30 Days Wild - week four
Another week packed with wildness! Starting off with summer solstice, the awesome Big Wild Weekend filled with music and quizzes, and all this glorious sunshine – what a treat!
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Chwilio
Broad-bodied chaser
The Broad-bodied chaser is a common dragonfly that can be seen in summer around ponds and lakes, and even in gardens. It lives up to its name: its flattened body gives it a fat, broad look.
Book review - Ants: A Visual Guide by Heather Campbell and Benjamin Blanchard
This book covers every aspect of the fascinating world of ants. The first thing that struck me as I picked it up and flicked through the pages is that it lives up to its title, visually it is…
Green Sandpiper
The green sandpiper is a very rare breeding bird in the UK, and is mainly seen on migration in autumn. Look out for it feeding around marshes, flooded gravel pits and rivers. It even likes sewage…
Ponds
Whether found in a garden or part of an agricultural landscape, ponds are oases of wildlife worth investigating. Even small ponds can support a wealth of species and collectively, ponds play a key…
Shaggy inkcap
As its name suggests, the shaggy inkcap, or 'lawyer's wig', has a woolly, scaly surface to its bell-shaped toadstools. It is very common and can be seen at the road side, in…
My reward
Carole has been volunteering at Idle Valley for seven years now; whilst she used to get involved with the heavy work out on the reserve, the garden is now her domain, working with the Recovery…
Small tortoiseshell
The pretty small tortoiseshell is a familiar garden visitor that can be seen feeding on flowers all year-round during warm spells. Overwintering adults may find resting spots in sheds, garages or…
Atlantic oak wood
These are the atmospheric oak woods of the Celtic upland fringes, where the mild, moist oceanic climate allows luxurious mats of mosses to carpet the rocky ground and creep up gnarled trunks,…
My chapel
Elaine visits Thurrock Thameside Nature Park every day if she can on her lunch break from work, to watch wildlife and unwind. As a Christian, nature makes Elaine feel connected to God and creation…
Strawberry Cottage Wood nature reserve
Strawberry Cottage Wood is one of GWT’s less-known reserves. But it’s our local one, just over five miles from Abergavenny. Usually, we’d be there on the second Sunday of every month, doing…
Trust wildlife
Following on from my previous blog, I had intended to recall some of my early Otter encounters and experiences but, the “lockdown” has given me time to pause and reflect on what wildlife is closer…