#30DaysWild Using my senses

I've been taking part in the Wildlife Trusts' #30DaysWild challenge and have found that really using my senses is becoming a habit. I've been seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting nature all around me.  

I had just spent a few days working in Birmingham and, in my spare time, had explored the area around the office and hotel. Walking back through Uckfield, I was pleased to see that East Sussex Highways had mown just the edge of grassy bank alongside Southview Drive leaving the Spotted Orchids and other flowers to thrive.

On Friday the 17th and Saturday I was just snatching sensations as I rushed by but I spent much of Sunday working in the garden immersed in nature.

Day 17 - Touch

Finding Pine Cones in my jacket pocket.

I put my hand in my jacket pocket to get my work pass out and touched the rough, knobby surface of a pine cone I had collected while in Birmingham.  There is something very #30DaysWild about finding a pine cone in your pocket!

My letter on the right-hand side of the page.

I was pleased that the Sussex Express had published my letter about mowing the grass verges.

Day 18 - Sight

Campanula and Beech Hedge.

As I rushed into town, I enjoyed seeing the intricate patterns made by campanula around the feet of a beech hedge.  While I photographed it, I could hear rooks calling and the distant sound of drumming as Spiritus practiced for a local event.

Day 19 - Sound, Scent and Taste

Listening to the hum of bees on a cotoneaster bush.

Just before I crossed the road to get my paper, a loud hum attracted my attention. Dozens of bumblebees were feasting on the tiny blooms of a Cotoneaster plant.

Herbs and other scented flowers in the garden.

I spent the morning gardening and, while tidying herbs in the sundial bed, I disturbed a tiny frog. Once I had finished my hands smelt of lavender, thyme and wild marjoram.

Tiny alpine strawberries.

When I finished, I rewarded myself with the taste of sweet, tiny alpine strawberries that have spread themselves throughout the garden.

#30DaysWild Drawing Breath

It's Friday, which is as good a time as any to draw breath and round up my Wildlife Trusts' #30DaysWild moments.

It's been a week of grim news, starting with the appalling gun attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, USA and ending with the murder of Jo Cox, an MP who had campaigned for the most vulnerable people on the planet. It was a relief to be able to dip into the #30DaysWild Twitter stream, which is full of cheerful pictures of wildlife and people engaging with nature.  For more, see MyWildLife, where bloggers describe their #30DaysWild adventures.

Day 10 - Taking advantage


Starlings taking advantage of the short grass - Uckfield garden.

I was a little sad, when our grass was cut, to lose the buttercups and pretty grass-heads but our local starlings were quick to take advantage, searching the ground for leather jackets and other treats.

Frothy white blossom of Robinia - Uckfield garden.

Later in the day, I took advantage of a spare moment to listen to the buzzing bees and look up at the frothy white blossom of our Robinia tree, which is now at its best.

Three-cornered leek - destined for a salad.

After work, I foraged in the garden and took revenge on a garden invader.

I wrote about Day 11 in my post about my visit to the Hempstead Meadow Nature Reserve.

Day 12 - A rainy Sunday

Early in the day, I was looking out over the garden, when I heard the laughing call of a green woodpecker.

 

laughing woodpecker

flies under darkening skies

to feed hungry brood

As it was raining for much of the morning, I spent some time going over my Bioblitz results.  I was surprised by how much I had found out by simply observing the creatures in my garden and then looking for identifications in Facebook groups etc.

Day 13 - More Rain

Water gurgling into the water butt.

Monday I grabbed a moment to put my head out of the front door and listen to birds singing in the rain and water gurgling into the water butt. 

Day 14 - Flowers on the way to Birmingham

Spotted Orchids by the side of the road. 

The previous evening, I had become concerned about articles and letters in the local press complaining about the unmown verges. I dashed off a letter to the local paper praising the mowing regime that had preserved Orchids and other flowers. The sight of them brightened a dull morning.

Fern and a glimpse of bunting from the Queen's birthday celebrations.

I also found wall bellflower, yellow corydalis and ferns clinging to the town's old walls.

Ox-eye daisies at Ashurst Station.

I travelled up to Birmingham, running in and out of the rain.  Looking up from my work, I saw many wild flowers from ox-eye daisies at Ashurst station to purple Fox gloves smothering embankments.  Shortly before Coventry, I glimpsed a field full of red poppies.

#30DaysWild - Paying Attention

After the excitement of the Garden Bioblitz, it's back to squeezing my #30DaysWild into bits and pieces of time.  Having guiltily stolen time last week, I feel more entitled to spend time this week. It is only a few minutes here-and-there and helps steady my mind and so I can really focus on what I need to do.

These days, there is much talk about mindfulness (paying attention to the present moment and your sensations) and its mental health benefits. With these #30DaysWild moments, I am doing something similar - taking a tiny amount of time out to focus on something and my own reactions to it. Then I return to my daily tasks with a fresher mind.

Day 6 - Patterns in a fern


Sunlit Fern in our Uckfield Garden

Another busy day. Grabbed a couple of minutes away from the laptop and found sunlit ferns - I was fascinated by the way the sunlight picks out the patterns in the leaves.

I spent some of the evening identifying members of the 'awkward squad' from the Garden BioBlitz.

Day 7 - Wine and orchids

Tickerage sparkling wine and birdsong.

Between the end of the working day and going to an Uckfield Neighbourhood Plan meeting, I took my drink outside. I was serenaded by birdsong whilst enjoying locally produced wine. Truly a moment to savour.

Spotted Orchids on the way into town.

On the way to the meeting, I knelt amongst the wildflowers at the roadside and marvelled at the intricate patterns on the tiny orchid flowers. As an aside - a big thank you to East Sussex council for not mowing these down.

Day 8 - Busy bees

Tree Bumble Bee on ceonothus

After getting the newspaper first thing, I watched bees hard doing their work before getting on with mine. A definite fellow feeling there.

Honey Bee.

Day 9 - A little Alchemist

Water drops on Alchemilla Mollis.

Alchemists used drops of water, which they believed to be very pure, from the leaves of this plant. Hence its name, Alchemilla Mollis.



Buttercups rescued from the mower.

Mid-afternoon we got a call saying the man with the mower was coming to deal with our grass. I shot out and picked buttercups.

As well as looking at my own wildlife, I have been dipping into the #30DaysWild Twitter stream. Because others have kindly helped me with identification, I am trying to pay it back by helping others identify their bugs and flowers.  There are more #30DaysWild blogs at the Wildlife Trusts' MyWildLife page.

30 days wild - Days 13 and 14 - the Weekend!

It's the weekend and the first time I went on a #30DaysWild outing. So far all my encounters with nature have been opportunistic - squeezed in, sometimes while travelling. Saturday was still like that but on Sunday, I visited Ashdown Forest.

Saturday, June 13

On the way back from the shops, I was happy to see that East Sussex council had managed the mowing of local grass verges so that the wild flowers including orchids could flower.


Spotted orchid.

My Saturday lunchtime treat was to open up my trail camera and see what has been visiting our garden. To my surprise, a fox had appeared in daylight so we have some colour pictures rather than the usual infra red. The badger continues to be a total diva, rushing by so we don't get a decent photo.



Fox, visited in the afternoon on the 11th of June.

I did a little tidying and watering outside and was filling the pond when I heard calls. To my delight there was a family of pied wagtails on our roof.

Sunday, June 14 - Old Lodge Nature Reserve

The day was dry but rather overcast. I decided to head out to Sussex Wildlife Trust's Old Lodge Nature Reserve on Ashdown Forest. Even before I left the Uckfield bypass, I saw young rabbits feeding at the side of the road. Once I got to the reserve, I decided to concentrate on details because the light was too dull for landscape shots.

Lichen on birch trunk.

The first thing I spotted was lichens and mosses on a craggy old birch tree.  As I walked along the top edge of the reserve, I was fascinated by the colourful and rather weird pine flowers and amazed to find bluebells still out.

Pine flower.

I was glad to see a cluster of foxgloves had sprung up again on the old bank and even more pleased to see a bumble bee scrambling in and out of the flowers.

Buff-tailed bumble bee on foxgloves.

Pink and purple flushes here and there show that the heaths and heathers are already beginning to bloom.

Cross-leaved heath.

Bell heather.

On the path down to the dragonfly ponds I noticed many other plants including the tiny, startlingly beautiful flowers of a sedge.

Heath sedge, just a few inches high.

Along the way I met a couple. The man was clutching binoculars and was pleased because he has seen a greater spotted woodpecker and heard the calls of its mate. The woman wanted to know about the white tufts she could see from the path. I explained they are cotton grass and told them about the green woodpecker I had seen on the higher ground.

Cotton grass.

I think it is too early and certainly to dull for dragonflies but I did see a damselfly.

Damselfly - Common blue, I think.

I was far to slow to catch up with the many ochre coloured moths that I disturbed while walking but I did manage to photograph a brown china-mark moth, which is unusual in that its larvae are aquatic.

Brown china mark moth.

Across the path from the ponds, three ancient and magnificent beeches cast a deep shade.

Three huge, ancient beeches.

For me, the sight of these lovely and rather mysterious trees is always the high point of a visit to Old Lodge. After spending some time with them, I returned to the car, pausing to enjoy something on an altogether different scale.

Tormentil, heath bedstraw and bell heather.

Three colourful little flowers had mixed to give the effect of a tiny garden.

Our own garden

After being out on the forest, our own garden seems so much more confined but is full of colour and interest. After lunch, I grazed my way through our alpine strawberries. Then I watched some bees feeding from our own foxgloves and borage. The borage had at least three different sorts of bee. White-tailed and early bumbles as well as a leaf cutter.

Patchwork leafcutter bee.

Just after 10pm, to round things off, I saw bats swooping past my window.

Uckfield's Natural Jewels

Ghyll valleys, orchids and scraps of heath in a 60s housing estate, ancient lanes near the town centre. I never knew there were so many precious natural jewels embedded in our town.



Spotted orchids within earshot on the main road.

I am the newbie in the Environment sub-committee for the Uckfield Neighbourhood Plan and on Tuesday evening, in the Alma pub, we were colouring bits of the Uckfield map green. Our aim was to identify places where “places where humans and significant nature meet” I only really know about a few areas, close to me.  Fortunately through the power of Twitter and Facebook, there was plenty of knowledge at my disposal.  Thank you to everyone to helped, especially “Hex Tor” on Facebook and “SonOfShaleman” on Twitter. 

One of the most obvious places is the Hempstead Meadows Nature Reserve.  Sometimes, when returning to Manor Park from the town, I have cut through there and enjoyed walking through the lovely wild flowers, listening for birds that have come thousands of miles to visit us, and peering into the mysterious pools. On the way home, I walk through Hempstead Lane and Lime Tree Avenue. Old roads and paths like these are less obvious places for nature but they are full of craggy old trees that are both beautiful to look at and provide birds and other creatures with places to nest and live. At the feet of these giants there is a wonderful selection of wild flowers including primroses, bluebells, wild arum and many other favourites.

Belmont Lane - just a minute's walk from the bypass

Another old lane that has been engulfed by the town is Belmont Lane, which runs from Holy Cross Church to the bypass.  I took a quick look at it the other day and found that it is full of big old trees and leads down to an area of woodland containing a pond.

We have some terrific woodlands, most of which can be found on the Visit Woodlands map. I haven’t visited many of these and must make a point of doing so.  Some of the most intriguing are those that are not on map, like the “Riperian” (river bank) wood alongside the River Uck. I’ve been so close to this so many times, yet I’ve only seen glimpses of it.

The river Uck, an important wildlife corridor, in the Bellbrook Estate.

The River Uck and its surroundings contain waterloving plants and wildlife. Because riversides are often left undeveloped they are important wild life “corridors” and breathing spaces. One of my most unexpected Uckfield wildlife moments has been the sight of hares near the Plumbing Centre on the Bell walk estate. Other rivers and streams are important too. The Downlands Farm area has the Ghyll, which meanders from West Park to Budletts. There is also the Ridgewood Stream, which passes the Millenium Green with its great crested newts and glow worms.

Of course people are important too. Here I’m going to take a moment to tip my hat to the marvellous people who have created Selby Meadow, a community garden near the hospital. Their Facebook feed tells how their garden, bug hotels etc. have attracted all sorts of creatures including butterflies and bats to their garden.

Fallow deer bucks in a Manor Park garden.

On Manor Park little areas of green and people’s gardens have created an environment so friendly to wildlife that deer and badgers roam the estate.  Bushes with berries have often provided much needed snacks to waxwings and redwings from Scandinavia. In some of our harsher winters, I have seen fieldfares prospecting across the Dene before coming to our garden to eat some discarded apples. I am told that there is a little area with natural “heath” type vegetation and really must seek it out.

I've been amazed by the variety of habitats in and around our little town. Once again, thank you, everyone, for your help. There is clearly much to discover in our town and I'm sure I'll be picking your brains again soon.

Summer bus trip

We’re all going on a summer holiday …

Thank you to Leilani Mitchell of the Link Centre for saying "let's bring a holiday feel into our working week this week shall we? How will you do it ?" So far things I've done have included:

• remembering to look over the top of my laptop to see the flowers and birds in the garden
• strolling rather than scurrying to get the paper.

Just very simple things that don't cut into work time but bring a holiday moment into the working day. On Wednesday this was tested a bit. Not only did I have to do my commute to Leatherhead but the trains were cancelled. Eventually, a bus turned up and whisked us off to Haywards Heath.

Rather than getting annoyed at the detours and delays I thought I would enjoy the impromptu summer bus trip. After all, sitting high up in the coach, I was able to see so much more than I usually do when driving.

 

First - a flash of blue seen from the Uckfield by-pass.  A jay had flown across the road. There are plenty of flowers to see here. Ox-eye daisies, buttercups and, best of all, the unexpected treat of blue meadow cranesbill - I think that's what it was, we were going a bit too fast to see it properly.  As we swept on towards Haywards Heath I was able to see over hedges into fields with contented black and white cows and sheep. Near Chailey Heritage, I spotted the Exmoor ponies that graze the common, keeping the vegetation under control.

Wild orchid amongst flowers and grasses like the ones I saw from the bus.

Some fields are ungrazed and rich with white and yellow flowers stud the ripening, hazy purple-gold of the grass. Just before we entered Haywards Heath I was thrilled to see a field full of wild orchids.

Now that was better than getting steamed up about the delay, wasn’t it?