Ramblings of a (very!) amateur artist

356 Days Wild: Week 35

Lots of sunshine this week! I even whacked the shorts out again!!! And I think the birds and butterflies have been enjoying it too – what a treat 😊

And, in addition to the sunshine, Week 35 brought some more ‘wild’ highlights, including:
🎶 A September ‘dawn chorus’
🐣 A new bird podcast
🐏 A long walk in the Yorkshire Dales
🦋 A beautiful common blue butterfly

Thank you for reading and enjoy!

Monday 6th September 2021

It was such a beautiful morning today. I saw my fair share of sunrises in August and, though it wasn’t quite a sun rise, this view was just breathtaking. The mist from the river obscured the light and I stopped and took in the colours as I walked. It was around 7am. I think the sun is technically rising at around 6.30am at the moment. This blows my mind – only a few weeks ago, the sun was rising at 5.45am. How have we lost this much time already?!

Tuesday 7th September 2021

The birds are really confusing me at the moment. Motivated by the beautiful morning sunshine yesterday, I woke up extra early today and went for a wander while it was still cool.

I know that robins sing all year round, but I was under the impression that most other birds were starting to wind down. But as I walked down the main road, there was a cacophony of blackbirds, blue tits, great tits, wood pigeons, collared doves and wrens bursting into song alongside the robins. There definitely wasn’t any winding down at all! Maybe it’s the heat and sunshine that’s suddenly brought out the songs?

Wednesday 8th September 2021

*Collins Pocket Guide: Birds of Britain and Europe with North Africa and the Middle East* (1995)

I listened to a new podcast today. It’s called Golden Grenades and it’s about birds. Each week, guests chat about their five favourite birds and their number one bird has a ‘stand-off’ with the host’s favourite: the peregrine falcon. That bit is a little odd (then again, I’m a little odd!) but it was interesting to hear about the guest’s favourites.

In this episode, the guest was Jonny Fisk who works at Spurn Bird Observatory in the North East. His top five birds were: house martin, blackbird, dunlin, pallas’s warbler and sparrowhawk. I wasn’t sure what a pallas’s warbler was so I had a little google – it’s a beautiful little bird with bright gold streaks on its head and it’s a very rare visitor to the UK.

Thursday 9th September 2021

I read through an interesting article this morning. I was having a break from work and thought it might be a good way to keep my mind focused away from Teams and Outlook. The article was a summary of the wildlife you can see this month. There were a lot of things on the list that I haven’t seen yet like the canary-shouldered thorn moth (what an amazing name!), the little stint, ruff, long-eared bat, black darter dragonfly and wryneck. I wonder if I’ll be able to tick any of them off…

Friday 10th September 2021

Today marked the start of a short trip up to Barnoldswick – the town where my family live. I haven’t been up to stay with family since February 2020 and I had an additional job to do while I was here. It was my opportunity to look through a few of grandad’s art bits and pieces.

I’m not sure whether it really counts as an ‘act of wildness’ but my grandad loved wildlife and it was really lovely to see not only his finished paintings and drawings but his doodles and notes as well. I particularly liked these ones, along with this note ‘Do painting of old railway bridge over canal at Salterforth with train going over’ – I make notes of scenes and animals I’d like to paint all the time too.

Saturday 11th September 2021

Well, I channelled the walker in me this morning. Given I don’t tend to be up this way very often, I decided to go for a walk in the Yorkshire Dales. I opted for somewhere not too far away and found a walk on Barden Moor – close to a market town called Skipton – in my walk book.

The start of the walk was a 25 minute drive away and, as I neared my approach, I had a bit of a sitch. The road leading up to the moor from a village called Embsay was apparently closed. Not ideal as there are no other roads up to the moor!

I pondered my options – But. However. Perhaps. – and I suddenly realised it was only a two and a bit mile walk up to the starting point of the walk, assuming the road closure would allow a pedestrian through. So, ambitious me decided to go ahead and voilà a 5.5 mile walk turned into 10.5+ miles…

The views were incredible. I could see distant crags and moorland towering over the two reservoirs nearby. I also saw lots of red grouse and meadow pipits. A buzzard and a kestrel gave me a good display and I even caught a beautiful glimpse of a stonechat.

Sunday 12th September 2021

I set off on my 3-hour drive home pretty early this morning which meant there was plenty of time for a walk in the sunshine around Shipston once I got back. A beautiful common blue butterfly caught my eye on the walk – it was loving life on the birdsfoot trefoil.

*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 34

What a start to September! Week 34 brought the end of my walking challenge and, somehow, a bit of summer – definitely more than we got in August!

Some of my highlights of the week:
🌸 Admiring a garden anemone
👏 Enjoying some final fundraising walks
🦜 Learning about the awe-inspiring colours of the natural world
🦋 Walking through the Shropshire hills

More details below and thank you once again for all of the support with my fundraising walks over August. I raised a lot of money for Parkinson’s UK in grandad’s memory and I think the walks did me an awful lot of good too 😊

Monday 30th August 2021

Although I took a BBC Wildlife Magazine on my canal adventure last week, I’d be lying if I said I’d opened it once… I was just too tired from the walking! So I made up for lost time today and read an article about colour.

Colour in the natural world absolutely fascinates me. The ability of some animals to actually change colour is even more baffling and it was the focus of this article. I learnt about seasonal pigment change (e.g. the whitening of Arctic foxes and snowshoe hares in winter) along with more rapid colour transformations like the blue ringed octopus that tweaks cells called iridophores to send out a ‘dazzling warning display’. Iridophores are a type of chromatophore which is a colour-producing cell found in fish, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans and cephalopods. Iridophores are iridescent colours, but there are other types of chromatophore too, including:

Melanophores (black, brown and red)
Xanthophores (yellow)
Erythrophores (oranges and red)
Leucophores (iridescent white)

Tuesday 31st August 2021

A final walk, bringing me up to 322 miles

This evening, I did my last ‘walk for grandad’. It was a nice long walk to Burmington and Tidmington. I had a little tear in my eye while I thought about grandad and reflected on all of the walks I’d completed over the month.

I’ve walked 322 miles in total and raised over £800 for Parkinson’s UK in grandad’s memory. I’ve seen sunrises and sunsets. I’ve walked through fields, I’ve walked along canals and rivers, I’ve walked (and sometimes scrambled!) up hills. And I’ve been lucky enough to see so much wildlife. I think my grandad would’ve loved it.

Wednesday 1st September 2021

Is anyone else struggling with this gloom in the UK at the moment? I keep thinking it’s October already! One bit of brightness is my anemone at the back of the garden. I remember being totally surprised when this bloomed two years ago during our first summer in the house. I think there was a single flower that year. Last summer we had a few more and, this time around, we have over 10 flowers and buds!

Thursday 2nd September 2021

*Nature’s Palette* – these pages focus on blue colours

Colour seems to be the theme of the week. This morning, I started looking through a book that I was given for my birthday. It’s called Nature’s Palette and it’s a beautiful book. I haven’t mentioned my art for a little while but I’ve been doing a few bits and pieces in the background that I hope to share soon. And, alongside that, I’m trying to understand colour a little more.

The book focuses on Abraham Werner’s classification system of colour. He devised this in 1774 to help identify and describe minerals. Later artists and naturalists added more colours to the list. For each one, an example of an animal, ‘vegetable’ and mineral is given to demonstrate the colour in the natural world. For ‘Berlin Blue’, for instance, it’s ‘Wing feathers of Jay’, Hepatica (Liverwort) and Blue Sapphire. So interesting!

Friday 3rd September 2021

I found myself stalking a collared dove in the garden today. We’ve had quite a few collared doves and wood pigeons in our cherry tree recently. The wood pigeons seem to chase each other all the time. Not really sure why! In this case, on the other hand, the collared dove decided to have a little perch on the fence, walked up and down it and then decided to head across to the cherry tree. It hopped from branch to branch before giving up the endeavour, flew away onto a garage roof nearby instead and let out its cooing call. They do make me laugh!

Saturday 4th September 2021

Some photos from the disused Shrewsbury Canal including some *excellent* artwork!

I ended up wandering down a different kind of canal today – the Shrewsbury Canal. This is an example of a ‘lost canal’. One that was closed in stages during the 20th Century. My partner and I stumbled across this while visiting family. We went for a walk along the River Severn in Shrewsbury and headed out towards a place called Uffington. On our way, we followed part of the Shropshire Way and it brought us to the old canal.

It was impossible to tell what it was at first. There were trees, bushes, brambles and all sorts growing out of the old cutting. The only suspicion was the shape of the space that the foliage grew out of and it’s alignment to the former tow-path. A handy sign confirmed our suspicions. I also have to mention some of the kids artwork that littered a passage under a bridge on our walk – some excellent ducks, bees and dinosaurs there!

Sunday 5th September 2021

Well the gloom has definitely lifted! We ended our short Shropshire visit with a walk across a very dramatic landscape. The walk involved some steep climbs and some outstanding views across Shropshire. At the very top was Devil’s Chair – a piercing outcrop of rock. This dramatic scene definitely needs to be painted. I’m thinking watercolour and ink…

The way up to Devil’s Chair was also interesting. We passed through some woodland first. Chiffchaffs – arguably my favourite bird ever – were singing their repetitive notes as we climbed. As most of the trees cleared, the heather and gorse took over, with the occasional rowan making an appearance. There were lots of skylarks up there and some butterflies as well – mainly small tortoiseshells but I also saw a red admiral and a fritillary of some kind. There was also an antler moth (I used an app to identify this critter!) and I found a beautiful feather. The consensus was that this was probably from a buzzard.

356 Days Wild: Week 32 & 33 (including my Canal Adventure!)

It feels like a while since I posted! Weeks 32 and 33 of my wildlife challenge were pretty much all about my Kennet & Avon Canal adventure. As part of my Parkinson’s UK fundraiser in memory of grandad, my partner and I walked from Reading to Bristol along the canal. It was challenging. It was amazing. It was exhausting. It was beautiful. It was just everything.

And all of the wildlife we saw on the way was the huge highlight of the fortnight – so many moorhens, swans, herons and kingfishers, to name a few. I’ve tried to pick out the wildlife encounters that were the most special, but, I have to say, if you’re a wildlife lover and you ever get the chance to walk the route of an entire canal, do it. You won’t regret it!

This post starts all the way back in mid-August when I was still fitting my fundraising walks into the working day. The canal walk starts on Friday 20th August. Hope you enjoy the read 😊

Week 32

Monday 16th August 2021

Random question, but don’t you just love sloes? I’ve seen quite a few big’uns on my walks this month. What I love is the colour. I don’t think I’ve ever actually had a sloe berry (in any form) but I am always mesmerised by the purple. There’s something about its matt-finish that’s so beautiful.

I also learnt today – after a quick look in the tree book – that there’s no such thing as a ‘sloe-berry tree’ (don’t judge me!) I genuinely thought that’s what the plant that sloes come from was called. It’s not. It’s called blackthorn and it’s more of a bush than a tree.

Tuesday 17th August 2021

I headed over to Leamington Spa to meet with some colleagues today. Leamington isn’t that far away but I haven’t really ever been. I’m a nervous driver and parking is always a concern. And I had no idea where to park.

Luckily, I found a country park about a mile out of the centre (Newbold Comyn) that looked absolutely perfect – free parking, likely to be quiet, next to a nature reserve and it would help me clock up a few miles. I’m trying to push myself to explore new places so I decided to have a leisurely walk into the centre via the Leam Valley Local Nature Reserve. Then, on the way back, I had a walk by the river through the Welches Meadow Local Nature Reserve.

I also had a wander past the town hall on the off-chance I might see one of the peregrines from the webcam I stalked earlier in the year. I wasn’t lucky enough to see one this time but maybe next time!

Wednesday 18th August 2021

I was lucky to have some more company on one of my walks today – my wonderful friend came over and we had a walk around the meadow and through the fields. The sunshine even came out for us! Thank you gurl!

Thursday 19th August 2021

I took the opportunity for a final rucksack-free walk this morning. My canal adventure starts tomorrow – I’m really excited about it but carrying a heavy rucksack for miles and miles is going to be tough!

It was a very odd morning. I left before the sun rose and felt totally disorientated by the light. It made all the colours look interesting though – especially the flowers and the cows. The sounds of the birds were lovely company in the gloom too. On the main road out of town, I heard wood pigeons, robins, blackbirds and wrens. Then, further out, I heard the squealing of a buzzard.

Friday 20th August 2021

I couldn’t get a good photo of the muntjacs so here’s an amazing piece of childrens’ art on the Kennet & Avon Canal between Reading and Thatcham

Day 1 of our canal adventure! We walked the first leg of the Kennet & Avon Canal today – Reading to Thatcham. It was 18.89 miles in the end. Much longer than the 15 I thought it was going to be! And we saw so much wildlife – swans, geese, willow warblers, a cormorant, moorhens, muntjacs and a kingfisher.

The muntjacs were a particular highlight. We spotted them after the Rowbarge pub in Woolhampton. They were in a field just to the side of the towpath. It was very quiet on this stretch. No boats moored and no one really walking along. The muntjacs spotted us but didn’t really seem too bothered. Then they decided to run away – they honestly look like dogs when they run. One of them paused before entering the hedgerow, looked around a couple of times, wagged its tail frantically and then hopped in.

Saturday 21st August 2021

Leg 2. Thatcham to Hungerford. Harder because of the rain (and a couple of blisters) but we made it. Lots more to see today but my highlight was a grey heron. He graced us with his presence not long after we set off from Thatcham. We saw him by a side channel, slightly away from the canal. Once disturbed, he took off and flew ahead of us. I thought that would be the last we saw of him but just a little further up the tow path, there he was. And he stayed there for a little while. We made the most of it and got a good look at him.

Sunday 22nd August 2021

I wasn’t quick enough to take a photo of the grass snake but here’s a cute swan family

Our 3rd day was quite hard. Hungerford to Pewsey. I’d psyched myself up for a 12 miler, only to realise it was actually going to be over 14 miles! Not a great start!

Though it was tiring, I saw a load of wildlife again: herons, 3 kingfishers, marsh tits, a slow worm and a grass snake. The grass snake was AMAZING. We saw it in the canal slithering towards the bank. Oh and the swans and cygnets were very cute too.

Week 33

Monday 23rd August 2021

Day 4 from Pewsey to Devizes felt much more manageable. This might’ve largely been down to the huge breakfast I ate – bacon butty followed by an enormous Belgian bun 😋

The walk took us through the agricultural heart of Wiltshire and we also saw a lot of reedbeds lining the canal like on days 1 and 2. A kingfisher was the treat today. We’ve seen a lot of them on this expedition (at least one a day) but this dude was on the towpath ahead of us – near a bridge – and gave us a good display.

Tuesday 24th August 2021

I’d love to say that each day has been easier. But it hasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this adventure but it has definitely been the challenge I expected too. My shoulders were so sore today and, though I was ok for the first 4 miles or so, the remaining stretch of this 12 mile leg was hard.

One thing that kept me going was a little moorhen. We’ve seen loads of moorhens on the canal – at least a good handful everyday – but this moorhen was there when I collapsed down onto the bank. I needed a break and I focused on the moorhen’s chortles and squeaks until I could get up. She helped me a lot.

Wednesday 25th August 2021

We made it to Bath! Hallelujah! We managed Reading all the way to Bath on the canal! And we have a rest day here tomorrow before the final – very long – walk to Bristol on Friday.

It was a bit quieter on the canal today. Lots of lovely views and lots of people but not as many birds. It’s been so interesting to see how the wildlife and landscape has changed as we’ve walked.

So it’s a bit of a different ‘act of wildness’ today – the bats. We made it to Bath in good time and had plenty of opportunity to explore the city well into the evening. At dusk, we had a walk down part of the River Avon and there were bats everywhere. I have no idea what species – perhaps most likely to be a common pipistrelle? – but I thoroughly enjoyed watching them above our heads.

Thursday 26th August 2021

We visited the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath today. I love looking out for animals in artwork. Wildlife has always been such a key part of human culture and there are often some absolute gems in museum exhibitions. This is a selection of some of my favourites from today.

Friday 27th August 2021

It was our final walk on the Kennet & Avon Canal today. The route from Bath to Bristol follows the River Avon and it was a big walk – over 19 miles!

Before we left Bath we had a HUGE treat. I’ve followed quite a few peregrine nests across the country this year (as I mentioned above!) but I’ve never actually seen an urban peregrine. This morning, as we headed to the start of our route, we heard a really loud call from St John the Evangelist Church. I knew this church was a peregrine nest site so we got the binocs out and one of the Bath Peregrines was right there on a window ledge.

Saturday 28th August 2021

The last day of our canal adventure. We made the most of a final rest day in Bristol by having a look around a couple of wildlife spots – Brandon Hill and Clifton. There were some beautiful wildflower meadows on Brandon Hill. You could hear the grasshoppers and I’m sure on a lovely sunny day, there would be plenty of butterflies too.

The highlight at Clifton was Avon Gorge – a very impressive geological structure leading out from Bristol along the river. The suspension bridge was pretty cool too!

Sunday 29th August 2021

It took a loooong time to get home from Bristol today. Public transport isn’t really our friend here in Shipston-on-Stour. Especially on a Sunday!

Once we got home, I still needed to get a few miles in. I’ve walked a lot in August but I’m determined to do at least 6.5 miles a day during the rest of the month. So we had a walk to Tidmington and then I had another walk around the meadow. I saw robins, a heron, red kites, buzzards and an emperor dragonfly. It was pretty chilly and there was a dull light over everything – a reminder that Autumn is fast approaching (how?!)

I was also mesmerised by the bright red berries and flowers that I saw. They contrasted with the grey so beautifully.

I’m on the final stretch of my walking fundraiser for August now. Here’s the full tally so far (including the Kennet & Avon Canal mileage):

Week 1 (1st-7th August): 53.01 miles
Week 2 (8th-14th August): 57.32 miles
Week 3 (15th-21st August): 70.53 miles (including the walks from Reading to Hungerford)
Week 4 (22nd-28th August): 115.87 miles (including the walks from Hungerford all the way to Bristol)
Running total (including Sunday 29th August): 305.57 miles

Thank you so much for the donations, support and warm wishes. I’ve raised £700 for Parkinson’s UK. Final push now.

My Kennet & Avon Canal Adventure!

It’s nearly the start of my canal adventure! All being well, my partner and I will start in Reading tomorrow (20th August 2021) and finish in Bristol next Friday (27th August 2021). We’ll be walking along the Kennet & Avon Canal the whole way. 94.5 miles.

I’ve had to repack about 4 times. I’m not 100% sure I have enough pants but I do have my binoculars so I think I’ve got my priorities right…!

I’d love to say we’re easing into it. But we ain’t. Here’s the full itinerary:

Friday 20th – Reading to Thatcham (15 miles)
Saturday 21st – Thatcham to Hungerford (13 miles)
Sunday 22nd – Hungerford to Pewsey (14.5 miles)
Monday 23rd – Pewsey to Devizes (12 miles)
Tuesday 24th – Devizes to Bradford-on-Avon (12.5 miles)
Wednesday 25th – Bradford-on-Avon to Bath (9.75 miles)
Thursday 26th – Explore Bath
Friday 27th – Bath to Bristol (17.75 miles… 😱)
Saturday 28th – Explore Bristol

This is also part of my fundraising walk for Parkinson’s UK in memory of my grandad. I think he’d have loved this adventure!

I’ll be pausing my blog posts until I get back but you can see lots of updates on Instagram if you’d like to find out more 😊 I’ll also be keeping an eye out for lots of wild highlights! Wish us luck!!!

356 Days Wild: Week 31

Week 31 was a bit of a mixed bag. It was inevitable, really, that this would be a tricky time. All those hours, all that prep, all the build-up to a big event and then it’s gone in a flash. The summer school disappeared before my eyes and I wondered what on earth I was supposed to do with myself. And then, suddenly, you have time to think. And thinking can sometimes be hard, as my Thursday entry highlights.

I’m ok. Sometimes I don’t feel so ok and sometimes I do. And that’s ok too. We all feel like this from time to time and I’d like to be honest in my blog.

But, on a more uplifting note, my fundraising walks really did help. They provided some much-needed structure and I was grateful for that. The ‘acts of wildness’ helped too. They were like little rays of sunshine through the grey cloud and I had quite a few highlights, including:
🌺 Learning 3 new wild flowers
🐦 House martin nests
🌳 Exploring War Memorial Park in Coventry
💙 Gazing at a kingfisher

Thank you for reading and please check out my JustGiving page to find out more about my August 2021 walking fundraiser for Parkinson’s UK 😊

Monday 9th August 2021

There’s definitely a change in pace this week. Following the summer school last week, I took a couple of days off work. This slower pace felt a little odd and I wondered what I was going to do with myself today. I took myself off for a couple of walks – knowing I needed to get another 6.5 miles under my belt definitely gave me something to aim for.

The clouds were so imposing on this evening walk. Rain threatened me on the whole journey and you could see the storm clouds brewing in the distance. So dramatic.

Tuesday 10th August 2021

I learnt three new types of plant over the weekend and I tested myself – and my partner – on these as we passed them this evening. Learning is easy. Remembering is the hard part…

These plants are: hairy willowherb (pink), large bindweed (large white) and field bindweed. I always want to call hairy willowherb ‘herby something or other’!

Wednesday 11th August 2021

Don’t you just love house martins 💕 Such amazing parents! #housemartins #birds pic.twitter.com/a9HB9jbQOI
— EmilyRamblings (@EmilyRamblings) August 14, 2021

I’ve mentioned before that house martins nest under our fascias. In fact, the street is absolutely full of them over summer. They flit around the rooftops, swerve about in the sky, cling to the red bricks and make such an endearing sound.

Our house martin nest is right next to the window of our ‘study’. I haven’t worked in here much recently – I like to move around the house – but this was the space I chose today. It was a bit of a difficult day but the house martins brightened it up. They clearly have another nest of chicks. I’m sure that’s the third brood this year.

Thursday 12th August 2021

Wow. Today was a tough one. It was like I’d gone back in time by about 4 months. It kind of made sense though. For weeks, I’ve been prepping everything for the digital summer school at work but that’s all over now so I have time to think again. And, today, that was challenging.

It reminded me of something I drew last week for work. ‘What does freedom mean to you?’ was a question we asked the kids to consider and they shared some really brilliant pieces with us. The picture I drew just popped into my head while I was out walking and, though it comes from a very privileged life, the freedom to escape your own thoughts and insecurities is what I wanted to focus on.

And, today, I really did feel this piece. So, my act of wildness was to try and deal with these thoughts. I laid down on the bed and listened to the wind. It was a particularly windy day and the sound of the leaves blowing and the wind whistling through the window calmed me to no end.

Friday 13th August 2021

I was treated today with seeing the sights of Coventry. A work friend took me for a very long walk around some of the parks and beauty spots. We walked from work to Canley Ford and then through a couple of little parks until we got to War Memorial Park. The park was huge – so much green space for families to enjoy, along with an amazing-looking play area and beautiful memorial.

There was also a sensory garden. I absolutely loved this little place. The colours were just stunning. And I loved the art as well. In fact, I had to confess to my friend that I really do have the mind of a small child when I pointed to the painted bees on a flowerpot and said ‘ooooh look, more bees’. Literally 2 seconds later, a child – age 3 maybe? – said to her dad ‘look daddy, more bees’… 😂

Saturday 14th August 2021

I took the opportunity for a solo trip to Brandon Marsh nature reserve today. The reserve is managed by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and I’ve written about it before. I thought my walk today could do with a change of scenery.

The reserve is made up of a variety of different pools and seeing swans, geese, ducks and herons is always pretty much guaranteed. Today I also saw moorhens, coots and lapwings. But. There was one really special moment at the ‘River Pool’. I headed there first – as a creature of habit, I followed my usual route around the reserve. It wasn’t particularly early and there were a lot of cars in the car park, but I think a lot of people must miss this pool. It’s off the main track and I came across no one at all. Either that or the mozzies put them off – my legs got absolutely bitten to shreds!

There’s a hide at this pool (Steetley Hide) and it was empty so I went in and had it all to myself for about 20 minutes. I had a look through my binoculars at the moorhen and swan in the water. Then, just behind the swan, there was a flash of bright blue. I’ve been lucky enough to see kingfishers in this pool before and there he was, balancing precariously on a reed – a beautiful male kingfisher. I just sat there and watched. He dipped into the pool a couple of times to retrieve some sort of prey and hovered above the water at one point too, his tiny wings beating like a hummingbird’s.

And he was still there about 3 hours later. Before I left the reserve (after a good ol’ walk), I headed back to the hide, just to see. He was still balancing precariously on the thinnest of reeds and still dipping in and out of the water. My phone camera wasn’t good enough to capture the moment, but it was pretty magical.

Sunday 15th August 2021

Another Sunday. Can you believe it?!? And on one of today’s walks, I was joined by my lovely aunt, uncle and cousin. I haven’t seen them properly for about a year and a half and they stopped off en-route to my mum and dad’s just so they could go for a walk with me. We went around the meadow, into town and then had some breakfast together. It was so nice to see them.

Emily’s Walk for Grandad – Week 2 update

For anyone following my walking fundraiser throughout August, here’s another update. I’ve mentioned a few walks above, but here’s the full tally after week 2:
8th Aug: 6.51 miles
9th Aug: 6.91
10th Aug: 10.76
11th Aug: 7.57
12th Aug: 7.22
13th Aug: 11.81
14th Aug: 6.54
Running total: 110.33 (over halfway to my 200 mile target!!!)

Thank you, as always, for the donations, support and warm wishes. Can’t wait for my canal adventure to start next week!

356 Days Wild: Week 30

Week 30 was the first full week of my 200-mile fundraising challenge for Parkinson’s UK. To stay on track, I needed to walk at least 6.5 miles a day while running a big online work event all week. It was a big ask but I got there!

Alongside the walks there were lots of wild encounters, including:
🌅 Some absolutely beautiful sunrises
🦊 My first fox-spot this year
🌧 A few light soakings
🦅 (Potentially) spotting a new bird of prey

I hope you enjoy all of the delights and challenges of the week – it was definitely a tough one at times but it was worth it! 😊

Monday 2nd August 2021

There’s something about going for a walk before 6am. I can’t quite emphasise how quiet it is compared to 6.30am. I set off at 5.45am and, apart from a couple of very early birds beetling around in their cars, there was absolutely no one around. It was silent. Well, that was until I got to the main road. There wasn’t a car in sight but, as I walked past some residential accommodation, ‘Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleeooon’ blasted out of one of the rooms and nearly blew my socks off. It was 5.50am!!!

And it was a beautiful morning. It almost felt wintery with the mist coming up from the river as I headed to Honington. It was a reminder that we’re well and truly over halfway through the year. The birds seemed to be having a good time though – there were plenty of blackbirds, blue tits, great tits, long-tailed tits and, of course, goldfinches around.

Tuesday 3rd August 2021

What a difference a day makes! It felt positively autumnal this morning at 5.30am (yep, my walks are getting earlier!) but that was because of the fog! It was like an October morning! When I headed out around the meadow, I couldn’t even see Shipston across the river. It’s something I definitely wouldn’t normally see during my usual walking hours at this time of the year. And there were all these amazing spider webs that were shining with dew.

Actually, that’s something that my Rewild Yourself book talks about. How it’s really worth getting up early to explore. The author (Simon Barnes) suggests you should get up before 4am on a May morning to make the most of it. That sounds like a tough ask to me, but maybe I’ll have to give it a try next year.

Wednesday 4th August 2021

Some cows enjoying the early morning sun

I promise that my whole week won’t just be about my early morning walks – I don’t want to get too repetitive! – but today’s morning walk was just too much of a treat to not share.

I did a 4.5 mile walk to Tidmington and back and this has honestly been my favourite walk so far. I left the house at 5.30am feeling totally drained. By the time I got home, I felt much more motivated and full of energy. You can’t ask for more than that!

The reason? Well, the weather undoubtedly helped but the wildlife was the real treat. I saw: some very cute cows in a field, a great spotted woodpecker, loads of rabbits, a fox, a kestrel and a bullfinch. I haven’t seen a fox for ages and it was crossing the road ahead of me and I was just so relieved it got across safely. The bullfinch was nibbling on some yellow flowers and, as it flew off on my approach, I saw it’s bright pink chest and black and white rump. And the kestrel was just chilling on a power line.

I also saw something so unbelievably absurd. There was a right racket ahead of me as I approached a cluster of trees lining the road up from Tidmington. It sounded like loads of blackbirds having a stand-off. As I got closer to the noise, a buzzard suddenly burst out of the undergrowth and flew off across the road, followed by two angry brown birds. They were either young/female blackbirds or thrushes. I’ve seen buzzards get bombed by crows, jackdaws and rooks but I’ve never seen blackbirds/thrushes win a standoff like this!

Thursday 5th August 2021

Just two photos for today. Utterly in contrast. The beautiful sunrise (taken at 5.49am) and an indication of the evening weather (taken at 7.41pm) – to put it into context, my shorts were at least 5 shades lighter than that when I left the house…!

Friday 6th August 2021

The last day of the online summer school at work. I can’t believe how quickly it’s gone – or how tired I am! To welcome in the weekend (before napping on the sofa), I had a good look at the Heliopsis helianthoides (North American ox-eye ‘Spitzentänzerin’) that had flowered over the week. This is another one of my peat-free pollinator-friendly plants from Caves Folly Nurseries.

Saturday 7th August 2021

Today, I did the toughest 7.9 mile walk I think I’ve ever done. My partner and I headed out to the Cotswolds near the small village of Slad. According to our ‘guide’, this was going to be one of the most challenging walks in the whole walk book. The walk was supposed to be 7 miles (we may have got lost on the way!). The book said it would take 5 hours to complete and was a grade 3 for difficulty (it only goes up to 3!)

It’s fair to say that I went into this quite naively: “5 hours for 7 miles?! I can walk at 3.7 miles an hour. We’ll do this in 2.” Oh boy, was I wrong. I can’t quite emphasise how steep some of the stretches were. My Strava said my pace dropped to 40 mins per mile in some places. I’ve never tackled anything like this in the UK. And the downhills were even harder than the uphills – it was quite a challenge not to tumble and, on a couple of occasions, I resorted to going down the slopes pretty much on my bum.

It was a brilliant walk though. We heard buzzards crying out along the whole of the journey and saw a couple of fallow deer and tonnes of young pheasants running around in the fields. The woodland was also incredible – so green and overgrown. We managed to do it in less than 5 hours, but I definitely won’t be so naive next time!

Sunday 8th August 2021

My investigative process (*Collins Life-Size Birds*, 2016)

I think I may have seen a hobby for the first time ever today. It’s so hard to know for sure, but I do enjoy putting a face to a name and, though I know quite a few different birds by sight, this one definitely needed some investigating.

As soon as I saw it in the sky, I got the binoculars out but, due to the light, I really couldn’t make out an awful lot. I quickly made a mental note of a few things before it disappeared and wrote them down as soon as I got home. From what I’d seen, I really didn’t think the bird was a kestrel – it didn’t hover and it’s wings were distinctively sharp and pointy. It was also a very nimble flier and made use of the wind to twist, turn and glide. I noted down a few other features, like the habitat and distinctive call. As it happens, I whacked my phone out and played the sound of a hobby right after I’d spotted the bird, just on the off chance. It was pretty much identical. Another key piece of the puzzle.

I checked my list against all of the bird books I have. I ticked where it looked like I was correct and put crosses next to anything not quite right. Hobbies, for example, are actually of a similar size to kestrels, not smaller. And the colouring is different underneath the body. I’m willing to discount this as the light really was bad and I couldn’t make out any colours particularly clearly through the binoculars.

So, though I still can’t be 100% conclusively sure, I’m going to say that I saw a hobby today. And I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the investigative process. I often only mention what I’ve seen when I write my blog posts. What you don’t witness is all the frustration and guesswork and, for at least half the time, it’s often impossible to say either way.

Emily’s Walk for Grandad – Week 1 update

For anyone following my walking fundraiser throughout August, here’s a little update. I’ve mentioned a number of walks above, but here’s the full tally so far:
1st Aug: 9.65 miles
2nd Aug: 7.03
3rd Aug: 7.07
4th Aug: 7.39
5th Aug: 7.08
6th Aug: 6.89
7th Aug: 7.90
Total: 53.01 miles (8 miles ahead of target!)

Thank you so much for all of the support so far. It really has kept me going!

356 Days Wild: Week 29

Week 29 was dominated by lots of practice walks for my August fundraising challenge in memory of my grandad.

Walking always brings wildlife highlights and, this week, my ‘acts of wildness’ included:
🌺 Admiring the beautiful hollyhocks dotted across town
🌧 Walking in the rain
🐓 Finishing some Yorkshire Dales chickens
🐌 Rescuing a little snail

I hope you enjoy reading more – full story below 😊

Monday 26th July 2021

Some beautiful hollyhocks on a scrappy bit of land

T-minus one week to a big work event is always quite stressful. It never feels like there are enough hours in the day by this point and I knew it was going to be a busy week sorting out the last preparations for the online summer school.

After a long day, I realised I hadn’t even been outside yet(!) so I went for a short wander around the town with my partner as dusk was starting to set in. I’ve been meaning to write about the hollyhocks for a long time and spotting them on this short walk was my much-needed ‘act of wildness’ for the day. These plants always amaze me – they burst up through the tarmac each year and nothing can stop them!

Tuesday 27th July 2021

I decided today that I needed to start practicing some early morning walks. With the start of my fundraiser approaching, I knew walking 6.5 miles a day over the first week of August was going to be a challenge.

As it turned out, my cats managed to help me by having a stand-off with another cat in the garden, waking me up at 5.30am. So there was literally no excuse not to get up and go for a 6am walk.

I went around town for this walk. It was just another morning. Nothing particularly unique or different. Very quiet and sleepy. Apart from the birds – the usual suspects were already bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The early bird catches the worm (or seed?) after all. We’re talking sparrows, starlings, wood pigeons, collared doves and blackbirds. The blackbirds were particularly entertaining. They were so vocal and a couple burst out of the bushes just to get further ahead of me as I wandered past. It reminded me of the baby blackbird I drew last year – so cute, so full of character.

Wednesday 28th July 2021

The snail. Such an overlooked creature. So I just had to note this little snail down for the day. I spotted this teeny tiny critter on a bridleway during another evening walk. I picked him up and put him to the side in the hope that he wouldn’t get trampled by anyone there.

Thursday 29th July 2021

Gatekeeper butterfly – it finally stopped and settled on the grass so I could get a proper look at it!

With things coming together at last, I found myself in an unexpected – and fortunate – position where I was able to finish work a little early. I realised I hadn’t actually managed to walk 6.5 miles on any day this week so far. It’s not the real thing yet but I thought that wasn’t really ideal before my challenge starts next week!

Now this may sound really odd. But. I have to say. Changing the direction of a walk really can reveal new things. Don’t laugh!

I did one of the longer walks I’ve been practicing. I always walk it in the same direction: bridleway, wheat field, across the beck, past the farm, onto the Tidmington track and then onto the main road. So I went the opposite way this afternoon. I got some lovely views of the fields leading back up to Shipston and I was lucky enough to spot a couple of red admiral butterflies (where have they been this year?) and also got my first good view of a gatekeeper butterfly. Gatekeepers don’t seem to settle very often so I’ve been struggling to see these orange butterflies properly for such a long time!

Friday 30th July 2021

Oh the rain! It was so heavy at times today. And, for most of the working day, I was thankful that I was cooped up inside. Nice and dry.

But then I thought about a slight issue – what on earth was I going to do next week if it rains the whole time? My walking fundraiser still needed to run. You might call me mad, but I just knew I needed to prove to myself that I could withstand a 3-4 mile walk in the rain.

Out came the waterproof coat and out I went. I did a slightly extended version of a common route (through the meadow and then onto the road around town). Though the clouds were dark and stormy, by some miracle, I actually managed to avoid the rain. Tomorrow was a different story!

Saturday 31st July 2021

Arkengarthdale chickens – pencil on watercolour

It isn’t the wild encounter I’d like to note for the day, but a little side note to pick things up from Friday. Though I did not get the soaking I wanted yesterday, let’s just say that today – in the words of Rita Skeeter – “No matter. We got what we wanted”. I was dripping after a walk through one hell of a downpour. But I survived so, yes, I can do this next week if needs be! Not sure if I really needed to prove this to myself!

With that done, what I’d really like to share with you is a piece of art. It’s inspired by my Yorkshire Dales adventure in May and is a watercolour and pencil piece of beautiful Arkengarthdale. Recreating my wild highlights and experiences in art is always so therapeutic and, though the holiday feels like a long time ago, the memories are just so beautiful.

Sunday 1st August 2021

Today was the day! Day 1 of my walking fundraiser for Parkinson’s UK. And I got a head start by going big – a 9.5 mile walk to Whatcote and back. It was very muggy and I was pretty sure it was going to rain but the weather held and the miles clocked up. This will help me out a lot over the next week. I’m still aiming for at least 6.5 miles a day but that’s going to be quite a challenge with my work commitments!

There were a couple of wildlife highlights on this walk too – a fierce heron stormed out from the bank of a pond, let out a screech and landed in a tree and I managed to free a meadow brown butterfly, caught in a spiders web, from a gate near the river. Well, I actually had to free the butterfly twice. On the first attempt it decided to fly straight back into the web *rolls eyes*.

356 Days Wild: Week 28

Week 28 felt very busy and there were some lovely, wild highlights. Everything really does look and feel so much better in the sunshine!

Let me give you a lil flavour of what I got up to – this week, I:
🦆 Explored a local nature reserve at sunset
✒️ Plotted out some local walks to prep for an August fundraising challenge
🦋 Encountered three beautiful moths
🌳 Started planning a forest watercolour

Full story below – enjoy!

Monday 19th July 2021

I think the main topic of conversation at work today revolved around the question ‘did anyone sleep last night?’ – the heat is getting to people!

Once the work day was done, my partner suggested that we go to a very small nature reserve about 7 miles away. It’s called Woodford Bottom and Lamb’s Pool and is managed by the Bucks, Berks and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. We first explored this nature reserve during the lockdown last year and it’s so tucked away that it took us ages to work out where on earth it was.

To get there, you basically have to park in a teeny tiny lay-by on the country lane that goes past it. You then have to keep your eyes as peeled as you can bear in order to find the style to take you onto the path. Hardly anyone must come here. It’s a very special place – despite the inevitable nettle stings (I got two on my hand this time!)

This evening, with the golden hue of the sun setting behind the rolling fields, we walked down the track to the pool. The water was crystal clear and was very still – apart from some sudden movement amongst the reeds. I was expecting a moorhen or a duck to suddenly burst out, but, to our surprise, a fish leapt out of the water. I have absolutely no idea what type of fish it was but it weren’t no tiddler!

With this moment of drama over and done with (in a literal flash – or splash), the peace resumed. A song thrush chortled away somewhere nearby and a couple of small birds – possibly sandpipers – flew overhead. Once we got to the end of the pool, a heron suddenly took flight from the bank. It must’ve been watching us for a while but it didn’t give itself away until the last possible moment. Such a beautiful place.

Tuesday 20th July 2021

The Albatross and the Puffin (expand image).

A very cool photo of the Bempton Black-browed Albatross uploaded to our gallery by Roger Hardie https://t.co/NVNfFxgnyi pic.twitter.com/bPVis31Odc
— RareBirdAlertUK (@RareBirdAlertUK) July 20, 2021

You know I just said the heat is getting to people? A colleague told me they’d resorted to sleeping on the bathroom floor. I mean. Too far surely?!

Anyhoo, today I decided to have a short peruse of the Rare Bird Alert twitter account and there was the most unbelievable photo on there – the now-famous black-browed albatross flying next to a puffin at Bempton Cliffs. The difference in size is just mind-blowing!

I heard this bird had decided to visit us a few weeks ago but I hadn’t really given it much more thought. So I googled the black-browed albatross to see where it might’ve come from and found this fantastic webpage on the Falklands Conservation site. I’m now really not sure how this impressive bird got here – it should be in the South Atlantic!

Wednesday 21st July 2021

6.30am. Not an unreasonable time to get up – though I know a few people who would disagree with me! – and, this morning, I decided it would be the perfect time to go out for a stroll. Much better than the midday humidity!

It was quite an important walk as well. It was one of my practice walks for a fundraising challenge that I’m going to be doing in August. Earlier in the year, my grandad sadly passed away after battling Parkinson’s Disease for a number of years. I decided I wanted to raise money for Parkinson’s UK in his memory so that more people can get the treatment and support they need to cope with this disease.

My challenge is to walk 200 miles over the month. About 6.5 miles per day. On many days, this’ll be reasonably straightforward. But, during the first week, this is going to be flipping tough. I’m co-leading an online summer school so it’s going to be long, LONG days in front of the laptop screen. So very early walks, along with evening strolls, are going to be essential. And I best get ready for them! You can find my JustGiving page here if you’d like to read more: Emily’s Walk for Grandad.

Thursday 22nd July 2021

I need to talk about moths today. I never knew how beautiful they could be until recently. And now I’m absolutely fascinated by them.

I knew already that there are more moths than butterflies out there but I didn’t realise moths could be a) so big, b) so colourful or c) so interesting. And, this week, I’ve seen a total of three amazing moths in my garden – all of them absolute beasts!

We were first visited by the lesser yellow underwing. I like to think I’m quite good at working out different birds from one another from memory but I have to confess that technology helped with identifying the moths – I wouldn’t have known where to start! So an app told me it was a lesser yellow underwing and another individual from this species (let’s say his cousin) actually landed on my leg while I walked up the road in the twilight.

Next up was the puss moth. I found this poor thing on the patio and was worried one of the cats might get it. It didn’t look too good so I picked it up and put it in a hanging basket. Next morning, I checked on it and it still looked on its last legs. I tried to give it a nectar solution (don’t laugh!) but it sadly died later in the afternoon. Despite my efforts, it’s likely that this moth was nearing the end of its life in any case – they only fly for one season, from May until July.

Finally – and this is the moth I spotted this evening – we were visited by a magpie moth. Again, I’d never heard of this moth. Just look how butterfly-like it is!

Friday 23rd July 2021

I’m reading a new book called Rewild Yourself by Simon Barnes. The chapters are short and the text is large (my ideal book!) and Barnes’ aim is to impart some nuggets of wisdom to his readers to help them embrace the natural world. Today, this nugget focused on ‘animal highways’.

It can get frustrating sometimes if you’re out and about and you don’t see any animals around. But his point here is that there are other things you can look out for that can give you a sign of what’s about – like the trails that animals leave and the tunnels or pathways they frequent. We must all walk past these all the time without realising. I’ll try to make sure I look out for them next time I’m out!

Saturday 24th July 2021

Today felt a bit weird. I was waiting for the rain to come all day and, despite the threat of stormy weather, it never came. So I felt a bit like I’d stayed inside all day for no reason at all.

I was a little bit productive though – I started by building an art desk that my partner bought me for my birthday. I absolutely hate building flat-pack furniture (and I’m hopeless at it), but, against all the odds, I managed to build it and it hasn’t fallen apart yet.

I thought it would’ve been rude not to use it and I have a couple of small projects for family and friends at the moment, along with a couple of pieces to finish and a very long list of things I’d still like to paint or draw. So I got cracking with some ideas for one of them – a forest scene. Not sure exactly where I’m going to go with this yet, but I enjoyed having a play around with the colours.

Sunday 25th July 2021

“When life comes adrift, garden time can get you going again” – wise words from Sue Stuart-Smith in her book. Yep, I still haven’t finished The Well Gardened Mind…!

For ‘frequent readers’ of my blog, you’ll have seen me comment on the book a number of times and, though I’ve enjoyed reading her wise words, up until today I hadn’t really put an awful lot into practice. Yes I’ve pottered around with the occasional plant. But, in truth, I’ve let the garden go. So I started to give it a good old tidy up this morning. I’m slightly concerned I may have exposed a cocoon with my tidying. Or is it just part of the tree? If it isn’t a cocoon, I really don’t know what it is. I’ll keep you posted!

356 Days Wild: Week 27

The end of this week couldn’t have been more different from the start. I got a good soaking on Monday but, by Sunday, was craving the shade. No wonder us Brits talk about the weather so much!

Anyway, Week 27 of my wild adventure brought me:
🌧 A wet walk by the River Thames
🌺 A new meadow to explore
🦋 More butterflies
🌼 A new hyacinth project

Read on to find out more 😊

Monday 12th July 2021

We got a soaking on the way to Oxford station

With another mini-trip coming to an end, we set off from our hotel in Oxford to the station. It was absolutely heaving it down and I had the bright idea to walk along the river to ‘get to the station quicker’. As it turned out, it took us much longer. We were drenched. Drowned rats. And – could it really have been any other way in the UK? – as soon as we walked into the station, the sun came out…

Hopefully you can see just how wet it was from the photos. I have to keep telling myself that we would never have seen the amazing heron had we not had a soaking!

Tuesday 13th July 2021

Another busy day back. I hardly made time for anything other than work today, but I decided to try and ‘ground’ myself when I finally finished. ‘Grounding’ is when you try and connect with the present in a physical way. So I took my shoes and socks off and went out into the garden. My plan was to have a moment feeling the grass between my toes.

One of my cats, however, had other ideas. As soon as he saw my bare feet in the grass, Claude decided he should try and pounce on them. Luckily I saw him coming so managed to dodge at the last moment (he can’t retract his claws even when he wants to, bless him). I then promptly lured him back into the house and locked the cat flap.

Well, I thought I’d locked the cat flap. Turns out I hadn’t. Out he came. Back in he went. And this time I made sure I’d definitely locked the cat flap. This is a photo of that moment. With Claude sulking inside, I finally got to the task at hand. I walked onto the grass, closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the trees, plants, insects and birds.

Wednesday 14th July 2021

I always go for walks in my local ‘meadow’ but it turns out I’d completely forgotten about an actual, actual, meadow on the other side of town. It’s absolutely full of wildflowers, including: common chicory, common bird’s-foot trefoil and clovers. And there were countless meadow browns and silver-y moths this morning too!

Thursday 15th July 2021

The field of wheat – made famous by Theresa May in 2017

I read something recently with a useful bit of advice. If you take the time to learn the names of a few birds, insects, trees, mammals or any type of wildlife – and maybe a few facts about them too – it can open up a whole new world around you. And, today, I realised that this is so true.

I went for another early morning walk and kept hearing the same bird call. I realised I’d heard it on Monday and remembered that I’d looked up the sound on my phone. It was a yellow hammer. To me, a yellow hammer call really does sound a bit like a hammer being pounded a few times (di-di-di-di-di) and then ends with a final, meaningful bash (diiiiiiiiii). Now that I’ve learnt this sound, I’m sure I’ll hear it all the time on walks. And, sometimes, it’s only when you learn these calls that you realise just how many of those birds are out there – I definitely experienced that when I found out what a wren sounds like. They’re literally everywhere!!!

And you don’t always have to get it right. I sometimes get pretty frustrated if I can’t work out what something – usually a bird or an insect, or, more recently, maybe a tree or flower – is, but that’s ok. It’s a simple, but hard lesson: sometimes learning something can just be for you and it can just be for fun.

Friday 16th July 2021

Just look at the layers of plants lining the banks – you can’t even see the river!

What a glorious day! I must confess, when I headed out to the meadow by the river, I didn’t think I’d see much – it’s just so damn hot!

How wrong I was. When I went through the gate, a thrush took off in front of me with a snail in its beak. A few yards ahead, it stopped and bashed the poor thing on the path and then took off again. Next up were the goldfinches frollicking in the wildflowers and a green woodpecker flew past me to land on the post of a dead tree. All I could hear was the gentle humming of the grasshoppers.

And there were SO many butterflies and dragonflies around. Small tortoiseshells, some sort of fritillary (they’re so hard to identify when they don’t settle!), meadow browns, marbled whites, large whites, brimstones. I potentially saw some small coppers as well. And lots of beautiful demoiselles (I think!)

A swallow also swooped past and landed on the pea crop. I really wish I’d brought the binoculars but I still got a nice view (it would’ve been a pretty poor photo though!) What I love about this walk, in addition to the wildlife, is the secret sight you sometimes have the opportunity to glimpse. Like the layers of nettles, reeds and brambles that line the steep banks of the river.

Saturday 17th July 2021

A beautiful pink rose has just opened up in the garden. Since moving to this house (two summers ago), we’ve been lucky enough to see a single rose open and reveal itself to the world, just when the time’s right. This year, not only do we have this single, beautiful flower – it looks like there are at least 3 other buds too! How exciting!

Sunday 18th July 2021

Another Sunday. Another week been and gone. I realise I’ve been quite quiet on the art-front over the past couple of weeks. Working a few late events plus having work done on the house has made it a bit more tricky to get properly into something.

Saying that, I’ve been trying to do at least a little bit of artwork each day. It’s been a bit hit and miss, but I wanted to share this work-in-progress with you. I drew a purple hyacinth all the way back in February this year. An old school friend asked if she could buy it and she’s asked me to do a couple more to match. I’ve been working on this slowly but surely all week and it’s almost, almost done.

356 Days Wild: Week 26

Week 26 has been and gone! And it included another urban (well, semi-urban) adventure!

Highlights:
🌿 More gardening delights
🥳 Birthday walks
🐸 Frog-spotting
🤓 Getting geeky in a museum

Short and sweet (not usually like me!) Enjoy and catch you next week! 😊

Monday 5th July 2021

I bought some plants from a peat-free nursery aggggessss ago. These plants are ‘pollinator-friendly’ and, miraculously, it seems like I’ve pretty much kept them alive. They look quite impressive in the garden at the moment and, though the photos don’t show it, I’ve seen quite a few bees and hoverflies enjoying the nectar! Apparently, they include: sweet scabious, garden strawberry, blue vervain and beardless rabbit’s-foot grass.

Tuesday 6th July 2021

This afternoon – after a long day! – I picked up my Well Gardened Mind book. I haven’t looked at this for quite a while and I just knew I needed to read a bit more of it today, despite the temptation to just put the telly on!

The chapter I’m reading is titled ‘Radical Gardening’ and it focuses quite a bit on community gardening. It’s in this section that I learnt about ‘Incredible Edible’ – a community initiative in Todmorden that started in the late noughties. After spotting a gap in access to fresh, local food, a couple of incredible women started planting, growing and nurturing edible plants. The community were then encouraged to take whatever fruits, vegetables and berries they wanted. What an absolutely amazing idea!

Wednesday 7th July 2021

Extinction. It’s a horrible topic in so many ways. And yet, as a BBC Wildlife Magazine article pointed out today, it’s also such a fascinating thing. How could creatures that dominated the oceans – or anywhere vaguely ‘marine’ – for 300 million years (trilobites) die out? The article was thoughtfully written, highlighting the natural reality of extinction (and the ecological niches it opens up to other species), but it also acknowledged that the current mass extinction is not inevitable or natural. It’s being fuelled by us.

Thursday 8th July 2021

It’s your birthday today (to-day)
Everybody sing hooray (hur-rayyy)
There’s a caaaat licking your birthday cake
It’s your birthday today.

Ok. I’m not exactly mad. But. You know I like a tune. And you know songs sometimes stick in my head. The ditty came from a birthday e-card that I received for the first time from my partner three years ago. And it was indeed my birthday today. So he sent it again. Blame him!

I had a lovely day and, after chatting to family and opening presents in the morning, I treated myself to a little walk. I saw a female mandarin duck on the river near Honington and some beautiful marbled white butterflies came to wish me a ‘happy birthday’ too.

Later, I saw some friends and went for another short walk with them. It suddenly got very sunny, which was such a birthday treat. Though I’m pretty sure I got a bit sunburnt…!

Friday 9th July 2021

My partner and I kicked off a long-weekend in Oxford today and walked lots and lots of steps.

After having a stroll around the city centre and a wander to University Parks, we headed along the Thames towards East Oxford and got off at Iffley Locks. To my absolute delight, a giant frog was sat on a small, quiet road, chilling in the shade.

I was shocked last week to find out that there’s only really one species of frog in England: the common frog. We saw lots of little frogs hopping around at Brandon Marsh so I naively checked online to see what species they might be. Turns out, there was only really one possibility. Spotting this beast in Iffley proved that the Brandon Marsh frogs must’ve been babies!

Saturday 10th July 2021

View from the Thames Path on the way to Swinford

A 7-mile walk along the river was the highlight today. It started in Oxford and ended in a little place called Swinford. When my partner and I used to live in Witney (in West Oxfordshire), we occasionally did this walk in the other direction, after getting the bus to Swinford toll bridge. As I haven’t visited Witney since we moved two years ago, we decided to get our waterproof coats on and re-do the walk from the Oxford-end.

I had soggy feet for pretty much the whole day after the journey but it was definitely worth it. The start of the walk takes you north west of the city, parallel with the absolutely beautiful Port Meadow. The meadow has horses and cows and, on this stretch, we saw lots of greylag geese, Canada geese and mallards. A couple of people were also having a dip in the water – they were much braver than me! A crisp, white little egret was also nibbling away near the bank. I guess it was trying to catch a fish.

Once you get to Wolvercote (about halfway through the walk), the path becomes a bit rougher. We had to hop a flooded bit – that was fun! – and the droplets on the long grass completely drenched us both from the knees down. Perhaps it’s the rugged nature of this section that makes it so quiet and peaceful. Our only companions were the birds. Three kestrels chattered to each other across the field (I didn’t even realise kestrels made these sorts of noises – I’m wondering if they were juveniles) and the reed buntings and reed warblers looked like they were having a wonderful time in the rain.

Sunday 11th July 2021

‘The Art of Advertising’, Weston Library, Oxford

Whenever we come to Oxford, we do quite a bit of walking – as you can see above! It’s amazing how much ground you can cover on a city-break. Though there’s a lot to see on an urban trek, today’s act of wildness was a bit different. One of the museums in Oxford has an exhibition on at the moment called ‘The Art of Advertising’. I absolutely love looking out for animals in exhibitions and this one didn’t disappoint. Just look at the Beecham’s one!