Jun 2015 – Page 2 – Canned Wildlife

Day 15 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 15, 2015Mar 17, 2016Posted in Canal, Challenge, Encounters, Local, Plants, WalkTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, Birmingham, Canal, Canal Walk, Challenge, Encounter, Environment, Flora, Random Acts of Wildness, Selly Oak, Semirural, Suburban, Walk1 Comment

Today I went a 30 minute walk along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal from Selly Oak, heading south towards Bournville 🙂

I’m not against cyclists, at all, but it would have been a lot more peaceful – and easier to take photos – if I didn’t have to get out of the way of people on bikes every 2 minutes! 😛

A person on there bike in the distance. — A person on their bike in the distance.

Along the way I heard plops in the water, a couple times I hoped it was a Water Vole, but it turned out to be fish. I didn’t see much Wildlife, the odd Moorhen and Mallard – so I decided to focus on the flora I came across and just before I came to end of my walk I came across something I deem as special. Below is what I saw:

Urban art, with a crumbling wall and wildflowers - I think it looks beautiful. — Urban art, with a crumbling wall and wildflowers – I think it looks beautiful.

I love seeing plants growing out of walls, likes this Fern and Buddleja.

I also love seeing strips of Wildflower like this - Poppies, Horsetails and Daisies. — I also love seeing strips of Wildflower like this – Poppies, Plantains and Daises

I'm used to seeing this at Wetland Reserves, like Upton Warren - Yellow Flag Iris. — I’m used to seeing this at Wetland Reserves, such as Upton Warren – Yellow Flag Iris.

I had to pass under a couple of bridges.

Honeysuckle - one of my favourites, unusually growing out of the side of the bank. — Honeysuckle – one of my favourites, unusually growing out of the side of the bank.

And here it is again, this time growing somewhere more typical.

Forget-me-not (and Cleavers). — Forget-me-not (and Cleavers to left)

Just as my allocated 30 minutes was coming to an end, I came across this beauty below! 😀

A Marsh Orchid (I think). — A Purple Orchid (unsure as to specific species/variety).

Thanks for visiting 🙂

Day 14 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 14, 2015Mar 17, 2016Posted in Birds, Challenge, Coast, Conservation, Environmental, LocalTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, Challenge, Coast, Conservation, Environment, Random Acts of Wildness, RSPB, Springwatch, The Wildlife Trust, Wildlife Trusts4 Comments

I got back from work (I don’t usually work on Sundays) and I didn’t have to wait long until I was eating a lovely Roast Dinner made by my Mum. Afterwards my Dad said a newspaper he read earlier had something about birds nesting on a roof – he kindly fetched it for me… I was appalled by what I read! So as of a few minutes ago, I did “send a letter to your local newspaper” – one of the suggestions in the 30 Days Wild booklet.

I e-mailed the newspaper, this is what I sent:

Dear Sunday Mercury/J Taylor,

Firstly, Peregrines are Falcons – not Hawks. They haven’t and won’t decimate Songbirds. Also, not all ringed birds are Pigeons and are ‘owned’ by people.

Secondly, they are ‘native’ and are protected due to the years of persecution on Raptors (Birds of Prey) from a minority of small minded people – with unfair unrealistic outdated views.

Thirdly, Peregrines have moved to where their food is, due to the affects us humans have on the natural world – they are originally Coastal Birds (mostly), like Rock Doves a.k.a Racing/City/Feral Pigeons.

Lastly, a Peregrine is only doing what is natural in nature – keeping and racing Pigeons is not. The RSPB conserve all nature equally.

Adam Canning

In reply to:

Thanks for reading 🙂

Day 13 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 13, 2015Mar 17, 2016Posted in Challenge, VideoTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, Challenge, Dance in a downpour, Random Acts of Wildness, Semirural, Suburban, The Wildlife Trust, Video2 Comments

It was raining, so I only had one obvious thing to do – “Dance in a downpour” ! 😀

I kind of had a routine planned, but I just went with whatever came to mind! Oopsy! 😛 I filmed it close to the entrance of a wood, with my phone sat on the handrail of a wooden bridge that takes you over a brook into the wood. There were dog walkers – hence the brief pause and glance to the left of screen.

Enjoy my sloppy “moves”, it is supposed to be funny… I look such a fool! 😉

Thanks 🙂

Day 12 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 12, 2015Jun 12, 2015Posted in Amphibians, Challenge, Conservation, Environmental, LocalTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, Amphibians, Challenge, Conservation, Environment, Frogs, Random Acts of Wildness, RSPB, The Wildlife Trust1 Comment

For the RSPB, people have recently been sharing a few frog faces on social media, seen any? Well, it’s in aid of a new TV advert and campaign, starting today! Hopefully it will encourage those who have watched it; to get together where they live and give nature the home it needs – and rightfully deserves 🙂

I thought I would join in and do a Frog Face, for today’s 30 Days Wild! 😛

I stuffed my face with apple and widened my eyes

You may be happy to know it’s also a competition – to take these amusing selfies! 😀 To find out more and on how to take part, click here: #FrogFace

Thanks 🙂

Day 11 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 12, 2015Sep 16, 2015Posted in Challenge, Environmental, Insects, Local, NestTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, Environment, Insects, Nest, Random Acts of Wildness, Suburban, The Wildlife Trust, Video, Wasps1 Comment

There’s the suggestion to “Follow a bee”, but to cut a long story short; I watched a few insects (no Bees today) after work. What first caught my eye was a wee blue flying one! A Ruby-tailed Wasp to be exact 🙂

Apologies for the poor images (phone snaps again).

The fly that caught my eye — Ruby-tailed Wasp – blue top and red bottom

Something larger caught my eye and disappeared down the back of the shed door, a Mason Wasp! Which I watched for a short while.

image-11-06-15-09-54 — Flies followed it back to the shed, and sat outside

Something landed on my hand and startled me! After all, I was Wasp-watching. I shook it off and it flew on to the shed door, which seems a popular place for flying insects.

image-11-06-15-09-54-2 — It was a Damselfly! It was brown in colour

A couple clips of the Mason Wasp:

Thanks 🙂

Day 10 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 10, 2015Jun 22, 2015Posted in Challenge, Environmental, Local, PlantsTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, Environment, Flora, Semirural, Springwatch, SuburbanLeave a comment

“inhale the scent of a wildflower”

Kiss-me-quick, Fox’s Brush and Jupiter’s Beard – all very cool alternative names to the above plant, that I chose to stop and sniff after work today – Red Valerian!

It’s a pretty good source of nectar for bees, butterflies and moths – like the Hummingbird Hawk-moth! 😀

To me it has a delicate fragrance, but that may depend on how old the flowers are. I assumed it would have a similar smell to Buddleia, the popular purple Butterfly Bush.

Just a short one today, thanks for reading 🙂

Day 9 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 9, 2015Jun 9, 2015Posted in BBC, Challenge, Local, PlantsTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, BBC Wildlife, Countryside, Flora, Meadow, Semirural, Suburban, The Wildlife Trust4 Comments

A relaxed day again – I’m at work from tomorrow until Saturday. I took the scenic route to a meadow/stretch of Greenbelt which is my location of today’s 30 Days Wild!

A long the way I came across Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Robin, heard Blackcaps singing and saw a family of Blue Tits – I even observed a Swallow flying low round a field catching lunch, most likely for it’s chicks.

I eventually arrived at my chosen ‘site’, where for half an hour I would read this months issue of BBC Wildlife magazine.

Where I sat and read — Where I chose to sit and read

I had Swifts screeching above me, Linnets fleeting about, various insects buzzing and jumping around me, plus the sound of the breeze through the trees/flora. It was great!

What I like about what I’ve read so far:

Suggestions on what wildlife to see, for example Puffins, Daubenton’s Bats and Harbour Seals (the latter being my favourite animals).
Advice on Honeybee swarms and some science behind climbing plants, with the main focus being on Honeysuckle (again, one of my favourites).
A newly discovered clue to the origin of language, from studies on Lar Gibbons in Thailand, Giant Tortoises preferring fruits of invasive species on The Galápagos Islands and a explanation on Convergent Evolution.

Thanks for reading 😀

Day 8 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 8, 2015Mar 17, 2016Posted in Farm, Local, Mammals, Walk, WoodlandTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, Beach, Countryside, Flora, Springwatch, Suburban, The Wildlife Trust, WalkLeave a comment

A Tale of Discovery

Yesterday was a very long day… The Beach Clean only lasted two minutes, but there was the early start, the traveling and finding somewhere with WiFi (the connection was awfully slow) not far from the beach – so I could finish yesterday’s blog and do a blog for that day – to share what I had done before the journey back home. Getting to grips with my friend Gary’s video editing software and waiting for the video to upload to YouTube was very time consuming. We both got home very late!

More positively; this morning I caught up on Countryfile! Which funnily enough was in Somerset for yesterday’s episode! I decided in the afternoon I would venture a little into the South Birmingham/North Worcestershire countryside (which I grew up next door to) 🙂 I came across three discoveries, one more exciting than the other!

1. An old brick bridge that is part of a Public Footpath – which leads from suburban greenspace into the countryside – has been cleared underneath, revealing it fully and making it a lot more accessible to walk under. The tree lined path that leads away below the bridge had been tidied as well!

2. Two flights of steps have been created/installed! On either side of Princess Diana Way – a short walk down from the bridge. You walk up into a meadow (unfortunately not pictured below) with the Farmer’s field going round it.

I followed the steps leading up the other side, to pass over the old bridge and come back on myself – to follow another Public Footpath which leads you deaper into the countryside, through an underpass to the other side of the M5 Motorway. I took a few snaps before that.

Field of Wheat with Lower Hill Farm in the distance

Top of the bridge with facing away from the farm — On the bridge facing away from the farm

3. I’m a fair distance away from the bridge now on the other side of the M5, I’ve just had a brief explore of Doctor’s Coppice and have come back into the meadow I’ve just walked across. The pictures and captions below will end the tale 😉

Something's hiding in the middle... — Something’s hiding in the middle…

Thanks for taking time to read my blog 🙂

Day 7 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 7, 2015Mar 17, 2016Posted in Challenge, Coast, Conservation, Environmental, Film, TV, West CountryTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, Beach, Coast, Conservation, Environment, Film, National Trust, Somerset, The Wildlife TrustLeave a comment

A more elaborate activity for today’s 30 Days Wild 🙂
What I like about the 30 Days Wild campaign is that we have the freedom to do anything wildlife related (preferably outdoors) that we can think of. You don’t have to stick with what is in the booklet, as it’s a guide/suggestion on what we could do – to make it easier for us to do all 30 days.

This morning I had an impromptu tour of some lovely gardens at a National Trust property in rural Wolverhampton – Moseley Old Hall! A modest but beautiful place, with a very homely feel – I highly recommend that you visit 😀 My friend Gary is the gardener there, and he kindly allowed me to borrow a few things from his shed to help with today’s Random Act of Wildness.

Today I’ve done something that isn’t in the booklet, it was inspired by a Springwatch Unsprung episode – the #2MinuteBeachClean! The beach I chose to do it on has a high footfall, plus it is the nearest one to where I live, the West Midlands – so it seemed right I did it there. My trusty friend Gary was at hand to assist me again in making the video!

My beach comb collection! — My rubbish beach comb collection! See video below.

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Day 6 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 6, 2015Jun 10, 2015Posted in Birds, Challenge, Film, Nature Reserve, TVTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, Film, Springwatch, The Wildlife Trust, WebcamsLeave a comment

It’s a short one today. I started work at 4pm and wanted to catch up on Springwatch during the day, so I decided that would be my task for Day 6.

I’m loving the natural-nest-site camera on the Barn Owls – it’s brilliant we can watch their goings on inside an old Oak Tree! The Stickleback footage is amazing, such clear crisp stunning images of behaviour we wouldn’t normally know is going on beneath the surface! I thought it was a real privilege that the BBC got to film the Beaver analysis and release, I personally like that we have them back in the UK and on a river called Otter! 😛

I also liked it when Michaela got to paddle around the reeds and witnessed the various Warblers and saw inside a Bearded Tit nest. And there was that film featuring the talented cameraman with dyslexia, that was inspired to film Wildlife from the Ladybird books illustrator (apologies – I have forgot certain names, I may add them later).

Thanks for reading 🙂