30 Days Wild with Lucy Holland - week three.

30 Days Wild with Lucy Holland - week three.

This week’s Random Acts of Wildness have got me jumping for joy ... just like this baby fallow deer!

Lucy Holland

That’s right, a baby Fallow deer has arrived! Watch this video to see adorable mum and baby walking, and jumping, in the forest behind my home. This capture is so deer to my heart! 

Totally awesome bioblitz completed!

I surveyed my garden and observed a Cockchafer beetle, Scarlet Tiger moth, red and blue damselflies, Small Tortoiseshell butterfly, European Amber snail, bees, Speckled Bush-cricket, Dark Bush-cricket, Ladybird, Crab spider, Dock bug, Common Cardinal beetle, Black Spotted Longhorn beetle, European Common frog, and Peacock butterfly caterpillars! Amazing!

It was so cool to see the huge range of diversity, all the different patterns, colours, shapes and sizes of these species. I recorded all of my bioblitz observations using the app iNaturalist, however, you can share your observations through lots of other citizen science surveys, such as those listed in this blog by Gwent Wildlife Trust's Senior Conservation Ecologist Andy Karran: https://www.gwentwildlife.org/blog/andy-karran/wildlife-home.

Just before 30 Days Wild I carried out a bioblitz focusing on plant species. I identified lots of wild plants ranging from Lord and Ladies, to Stitchwort and Archangel. I learned about plants that tell us information about their environment, such as whether a forest is an ancient woodland, and also about the medicinal properties of some wild plants.

Lucy Holland

I documented my plant bioblitz in this video.

Why not carry out a bioblitz yourself?

You just need to explore your garden, keep a record of what you find and share what you discover!

My other wonderfully wild activities of this week include tranquil forest walks in the rain, bird watching, drawing pictures of birds, taking photos of wildlife and planting more flowers (my 16 sunflowers are now almost as tall as me!) and lots more trail camera fun. I hope that you have had a great week filled with lots of Random Acts of Wildness!

Stay safe and I trust you’ll keep it wild!