Ramblings of a (very!) amateur artist

Dry January

How would I summarise January… I’d say it really is the hardest month of the year. Well, for me anyway. And that’s mainly due to the light I think. So little time to squeeze walks in before/after work. Especially when you’re busy. A year ago, it was a little different – going out for a walk was pretty much all you could do! And there was quite a bit of time to have a proper break and a wander on a work day. It wasn’t like that this January. I also thought it was dry. Very dry. Though less frequent, dry January made the walks a lot less muddy!

I’m pleased to say that, over the whole month, I used the lessons I’d learnt from my 2021 challenge and made time for a moment of wildness every single day. The full list of what I got up to is at the very bottom of this post (in case you’re intrigued!) but I wanted to highlight just a few bits and pieces because, despite it being a tough month, there were still moments of wonder, awe and beauty. And that’s important.

Wintery walks

There were still some beautiful wintery walks, for example. Maybe not as many as last year, but they gave me some wonderful views and memories. There’s also a theme here – sunrises and sunsets! And just look at the moon setting over Shipston in one of the photos. I took that one on a very cold morning and couldn’t believe how golden it was. There’s certainly something special and winter dawns and dusks.

Bird spots

I spotted lots of birds this month too. One of my favourites was this cheeky Egyptian Goose in Henley-on-Thames! I’ve also seen:

Blackbirds
Robins
Dunnocks
Kestrels
Buzzards
Red Kites
Moorhens
Chaffinches
Blue Tits and Great Tits
Long Tailed Tits
Bullfinches
Goldfinches
Cormorants
Great Crested Grebes
Fieldfares and Redwings
Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons
Wagtails (Grey and Pied)
Jays
Wrens
Yellowhammers
Rooks/Carrion Crows/Jackdaws
Mallards and Mute Swans
Ring-necked Parakeet (in Henley)

Painting dusk

After a very busy week in mid-January, I took some time to go for a walk around the local meadow as the sun was setting on a Friday evening. I decided then and there that I was going to paint what I’d seen when I got home – a rare moment of instant inspiration and motivation. Usually when I’m inspired, I write down the idea and wait for a time when I’ll feel motivated to paint it. This time, the two feelings went hand in hand!

Interesting facts

The fascinating song of the Lyre Bird caught my eye (or ear?) this month. It featured in Attenborough’s Wonder of Song documentary and it really is a wondrous thing. The bird is a real mimic! Though impressive, it’s sadly even learnt how to mimic the chainsaws that are destroying its territory in southern Australia.

I also learnt from National Geographic that orcas have been seen hunting and killing blue whales for the first time – the largest predator vs. the largest prey. Orcas really do fascinate me. The intelligence and bond between individuals is unbelievable.

Big Garden Bird Watch 2022

The very end of the month brought the RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Watch. Doing this on Sunday 30th made me think back to a year ago. I can’t quite believe how fast it’s gone.

The chronology of the pandemic escapes me, but I think I’m right in saying that there wasn’t an awful lot open a year ago. It’s odd. Almost feels like a dream. And I know there are other things that happened almost a year ago too. ‘A year’ – such an artificial way for us to organise time. I’m already preparing myself for what’s to come.

Spending this hour looking out at the garden was the most settled I’ve felt for a while. It’s also the first time this year that I’ve paid attention to the garden. I saw new shoots, a ladybird nestled within the crook of a stem, clematis buds, rose buds and the dreaded wild onion grass!

I hope you had a good January – here’s my full wild list!

Week 1

Sat 1st January: Very wet and windy walk in the Malvern Hills.
Sun 2nd January: Discovered the Great Bustard Reintroduction Project in Wiltshire after reading a British Birds article.
Mon 3rd January: Walk to Toddenham and saw two great spotted woodpeckers tumbling through the trees.
Tues 4th January: Spotted a little wren hopping around in the garden. A moment of peace.
Weds 5th January: Cold, crisp walk around the meadow. Saw the sun eventually rise over the hill.
Thurs 6th January: Mum sent me an article about the belted kingfisher spotted in Lancashire. Such a pretty bird!
Fri 7th January: Walk through the meadow. Saw catkins (hazel), green woodpecker, kestrel and redwings.

Week 2

Sat 8th January: Spied on the collared dove pair who seem to enjoy our bird cherry tree.
Sun 9th January: My first proper field walk of the year. Very muddy but it was an absolutely beautiful day.
Mon 10th January: Watched Attenborough’s Wonder of Song documentary. Loved the clip of the Lyre Bird.
Tues 11th January: Read a chapter of The Seafarers (Stephen Rutt) about Shetland and skuas. Want. To. Go. There.
Weds 12th January: Beautiful frosty walk first thing this morning. Particularly loved the frozen cow parsley.
Thurs 13th January: Identified a giant sequoia in my local cemetery. Such an impressive tree!
Fri 14th January: Impromptu painting of dusk in Shipston, following a lovely walk through the fields.

Week 3

Sat 15th January: Day out in Henley-on-Thames with my friends. Spotted an amazing Egyptian Goose.
Sun 16th January: Very muddy walk through the fields. Saw lots and lots of blue tits.
Mon 17th January: Robins singing in the cold evening on the main road.
Tues 18th January: Interesting article in BBC Wildlife about the reintroduction of golden eagles to the borderlands.
Weds 19th January: Beautiful baikal teal in the Rare Bird Alert round up.
Thurs 20th January: 2 collared doves perched in the tree again (they’re always there at the moment!) – I’m going to call them Polly & Peggy.
Fri 21st January: Short BBC Wildlife article about how dogs have been trained to help protect the endangered eastern barred bandicoots.

Week 4

Sat 22nd January: Remembering the screeching red kite chick that used to perch in a tree on the edge of Witney.
Sun 23rd January: Spotted a great crested grebe and a cormorant at Witney Lakes on a short walk.
Mon 24th January: Inspired by The Seafarers to be brave and try and identify more gulls in future.
Tues 25th January: Spying on sparrows squabbling over food in the garden.
Weds 26th January: Lovely walk through the field before work – kites, blue tits and redwings.
Thurs 27th January: Learning about different types of geese. Greylag is the only native breeding species.
Fri 28th January: Walk in the late afternoon. Beautiful moment at dusk (which I wrote about here).

Week 5

Sat 29th January: Read a National Geographic article about orcas attacking blue whales – the largest predator hunting the largest prey.
Sun 30th January: Lovely walk to Burmington through the fields. Added dunnocks to my bird list for 2022!
Mon 31st January: Spotted a cormorant flying over and a bullfinch pair in the hedgerow on a walk around the meadow.

A little ramble

I have a couple of confessions to make. Firstly, I’m still here! Secondly, I’d say I probably got to the end of the 2nd January 2022 when I realised that I’d miss writing my weekly posts. I can confirm that I’m still keeping up my daily acts of wildness – and I may well share some of these with you in one form or another soon – but, as the end of 2021 came, I was worried that it might become repetitive and boring if I continued.

This blog started all the way back in 2020 as somewhere for me to share my artwork. There was a lot of time for art and I wanted to tell the stories behind my pieces. As time went on, finding a spare moment became harder, but my wild challenge brought some focus and motivation. I was determined to make time to reflect, write and share.

That’s what I feel like I’ve lost a little bit. Those moments – whether they be related to art, the wild world, or something else – have gone. Stories are harder to share if you don’t write or talk about them straight away. So that’s what I’m going to try and do in 2022. When I have a thought, beautiful moment, wild encounter or reflection, I’m going to try and write it and share it. And, today, I had one of those moments.

My little ramble

Work is unbelievably busy right now. Out of office hours plus usual ‘in office hours’. It’s fun but tough and it’s a struggle to balance everything.

It’s also a struggle to do some of the things that I know are unbelievably helpful for my wellbeing – like going out for a daily walk. The light doesn’t help, but this has seriously slipped and I’m not happy about it. Today was different. I was determined. So I started early, prepped everything for an event I’ll be running tomorrow, tried to get ahead for another project that’s about to launch and then forced myself to finish before it got dark.

It was tight with the light and I was almost too late to go on the single track roads and through the fields, but I just about made it (even if I was pushing my luck!) Ironically, I was surprised at how light it was when I left the house and was very pleased to see that the sun was sort-of out. Isn’t it amazing how, when you’re busy and stuck inside, you don’t even notice if the sun is out or not!?

As I walked, some snowdrops by the side of the busy main road out of Shipston suddenly caught my eye. They looked very modest – like they were trying to hide themselves amongst the ivy. Lost in my thoughts, I nearly missed them but I’m so glad they grasped my attention eventually. I love snowdrops and I saw the earliest ones of 2021 on the same walk last year.

You may already know that I absolutely love birds too. There were plenty of fieldfares, goldfinches and blackbirds today. One goldfinch showed me his bright yellow wing bars as he burst out of the hedgerow. The fieldfares repeated their usual loud chortling and a blackbird turned out to be the culprit of some rustling in the leaves near the river (after I investigated said rustling).

But there was one bird that I wasn’t sure about. I couldn’t get a photo but it hopped out as I passed some houses in Honington and bounced alongside me for a while. I’m not sure if it was injured and couldn’t fly or if it just wanted to hop (maybe that’s a thing in the bird world?) But it looked to me like it was a young goldfinch. Or maybe a siskin? A greenfinch? It’s a mystery!

I also love sunrises and sunsets. The clouds were perfect for a sunset this evening. I worried less and less about the light as I passed through Honington and focused on the colours that dusk had brought instead. Fiery oranges and yellows, brilliant pinks and purples and dramatic greys. Looking more closely, I can now see purple within the greys too. It’s important to look more closely sometimes. You miss such interesting things when you don’t!

I could feel the night approaching as I headed up through the field and across the river. As I took a photo of the sunset beyond the bridge, trees and fields, I tried to get a composition that I thought I could paint. I really like landscapes with rickety old things in the foreground – be they bridges, dry stone walls, stiles, or gates. I hope I get around to giving this one a bash soon!

And when I got home? Well, the sky was just on fire. I saw others notice it too – that brought a little smile to my face. Perhaps they’d also enjoyed a little ramble of their own? I like to think so.

2021: My Wild Year!

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

The variety kept me sane while I was sofa-bound!

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

Artwork from a couple of Christmas presents

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

356 Days Wild: Week 50 & 51

And so marks the end of my 356 days of wildness. Almost a full year – and it would’ve been, too, if I hadn’t thought up the idea a few days late!

This post covers the last week and a half of my wild challenge, starting before Christmas and ending on New Years’ Eve. The highlights are varied, as always, and some artwork has even snuck in again – a hobby I’m determined to keep up in 2022.

I’m going to post a summary of my almost-year-of-wildness soon, but I can’t help but take the opportunity to reflect on some of the things I’ve seen and done. I’ve walked miles and miles, I’ve learnt new facts, figures and bird songs, I’ve read some beautiful new books, I’ve seen peregrines and ospreys grow, I’ve spotted over 100 birds, I’ve discovered the wonder of the moth world and I was lucky enough to have an amazing adventure on the Kennet & Avon Canal. I’ve also learnt much more about my local wild spaces in Shipston in the West Midlands. I won’t ever take these for granted.

It hasn’t always been easy. There have been plenty of laughs and a lot of joy, but there’s also been pain, sadness and more challenging times. The things I’ve learnt about the natural world through podcasts, books, documentaries and magazines have brought both hope and sorrow. Every time I see a bird, tree, butterfly or flower, I thank my good fortune that these natural wonders exist.

If you’ve been with me on any part of my journey, thank you very much for taking the time to read my ramblings and, if you’ve been here from the very start, thank you for sticking with me. Your thoughts, comments and best wishes have meant so much.

I hope you enjoy reading this final round-up of my acts of wildness for 2021 and have a very happy new year! 😊

Monday 20th December 2021

I’m very pleased with my Christmas wreath!

Well, I just really had to share my Christmas wreath today. The little cones and leaves remind me of collecting bits and pieces from outdoors as a kid. I remember I had quite a few shells and fossils and I think I pressed some flowers at some point too. Maybe that’s something to try again?

I also reckon I should try making my own wreath next year. Maybe with some guidance from this.

Tuesday 21st December 2021

I found myself in Stratford-upon-Avon for part of the morning after having my booster jab. I was meeting a colleague for coffee before she finished for Christmas. As I waited for her near the river, I spotted this giant swan-Christmas-light-decoration-thing. I’d seen this in Stratford a few weeks ago but hadn’t managed to get a pic.

Not to bring the mood down for too long (it is Christmas after all!) but I do worry about the swans in Stratford and really hope that people are paying attention to signs and aren’t feeding them at the moment. There’s a pretty bad bird flu outbreak across the country and the swans of Stratford have been hit hard by it.

Wednesday 22nd December 2021

It seems I’m travelling a lot this week! It’s always the way isn’t it – you need to try and squeeze everyone in at Christmas time!

Today’s adventure was a trip into West Oxfordshire to see the young person I support through volunteering. I haven’t seen her for a little while so I thoroughly enjoyed a walk and milkshake with her. On the way back through town, I spotted these very vibrant pink flowers – colours I definitely wasn’t expecting to see. Apparently it’s a Persian cyclamen, so called because it comes from the Greek word ‘kyklos’ meaning ‘circular’ (this refers to the spiralling of the petals).

Thursday 23rd December 2021

I caught up on Samantha Clift’s most recent pencil crayon workshop this morning. This time, she focused on a robin and I’ve really found it useful to learn more about how to build layers of colour on feathers and wings.

Though not a bird, it inspired me to get my snail drawing out which I started a couple of months ago. Pencils are very slow so I’m hoping to dip in and out of this drawing over the Christmas break.

Friday 24th December 2021

Votes are open for Wildlife Photographer of the Year (People’s Choice). There are some absolutely amazing photos in the gallery so I’d strongly encourage you to have a little look and vote for your favourite. For me, it was between ‘Hitching a ride’ by Wim van den Heever and ‘Lynx cub licking’ by Antonio Liebana Navarro. How these photographers capture such images is absolutely beyond me – the patience and skill is incredible.

Saturday 25th December 2021

Published today in @BritishBirds – the fifth review of Birds of Conservation Concern (#BoCC5).
70 species (29% of those assessed) are now on the Red list.
Find out more at https://t.co/Qp89iQaX5I
Thread ⬇️#birding #conservation #ornithology pic.twitter.com/EZkCy0SR1P
— British Birds (@britishbirds) December 1, 2021

It’s Christmas! If you celebrate it, I hope you had a wonderful day! It’s also the first day of ’12 Days Wild’ which is sort of where this journey began – a bit weird that I’ve come full circle.

In amongst the food and festive tipples, I did still record a ‘random act of wildness’. My partner bought me the December issue of British Birds magazine and, on an initial flick through, I was drawn to a table outlining Britain’s ‘Red’, ‘Amber’ and ‘Green’ bird lists. I’ve written previously about some of the ‘winners’ when it comes to past reviews, but I was still intrigued. Previous reviews from 1996, 2002, 2009 and 2015 were also included in the table so it was interesting (and also sad) to see some of the changes.

The trajectory of the poor house martin shows how it’s faring quite badly – down from Green in 1996, to Amber in 2002 to 2015 and now to Red in 2020. House martins are annual visitors to us and I very much hope they’ll nest here for years to come.

On a more hopeful note, one bird I saw a lot on my canal adventure is now on the Green list after 25 years on Amber – the Common kingfisher. Hopefully more species will thrive in future reviews.

Sunday 26th December 2021

I am absolutely convinced that the best way to use Boxing Day is to go out for a walk. Christmas has been and gone again (how does time go so quickly?!) and we’ve all pretty much stuffed ourselves to the brim. I imagine I wasn’t the only one to head out for a bit of fresh air today.

It was a longer walk than usual – over to Tredington, then across the Fosse Way to Armscote, Blackwell, Darlingscott and Stretton. Then back through some very muddy fields. It was a rather bleak walk but the blue tits, great tits, chaffinches and great spotted woodpeckers brightened up the trees and hedgerows. A lovely end to my penultimate week of wildness!

Monday 27th December 2021

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust reserve before but the bank holiday gave my partner and I the perfect excuse to visit Slimbridge. It’s such a large site and there’s a real mix of birds here. Some of them are captive birds – like the Nenes, Eiders and some of the other geese and ducks on the ponds in the middle of the reserve.

A large part of the wetland centre is also a reserve, with wild birds roaming around on the Severn estuary. There were hundreds of birds and it was impossible to identify them all but we were lucky enough to add a few more to our list for 2021:

We just about managed to squeeze them in before New Year! The cranes were a ig bonus. And they’re a real conservation success story – they’re totally wild but were bred in Somerset as part of the Great Crane Project.

Tuesday 28th December 2021

I finally completed this autumnal painting today. It’s been on my list for weeks so I got the watercolours out and added the detail that the oak leaf so desperately needed. It was a lovely way to switch off and relax. It isn’t as bright as the one I saw in real life but I let my imagination take control a little more than usual!

Wednesday 29th December 2021

Meet the nano-chameleon, which at about the size of a sunflower seed, fits on the tip of a finger and may be the smallest reptile on Earth https://t.co/ILD84Qi8Zv
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) June 19, 2021

There are always a few round-ups over the Christmas period so I thought I’d have a look through National Geographic’s review of animal discoveries and findings in 2021. Two of these really stood out to me – the discovery of the world’s smallest reptile and the elephants that have somehow evolved to be tuskless.

The reptile was discovered in Madagascar and is a type of chameleon – called Brookesia nana. Incredibly, it’s only the size of a sunflower seed.

The elephants evolved as a result of Mozambique’s civil war. More than 90% of the elephants in Gorongosa National Park were killed for ivory during the conflict. Since the war ended in 1992, around one in three female elephants never developed tusks. Tusklessness apparently usually occurs in only 2-4% of female African elephants and scientists have found that the elephants concerned have mutated copies of two genes involved in tusk development.

Thursday 30th December 2021

There aren’t many hours left of my wild challenge now! Today’s act of wildness was a little different – it involved some beautiful objects from an exhibition at the British Museum in London. I always enjoy looking out for wildlife in ancient – and modern – artefacts and this exhibition on Peruvian history didn’t disappoint.

I’ve picked out a couple for you. One is a human killer whale vessel from the Nazca period (1000BC – 800AD) and the other is also from the Nazca period – a hummingbird textile embroidered with llama/alpaca wool. I’m amazed at how well preserved both of these objects are. Absolutely breathtaking!

Friday 31st December 2021

And here we are – New Years Eve! My final ‘act of wildness’ had to be the start of a new painting. The kingfisher has been on my list ever since my canal adventure in August. I’m taking my time with this watercolour and I’m trying to incorporate some of the lessons I’ve learnt about pencil art – look for the shapes, think about tone and try to keep it simple where you can. This one might take me a little while, but I think he’ll be worth it. Happy New Year everyone!

*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!

356 Days Wild: Week 49

Well, I made up for my walking lull this week!

Week 49 of my wild challenge involved a little trip up north to see family before Christmas. And I made sure to take my walking boots. The whole long weekend was a huge highlight, but there were other, smaller highlights too, including:

🎄 A thoughtful Christmas story (about a fir tree)
🐦 A long-ish walk around Shipston – with a goldcrest, bullfinch and yellowhammer
☀️ Visiting England’s highest lake
🦆 Spotting a goosander on’t canal!

Hope you enjoy the full story and, as I won’t be posting again until next week, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas! 🥳 Thank you for reading 😊

Monday 13th December 2021

I treated myself yesterday to a little book called The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories. It’s a beautiful book and it’s full of festive short stories. I read the first one over lunch. We’re having some work done to our house and I had a brief moment of respite from the absolutely horrific sound of the nail gun!

This story is called ‘The Fir Tree’ by Hans Christian Andersen and it definitely made me think. I’m not sure whether that’s why he wrote it in the 19th Century, but, if it is, it worked. In brief, it’s a story about a little fir tree in a forest that wants to have an adventure. It hears about Christmas and how beautiful fir trees look when they’re decorated with trinkets, etc. It dreams of the day it can become a Christmas tree. As I read it, I just knew what was going to happen – it was so short and yet so poignant.

So, yes, this little tree’s dream eventually came true. It had a wonderful Christmas Eve with candles, sweet treats and trinkets lining its branches but, afterwards, it was left in an attic until it was eventually chopped up and burned. It ends with these lines: “Now it was over, and the tree was gone, along with the story. It was over, over, over, and that’s what happens to every story!”

Tuesday 14th December 2021

Shipston’s chapel of rest – it was much darker than it looks!

The light isn’t my friend at the moment but I guess it isn’t long until the shortest day now. Regardless, I decided to head out to the chapel of rest before the sun rose. I thought it might be light enough for me to have a walk through the cemetery once I got there but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The photo makes it look a little less dark than it was – I wouldn’t have been able to walk around without a torch. And walking with a torch in a graveyard would probably attract some unwanted attention!

Wednesday 15th December 2021

As I suggested yesterday, it’s impossible to go out for a good early walk so, instead, I started work really early and then headed out for a short walk around the meadow once the sun had risen at about 8:15am.

It was a muddy walk (unsurprisingly) and I enjoyed some skidding and sliding. But what I enjoyed much more were the buzzards in the field. I saw 4 in total – I’m not sure what they were doing. They must’ve liked something in the crop because they kept hopping along and only eventually took off because I got too close.

Thursday 16th December 2021

I’ve got a couple of days off this week and I made the most of today by combining two of my local walks – Honington and Burmington – to make a local mega-walk. Well, it wasn’t that mega. About 8 miles in the end.

What was really lovely about this walk was that I had a few encounters with some old friends: a goldcrest, some yellowhammers and a bullfinch. It’s funny, I can associate these (and some other birds) with very specific places in my local area now. The goldcrest, for example, wasn’t too far from where I spotted one last winter – in the scrub next to Stratford Road leading out of Shipston. I really enjoyed this cutey. He kept bobbing into the hedgerow ahead of me so I was able to walk alongside him a couple of times.

The yellowhammers were near the entrance to ‘the meadow’ on Fell Mill Lane when you leave Honington. I’ve seen yellowhammers elsewhere as well but I remember seeing them in the hedges bordering these fields in summer too. And the bullfinch was near the sewage works on the same road. Not the most pleasant place, but the trees here seem to be popular with bullfinches!

I’m definitely getting some inspiration for a ‘local wildlife around Shipston’-type artwork/book/thing…

Friday 17th December 2021

Yesterday evening, my partner and I headed up to the little town of Barnoldswick in Lancashire to see family before Christmas. The town isn’t far from the Yorkshire Dales so, between family time, we took the opportunity to have a walk at Malham Tarn.

Malham Tarn lies above the famous Malham Cove, a few miles away from Malham (the village). It’s not directly above, but it’s high up and it was a good job too because the fog was so thick on our way there, further down in the valley. Above the fog, the views were just stunning.

The walk was just under 5 miles in total but we kept stopping to work out what was on the lake. It’s England’s highest freshwater lake and you can tell it’s a good stop-off point for migrating birds. We saw a flock of lapwings flying above the lake first, followed by wigeons on the water itself. We also saw some white ducks with black heads on the tarn – we think these were goldeneyes. It was a wonderful walk and, if you’re ever up that way, I would encourage you to seek out this quiet haven (especially if you see crowds flocking to the cove!)

Saturday 18th December 2021

Another little stroll today. This time along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal after an absolutely enormous lunch on the town square. It was as large as a Christmas Day meal and I knew I’d fall asleep if I didn’t get some cold, fresh air.

We just walked down the canal to a small village called Salterforth. This stretch of the canal always yields some sort of surprise – we’ve seen kingfishers here before, along with mandarin ducks and great crested grebes. My partner and I joked about what we’d see this time as we walked and two goosanders appeared. Not particularly rare but definitely ‘different’!

Sunday 19th December 2021

And a final comment on the fog. We headed home this morning and, as we drove over the ‘top road’ to get to the motorway, the view was incredible. The fog was sitting deep in the valley, with the sun shining down on it. I couldn’t get a photo from the best spot, but this one gives you an idea. The beautiful blue sky above with the line of mist in the distance. The dry stone walls were all frozen too. I don’t think I ever appreciated this landscape when I was young but I can certainly say that I do now.

356 Days Wild: Week 48

Holidays are comin. Holidays are comin. And I cannot wait! The countdown to the Christmas shutdown has started!

But, before I get ahead of myself, let’s look at some highlights from Week 48 of my wild challenge! This week I:

☃️ Explored the garden after an impressive hail storm
🐣 Checked on the Rutland Ospreys and Leamington Peregrines
🍒 Looked back on some winter artwork
🦜 Enjoyed the wild sights and sounds of Oxford

Hope you enjoy – only 3 weeks left! 😱

Monday 6th December 2021

My partner and I nestled down this evening to watch a documentary called Wonders of the Celtic Deep. It’s a BBC1 doc that explores the wildlife of the Welsh coast. I’ve written a number of times about my adventures in and around Harlech on Wales’ west coast – it really is beautiful – so thought this could be interesting.

The highlight of this episode had to be the grey seals. Apparently they can sleep in the sea and one segment showed a seal dozing upright while the waves bobbed up and down. It was ridiculous! And I just can’t find a clip of it! But, if you end up watching the doc, it’s in the first 5 minutes of the first episode 😜

Tuesday 7th December 2021

I had a little forage around the garden this morning to see what it’s looking like now all the leaves from the cherry tree and wisteria are gone. The first thing I spotted (from the kitchen window) was the collared dove clinging to a branch, no doubt bracing itself for Storm Barra.

Further exploration revealed that our acer is just about clinging on (though its leaves are pretty much all over the garden too!) and the bright red berries of the scarlet firethorn are flourishing. The honeysuckle is also sprouting some gorgeous black berries. I don’t remember seeing these last year!

Oh, and the ice on the ground? Well, once the storm did arrive, it got extremely dark and then full-on hailed for about 20 minutes. There were piles of hailstones on the ground!

Wednesday 8th December 2021

This is the satellite tracking data we have received for the last 14 days for male Osprey, 4K(13), which spends the winter months in Guinea. As you can see, he is predominantly fishing along a channel of water off the Pongo River🦅 pic.twitter.com/VHTtVkGI1y
— Rutland Ospreys (@rutlandospreys) November 6, 2021

I realised this week that the Twitter accounts of the birds I followed in Spring are very much still active and I haven’t checked on how they’re doing for months. So I headed first to the Leamington Peregrines. It looks like the peregrine couple are bonding nicely once again atop Leamington’s Town Hall – hopefully they’ll have another clutch next spring!

I then headed to the Rutland Ospreys. Ospreys migrated back to central Africa a few months ago now so their updates are all about the tracking data. Apparently one of the males (4K(13)) is in Guinea at the moment and it looks like he’s predominantly fishing near the Pongo River. Another male who fledged in 2013 (1K(13)) has also been spotted in Senegal.

Thursday 9th December 2021

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Wildlife Trusts (@thewildlifetrusts)

Not the jumper I bought but you get the gist!

Ok, I’m an absolute sucker when it comes to impulse buys. I should say that I did spend some time outdoors today at a woodland activity centre for a project I’ll be running with work. So that definitely counts as an ‘act of wildness’. But the wild encounter I’m actually going to note for the day is me handing over some cash for a ridiculously cute hedgehog Christmas jumper. The Wildlife Trusts’ really do know what they’re doing!

Friday 10th December 2021

The acer has lost even more leaves now (after only a few days) and, seeing them scattered all over the path, I thought back to my Autumn/Winter collection that I painted last year. I haven’t even looked at these over the past 12 months and yet I remember really enjoying mixing the colours in the pieces. The berries (probably rosehips), blackberries and acer leaves were the stars of the show. I’m itching to get my watercolours out again soon!

Saturday 11th December 2021

Today presented another opportunity for a cheeky night away in Oxford. The weather was pretty bleak and I think I may have destroyed my lovely – and expensive – black suede ‘power boots’ going around a muddy Christ Church meadow. It was worth it though. Buzzards and red kites burst out of the bare branches above while mallards, a random tufted duck and swans enjoyed the water. A green woodpecker also let out one of its cackling calls.

As I walked, it decided to make good on its threat and actually started raining. The long-tailed tits seemed to particularly enjoy my poor fate – they took it in turns to have a brief bath as the raindrops created little puddles on the bank.

Sunday 12th December 2021

A bleak photo of University Parks but if you look hard enough you can find all sorts! *(photo credit: Stefan Lang)*

University Parks was the walk of choice to end the week. My partner and I had stayed overnight in the north of the city (in a place called Summertown) and it’s a good couple of miles out from the centre. As we walked towards the hustle and bustle of Oxford’s Christmas market, we wound our way around the park.

Near the River Cherwell, we suddenly heard a noise and I was absolutely convinced it was a parakeet. I wrote about parakeets in Walsall a little while ago but I hadn’t ever seen one in Oxford. We stopped for a second and looked into the trees. The same noise echoed across the river and we spotted some nuthatches, long-tailed tits and great tits high up. We knew none of them were responsible for the calls.

We waited a little longer and then spotted a flash of bright green and the unmistakable tail feathers of a ring-necked parakeet. So Oxford has them too now!

And don’t forget…

I still have a few prints available. If you’re more organised than me (highly likely!), you’ll already have the Christmas presents sorted. But, you never know, you might still like them. Reckon I should maybe try a local craft fair next year 😊

Yorkshire Dales Lapwing (bottom right)
🐦 Number available: 4
📐 Size: 210x210mm (unmounted), 10″x10″ (mounted)
🖌 Materials: Perlino Cotton (part recycled) heavyweight paper
🎁 Price: £16 (unmounted), £18.50 (mounted)

Kennet & Avon Marsh Tit (top left)
🐤 Number of prints available: 2
📐 Size: 210x210mm (unmounted), 10″x10″ (mounted)
🖌 Materials: Perlino Cotton (part recycled) heavyweight paper
🎁 Price: £16 (unmounted), £18.50 (mounted)

Quirky Trees (bottom left)
🌳 Number of prints available: 9
📐 Size: A5 (unmounted), 10″x12″ (mounted with back board)
🖌 Materials: Chunky ‘Elephant Natural’ paper
🎁 Price: £12 (unmounted), £14.50 (mounted with back board)

Flower Meadow (top right)
🌸 Number of prints available: 8
📐 Size: A5 (unmounted), 10″x12″ (mounted with back board)
🖌 Materials: Chunky ‘Elephant Natural’ paper
🎁 Price: £12 (unmounted), £14.50 (mounted with back board)

The full story about each print is in this post – every piece has a story! Contact me at emilyramblings@gmail.com (or drop me a message on Instagram) for more info 😊

356 Days Wild: Week 47

I’m feeling a bit sad that I’m onto the last few weeks of my wild challenge. I don’t plan to stop my ‘daily acts of wildness’ when we hit 2022, but it does feel like another journey is coming to a close.

So it’s definitely important for me to make the most of December and share all of my stories with you. And Week 47 certainly had some more highlights in store, including:

🌲 A big ol’ larch tree
❄️ A cold walk at dusk
🤓 Fun facts about 3 lesser-seen birds
🐦 Spotting a very adorable tree creeper

Thank you for sticking with me over the past 47 weeks (through all the ups and downs). Hope you enjoy as always 😊

Monday 29th November 2021

The article I read this morning was called ‘The shocking truth about the UK’s primate trade’ and it really did shock me. I had no idea that private ownership of primates (as pets) was so easy to do and was so unregulated. Marmosets are apparently the main victims of private ownership, but a primate rescue centre called Monkey World in Dorset has also saved spider monkeys, ring-tailed lemurs and a chimpanzee.

It’s difficult to get a good idea of the numbers of primates in private ownership but BBC Wildlife says that most estimates suggest it’s between 1,000 and 7,500 individuals. It just beggars belief. The article offered some solace though – the law is slowly but surely changing and, under proposed new regulations, privately kept primates will need to live in ‘zoo-level’ conditions and owners will need to have a license. I hope that’s enough to solve the problem for these poor animals.

Tuesday 30th November 2021

I knew that time for ‘acts of wildness’ was gonna be tight today. So I took the opportunity early doors, while at work on campus, to have a short wander on my own. I went around one of the university’s smaller side-campuses and saw some squirrels, robins and blackbirds. This larch with its cones and spines caught my eye too. Apparently it loses its spines but its cones will stay over winter.

Larches originate in central Europe but were introduced here for timber. In European folklore, the trees were said to protect against enchantment. I didn’t need this today, but I definitely needed some protection from a long day at work – I wonder if it helps with that too?

Wednesday 1st December 2021

What better thing to do the morning after a late night at work than to have a walk around the meadow. My brain was still whirring and buzzing but I enjoyed the very fresh, cold air. The weather has confused me a lot over the past few days – it got milder but it was still cold. And it’s felt really cold when it hasn’t been much below freezing yet (at least not in the West Midlands). How am I going to cope with actual winter?!

Thursday 2nd December 2021

Another walk today but this time at dusk. I was lucky with this one. I managed to take a bit of time back from work and clocked off early. Notwithstanding my good fortune, I was nearly too late to beat the sunset. I wanted to venture a little further than my recent wanderings which would involve walking on an unlit single track road.

I know lots of people enjoy listening to podcasts or music while they walk. I don’t tend to do this since learning some common bird songs and calls, but this is another reason why I often refrain. I knew I had to listen out for cars in the half-light and there turned out to be a fair few of them this evening. The dusk didn’t disappoint though – a clear sky with oranges and yellows on the horizon.

Friday 3rd December 2021

My partner found a list earlier in the week. This is the official list of wild bird records in Britain. And can you believe there are 628 species listed?! I think our list for the year is at around 100, which is about half of the more common species.

I’m pretty pleased with that tally, but I would be well up for seeing some of these impressive critters!

Kingfisher Hide – Cackling Goose on Bottom New Piece, amongst Canada Geese. Also Barnacles plus thousands of Dunlin, Golden Plover, Lapwing and Starling. @slimbridge_wild #GlosBirds pic.twitter.com/TVLNJvkfcy
— Tim Jukes (@TimJukes4) December 18, 2020

1. Cackling Goose

I was drawn to the name instantly in the list. A Cackling Goose! Who knew there was such a thing? Cackling Geese look a lot like Canada Geese but in miniature form – these photos don’t really show it, but they look absolutely tiny in comparison.

I’m not sure when these were first sighted in Britain, but Twitter tells me that they were spotted not far from me in Gloucestershire last December. If you want to hear their cackle, I’d strongly encourage you to listen to the second recording on this website.

2. Common Nighthawk

Look at this impressive beast! Spotted in London in October 2019 (and elsewhere in the UK over the years too). Related to the Nightjar and found largely across North America.

I’ve never seen a Nightjar, but I’ve flicked past it a number of times in the good ol’ bird book. They’re odd-looking birds and you can see the similarity in the Common Nighthawk in its stumpy face.

Photo of the Common Nighthawk over Bushy Park in London today by @lewisjnewman more to follow later on this remarkable find pic.twitter.com/93E5X5ILXC
— RareBirdAlertUK (@RareBirdAlertUK) October 19, 2019

The Blue Rock Thrush in Gloucestershire
Details on the discovery of this first winter record for the UK – https://t.co/xl5Zc6KCSL pic.twitter.com/Dr5lkcMLvP
— BirdGuides (@BirdGuides) January 9, 2017

3. Blue Rock Thrush

And last, but not least, the Blue Rock Thrush. Such a beautiful colour. Apparently their song is Blackbird-like but there would be no mistaking this one if you spotted it!

Blue Rock Thrushes look to be more common in warmer climates – southern Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and South/East Asia. I wonder how often it pays a visit to us…

Saturday 4th December 2021

Another valuable lesson learnt today. Always, always take the binoculars.

I went out for a quick walk in the sunshine and could’ve kicked myself. In a tree across the field was a giant black bird with a long neck, perched on a branch. I reckon it was a cormorant, but I have absolutely no proof – I just couldn’t see it properly with the naked eye. If I’m right, it would definitely be a bit of a peculiar thing to spot around here.

One thing I can be sure of is that I got my first reasonably-good-quality-ish photo of a fieldfare! I can finally show you one of our locals! I don’t usually see them in trees on the streets of Shipston, but there you go!

Sunday 5th December 2021

I’d like to end the week with a tree creeper. I’ve seen a few of these around and spotted one at Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve today. They’re pretty secretive birds – they make their way up and down tree trunks, checking in cracks and crevices for food. They almost look like they’re hopping vertically.

They’re small but distinctive – long curved beak, white belly and beige, zigzag wings. Overlooked and underrated I reckon. So that’s why they can have a spot in my blog this week.

A Sprinkle of Art

Hello! As mentioned in my last ‘wild challenge’ weekly blog post, I’ve decided to put some art prints up for sale! I was a little scared to do this, but I’ve been so grateful for the feedback and purchases I’ve received so far. It’s genuinely meant a lot so thank you.

As promised, I’ve shared the full story behind each of the pieces below. There’s always a story behind my art so I hope you enjoy them. If you’re interested in any of the prints, you’re very welcome to email me at emilyramblings@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram 😊

Yorkshire Dales Lapwing

🐦 Number available: 4
📐 Size: 210x210mm (unmounted), 10″x10″ (mounted)
🖌 Materials: Perlino Cotton (part recycled) heavyweight paper
🎁 Price: £16 (unmounted), £18.50 (mounted)

Now, this one could actually be renamed the ‘Langthwaite Lapwing’. You see, this painting was inspired by a single Lapwing walking along a single track road on the moorlands near Langthwaite in the Yorkshire Dales. The same moorland made famous by last weekend’s ‘snow-in’ at the Tan Hill Inn!

Lapwings are such beautiful birds and you just don’t see them as much anymore so having a good view of this one – and it’s friends – was a real treat. A group of lapwings also brought me a lot of comfort following the passing of a loved one earlier in the year so I’m always grateful to see them.

Kennet & Avon Marsh Tit

🐤 Number of prints available: 2
📐 Size: 210x210mm (unmounted), 10″x10″ (mounted)
🖌 Materials: Perlino Cotton (part recycled) heavyweight paper
🎁 Price: £16 (unmounted), £18.50 (mounted)

It’s always worth looking out for marsh tits – despite their name, you can find them in woodlands, parks and gardens. This print was inspired by some marsh tits I saw on my fundraising walk along the Kennet & Avon Canal in August. My partner and I made it all the way from Reading to Bristol on the canal and I raised over £800 for Parkinson’s UK in memory of my grandad.

It was a challenging, tiring, beautiful, wonderful adventure (as you may know – I wrote about it a lot) and spotting the marsh tits was such a huge highlight.

Quirky Trees

🌳 Number of prints available: 9
📐 Size: A5 (unmounted), 10″x12″ (mounted with back board)
🖌 Materials: Chunky ‘Elephant Natural’ paper
🎁 Price: £12 (unmounted), £14.50 (mounted with back board)

Although these colourful trees are works of pure fiction, the story behind this one is still very personal. The inspiration came from another art blog. The artist spoke about how she and a friend had exchanged colourful postcards during the first lockdown last year in an effort to stay connected. It inspired me to send some colourful postcards too, which soon became birthday cards and presents. It was my way of, hopefully, sharing a bit of love.

I also loved experimenting with this piece – dropping a variety of colours into the wet paint to see what would happen was incredibly helpful for my wellbeing!

Flower Meadow

🌸 Number of prints available: 9
📐 Size: A5 (unmounted), 10″x12″ (mounted with back board)
🖌 Materials: Chunky ‘Elephant Natural’ paper
🎁 Price: £12 (unmounted), £14.50 (mounted with back board)

And last, but not least, my beautiful flower meadow. I’ve done a few variations of this meadow. Like the Quirky Trees, it’s from my imagination but, first and foremost, it’s inspired by my local meadow. This place has brought me so much peace, space and comfort over the past 18 months.

It’s the place I go to when I’m happy, stressed, hopeful, sad, excited and tired. It’s the place where I’ve seen so many different things over all the seasons – chiffchaffs, fieldfares, red kites, kestrels, black-backed gulls, herons, grey wagtails, blackbirds, robins (the list really does go on). And, ultimately, it’s the place I’m most grateful for.

Free postage to UK addresses – payments taken through PayPal or bank transfer. Hope you like them and please don’t forget to drop me a message if you’d like one 💛

356 Days Wild: Week 46

And what did Week 46 of my wild challenge bring? Well, winter.

Wasn’t it a cold one?! Frost and then snow and then ice and then frost. Winter makes for some lovely walks though – when there isn’t a storm – so I think I’m ready to embrace the colder weather (as long as it doesn’t cause others any problems).

Within winter’s cold grasp, I enjoyed another week’s worth of wild highlights, including:

⛪️ A peaceful walk to the chapel
🌸 Winter cherry blossoms (who knew they were a thing?!)
🐣 Noisy sparrows
🍗 Some rather obscure Thanksgiving facts

Hope you enjoy the read. And, in case you’re interested, I’ve decided to sell some prints of a select few pieces from 2021. I was a bit scared to do this but I’m being brave. If you’d like to see what’s for sale, please head to the bottom of the post. Thank you! 😊

Monday 22nd November 2021

I had a real urge this morning to walk to the local chapel of rest. I’m not really sure where the burning desire came from, but it was a lovely, crisp morning. I go past the chapel and cemetery regularly on my other walks and I’m always intrigued by all of the birds that call this space home. It’s also somewhere I can walk to safely in the half-light.

When I arrived, it was as beautiful as I’d hoped. The ground was white with frost and it crunched with each step. The sky was golden as the sun rose and the blackbirds were beetling about in the undergrowth. I took a moment to stop and think and then I headed back home. I think I’ll have to make the journey a few more times this winter.

Tuesday 23rd November 2021

Ok, I saw something today that shocked me. A tree around the corner from my house – which I now know is some sort of cherry tree – is blossoming. My first reaction was: Oh that poor tree must not know what season it is, isn’t that awful! And then I had a little look online and, apparently, some cherry trees do in fact bloom over winter. These have the word Autumnalis in their scientific names. Fancy that!

Wednesday 24th November 2021

What did I even do today?! Oh, that’s right, I was in the office and then had a wonderful time volunteering at my local young carers centre. I started helping at the centre before the pandemic hit and this was the first face-to-face group since. The group gives local young carers a space to have some respite and, more importantly, have a lot of fun. And I had a lot of fun too (we made some Christmas decorations out of wool!)

So acts of wildness were hard to come by during most of the day. To make up for it, before relaxing for the evening, I, in my endlessly geekish way, did a tree quiz. I wanted to see how much knowledge I’ve actually absorbed about trees over the past year or so and I didn’t do too badly. That said, with winter basically here, I definitely need to revisit this ‘How to identify trees in winter’ article.

Thursday 25th November 2021

pic.twitter.com/afNkTEfRZz
— EmilyRamblings (@EmilyRamblings) November 27, 2021

#loud

Do birds sing more in November? I’m a little confused. I’m sure I can hear more birds than I did over summer – I’ve heard thrushes again recently and I’ve become accustomed to long-tailed tit calls now too. Blackbirds have squawked away whenever I’ve been out walking and I’ve heard the occasional wren and blue tit too. I vaguely remember hearing in one of my podcasts earlier in the year that thrushes are quiet while they moult over the summer months. Perhaps that explains it!

Sparrows (like those in the video) always make me smile when I hear them in a single bush. They’re so loud. And, though their numbers have plummeted over recent years, I like to think they’re reminding us that they’re still here.

Friday 26th November 2021

It was Thanksgiving in the US this week and have you ever wondered how the animals eaten at the first ever Thanksgiving in 1621 are faring now? Well, even if you haven’t, let me tell you! Spoiler alert: some have definitely fared better than others.

According to a helpful article, this is what we’re looking at:

Wild turkey: Doing rather well (after re-introduction that is). By the Civil War, they’d all been wiped out because they were so easy to hunt. Now, there are about 6 million of them across the US.
Atlantic cod: Not doing so well at all. Decades of overfishing have resulted in a population collapse.
White-tailed deer: They were saved from the brink in 1900 and have done very well as a result. Apparently there are around 30 million in the US now.
American lobsters: Giant lobsters – like those eaten at the first Thanksgiving – are very few and far between, but warming waters in the Gulf of Maine are likely to be fuelling a lobster boom.
American eels: Endangered, but conservation efforts are making progress. River obstacles – like weirs – are being removed to help eels migrate to spawning grounds again.

Bit of a theme here! But reassuring to know that conservation efforts have saved some of these animals from the brink of collapse.

Saturday 27th November 2021

Nothing special to look at, but this was quite a wildlife hotspot on my walk

Once the bulk of Storm Arwen had passed our part of the West Midlands, I set out for a wander. The wind was still pretty wild and it was bitterly cold, but the rain/sleet/snow had mercifully stopped. So I wouldn’t say I was toasty in my thick leggings and layered waterproof coat, but I wasn’t an ice cube either.

When I reached the Stour – a different part to the usual section near ‘the meadow’ – I stopped and looked out over the water. This isn’t exactly a nice place to stop. I walked to Burmington and Tidmington on the road and my stopping place is on a very short section that runs along the extremely fast road connecting Shipston and Long Compton. It’s busy and horrid and let’s just say the constant stream of cars storming less than 2 metres past you at 50mph+ reminds you of your own mortality.

But I stopped nevertheless and I was so pleased I did. A couple of jays were picking at berries in the trees. I always forget they have such wonderful white spots on their wings (like a Great Spotted Woodpecker). Long-tailed tits were buzzing around everywhere, alongside their ‘blue’ and ‘great’ cousins. Fieldfares chortled all over the place too. It was worth a stop.

Sunday 28th November 2021

And, to end the very wintery week, a couple of walks: one in Stratford and one to Honington. It was a beautiful morning when we headed to Stratford with my partner’s brother and nephew. Wild highlights included all of the geese (Canada, Greylag and just plain white) and the swans. I know avian flu is a bit of a problem in the swan population here – I really hope people are paying attention to the signs and have stopped feeding them. They deserve that.

By the time of the Honington walk in the afternoon, the sleet had arrived. Bleak doesn’t really cover it if I’m honest. I got the steps in (helpful for another team challenge at work), but I think all of the birds and beasts were smarter than us – they’d already found some shelter!

Side note – art prints for sale!

Just a cheeky side note. After a lot of umming and arring, I’ve decided to be brave and put a limited number of art prints up for sale. Each of the pieces have a story, which I’ll share on my blog a little later in the week (brief details in the captions).

🐦 Yorkshire Dales Lapwing – 210x210mm – £16 (unmounted) – £18.50 (with 10”x10” mount)

🐤 Kennet & Avon Marsh Tit – 210x210mm – £16 (unmounted) – £18.50 (with 10”x10” mount)

🌳 Quirky Trees – A5 – £12 (unmounted) – £14.50 (with 10”x12” mount and back board)

🌸 Flower Meadow – A5 – £12 (unmounted) – £14.50 (with 10”x12” mount and back board)

Free 1st class postage to UK addresses. Payment taken via PayPal/bank transfer. If you’re interested, or have any questions, please DM me on Instagram or email emilyramblings@gmail.com 💛

356 Days Wild: Week 45

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

*The Trial of Bill Burns* by P. Matthews (19th Century), printed in *History Today* (Vol 71, Issue 11, 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

I have a new blog mainly concerning my visit to the Flambrough Red-flanked Bluetail. Thanks for taking a look if you have time. @FlamboroughBird @RareBirdAlertUK https://t.co/5MX6Ha5MVL pic.twitter.com/5cOmENC1BF
— jim hutchins (@jimhutchins2) November 12, 2021

Some Bluetail photos (Retweeted by @RareBirdAlertUK)

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

Pot marigold – the moment I reviewed my problems and worked through the frustration

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

*My Family and Other Animals*, G. Durrell

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!