They inspired a different style of artwork which is now up on my wall. I also remember being mesmerised by all of the winter flowers surrounding this staghorn sumac in Honington. I didn’t have a clue what tree it was at the time – it was one I managed to identify later in the year.
March 2021
I’ve been pondering how to summarise March. Put simply, it’s the time that I learnt how cruel life could be. The passing of my grandad wasn’t a shock but it was shocking. The circumstances painful. The socially-distanced funeral unbearable. It was a month that I experienced in quite a daze.
I remember that three wild encounters helped me, though. The beautiful reliable robin provided some stability the day I received the news. The magnificent oystercatchers gave me courage on the morning of the funeral. And the flock of lapwings straight afterwards, which brought me some peace before making the long journey home.
April 2021
Out of the haze came Spring. It was still difficult, but I spent quite a lot of time distracting myself by learning some new bits and pieces. There were Lucy Lapwing’s bird song lessons, a book about mammal and bird navigation (Incredible Journeys), a podcast about tardigrades (30 Animals That Made Us Smarter) and an article about identifying bird nests (BBC Wildlife Magazine). Goldcrests start their nests off with spider silk don’t you know.
Learning bird songs and calls was particularly helpful – I can still identify songs/calls of blackbirds, robins, wrens, song thrushes, chaffinches, great tits, collared doves, wood pigeons, chiffchaffs and blue tits from the lessons. I’ve also picked some additional ones up on the way too, including long-tailed tits, goldfinches, fieldfares, great spotted woodpeckers, green woodpeckers, jays, magpies, jackdaws, red kites, buzzards, curlews, lapwings, pied wagtails, yellowhammers, skylarks, house martins and swifts. Such a geek!
May 2021
I was lucky enough to venture to the Yorkshire Dales in May. The scenery in Arkengarthdale was just stunning. And, despite the rain, the walks were incredible. One particular walk stands out: it was through a load of peat bogs. It was tiring and my feet were absolutely soaking, but we saw golden plovers and two ring ouzels. The landscape inspired a couple of art pieces as well, including this one of the hens in the valley – they gave my partner and I a good laugh one morning!
June 2021
June was a bit of an odd month because, after such a jam-packed walking holiday in May, I managed to sprain my ankle (quite badly!) and was sofa-bound for some of the month. Looking back, I don’t think I rested it enough as there were still a few walks in June. A trip to London also brought some urban wild spaces – like St George’s Gardens.
That said, I did try and take it a bit easier at times and live webcams brought me some wild updates on the Leamington Peregrines. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these birds hatch, grow and fledge over Spring. I also rescued a sleepy bumblebee and made the most of the garden when I could (like during the Wildlife Trusts’ Big Wild Breakfast!)
July 2021
The moths stood out to me this month. I saw three moths that I’d never encountered before: the Lesser Yellow Underwing, Puss Moth and Magpie Moth. The magpie particularly stood out to me and I decided to paint it a little later in the year. As a result of these moth-spots (along with a couple of others earlier in the year – the Mother Shipton Moth and the Scarlet Tiger Moth), I bought a book called Much Ado About Mothing (James Lowen). I’m still making my way through this one but it’s safe to say it’s opened my eyes!
August 2021
Probably the month I’m most proud of – I walked over 300 miles to raise money for Parkinson’s UK in memory of grandad. My challenge was to walk a minimum of 6.5 miles every day, despite running a busy online summer school with work at the start of the month. I saw 5am more times than I ever thought I would, along with some beautiful sunrises.
It was also the month I walked 94.5 miles with my partner along the Kennet & Avon Canal from Reading to Bristol. An absolutely beautiful wild adventure. I saw countless kingfishers, herons, moorhens and swans, some cormorants and marsh tits and even a grass snake! It was honestly my highlight of the entire year.
September 2021
I saw a lot of family in September which was lovely. It started with a trip up to my mum and dad’s – the first time I’d been in their house since February 2020. While I was there, I had a very long solo walk in Embsay (Yorkshire Dales) and also had a look through some of my grandad’s things. There was a lot of artwork and I particularly liked this tree.
My sister also visited us here in the West Midlands later in the month. With her, I spotted my first ever otter at Brandon Marsh nature reserve and explored some Cotswolds woodland near Chipping Campden on a warm September day.
October 2021
The Autumn colours well and truly appeared this month. I enjoyed seeing them on a walk near Cornwell in West Oxfordshire. The browns and reds were emerging amongst the greens. Local walks around Shipston also provided more autumnal sights – brown and fiery red oak leaves and jays feasting on acorns.
Towards the end of the month, I walked through piles of leaves in Walsall when I visited a friend. Walsall’s arboretum also provided some unexpected birds: parakeets!
November 2021
An escape to Harlech on the Welsh coast was the November highlight that also brought the darker evenings. Long walks and rainy days were the main themes. Despite the awful weather, the views from the village were breathtaking and I remember being inspired with some new ideas for artwork. Some of these haven’t materialised yet but I hope to work on them soon.
November also brought the fieldfares back to the countryside around Shipston. Their return felt like my adventure had come full circle.
December 2021
And I’m delighted to say that the end of the year brought some more artwork once again – my wild challenge certainly inspired a lot of pieces and, though I kept up my artwork over most of the year, there were definitely some quieter moments once life got busier. I’m planning to write a little more about a few of these pieces – but that’ll be one for later in January!
Wild sources
So I hope you enjoyed my little round up!
As mentioned above, I thought it might be helpful to share some of the sources of those smaller ‘acts of wildness’. The ones that particularly helped me on the busier days, not to mention the days when I was sofa-bound with a sprained ankle!
Books/Magazines
BBC Wildlife Magazine
National Geographic
Collins gem: Butterflies (2012)
Collins gem: Insects (2012)
Collins gem: Trees (2012)
RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds (Simon Harrap, 2012)
Collins Life-Size Birds (2016)
Hidden Nature: A Voyage of Discovery (Alys Fowler, 2017)
Rewild Yourself: 23 Spellbinding Ways to Make Nature More Visible (Simon Barnes, 2018)
Incredible Journeys (David Barrie, 2020)
Into the Tangled Bank (Lev Parikian, 2020)
The History of the Countryside (Oliver Rackham, 2020)
The Well Gardened Mind: Rediscovering Nature in the Modern World (Sue Stuart-Smith, 2020)
Much Ado About Mothing (James Lowen, 2021)
Podcasts
The Stubborn Light of Things
30 Animals That Made Us Smarter
Apps
Picture This (plants)
Picture Insect
Twitter
Leamington Spa Peregrines
Rutland Ospreys
White Stork Project
Rare Bird Alert UK
YouTube
Lucy Lapwing bird song lessons
Samantha Clift Art’s pencil drawing lessons
Ramblings of a (very!) amateur artist 