Literature – Canned Wildlife

A Greener Childhood

Mar 10, 2021Mar 10, 2021Posted in BBC, Conservation, Countryside, Environmental, Greenbelt, Literature, Natural History, WoodlandTagged 30 Days Wild, A Focus On Nature, Adam O'Hare, AFON, BBC Midlands Today, BBC Wildlife, Birding, Birds, Birmingham, Conservation, Countryfile, Countryside, CPRE, Encounter, Environment, Environmental, Frankley, Garden, Green Birmingham, National Trust, Natural England, Natural History, Nature, Nature On Screen, New Frankley, Outdoors, RSPB, Semirural, Spring, Springwatch, Suburban, Suburbia, The Wildlife Trust, West Midlands, Wild Garden, Wildlife, Wildlife TrustsLeave a comment

. . .I remember more countryside, more greenspaces, more woodland, more birdsong, more sightings of wildlife, such as rabbits, foxes and badgers.

Sunny days. Less pollution, less superficial ideas and materialism.

Fun was exploring and adventures outdoors; the new park, or going to a country park – for the first time.

Everyone cared about nature, everyone wanted to see it, talk about it.

The environment is for all ages, all stages of life.

I remember a greener childhood. . .

Review: Get Your Boots On

Jan 14, 2020Feb 6, 2020Posted in Literature, Natural HistoryTagged A Focus On Nature, Adam Canning, Adam L. Canning, Alex White, Badgers, Birding, Birds, Book, Chris Packham, Conservation, Countryside, Environment, Get Your Boots On, Green Space, Mammals, Natural History, Nature, Outdoors, Reptiles, Review, RSPB, Springwatch, The Wildlife Trust, Wildlife2 Comments

Last year (2019) a cool and vibrant book became available to purchase from your favourite bookstore and for your Ebook devices, written by an inspirational social media friend and fellow naturalist, Alex White! Published by Dived Up.

First off, what I really like is how colourful and cleverly graphically designed it is. Alex’s pictures are great and used superbly throughout the publication. Each page grabs your attention; what is said / written and each animal featured is captioned / labelled with its scientific name.

The tone of the book is encouraging, it balances out negativity and positivity. It is realistic, well humoured and in no way are you patronised or made to feel bad. As Chris Packham says, it’s heartening.

It is packed full of tips and hints. There is a brilliant quote on page 20 and on page 41 Alex details a magical encounter. I must admit; I found it hard to put this book down, it’s a real page turner.

Wildlife on your doorstep, locally and further afield is promoted, plus it covers what to see each month (bang in the middle of the book) and discusses Social Media, Local Groups and Clubs, which is really good.

Throughout there are contributions from familiar faces, people on Social Media, TV, Radio and in Magazines. In the section entitled Next Generation, I have a few pages detailing my career path (page 130-132).

Alex’s writing style is engaging, insightful, honest and down to earth. Get Your Boots On is excellent! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks for reading 😊 x

Day 15 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 15, 2016May 24, 2020Posted in Birds, Challenge, Conservation, Countryside, Encounters, Environmental, Farm, Film, Literature, Local, Nature Art, Nature Reserve, Video, VlogTagged 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, Birding, Birds, Bromsgrove, Challenge, Conservation, Countryfile, Countryside, Environment, Film, My Wild Life, Nature, Random Acts of Wildness, Springwatch, The Wildlife Trust, Video, West Midlands, Wild Time, Wildlife, Wildlife Trusts, Worcestershire1 Comment

“Write a wild poem”

15/06/16

The weather has been inclement again, and I was off to the N.E.C later as a member of Press, to report on BBC Gardeners’ World Live. So I opted to write a wild poem; I was happy there was a break in between showers, because I was able to get out into my partner’s garden to recite my poem.

Thanks. 🙂

Realised Recently

Sep 16, 2015Mar 17, 2016Posted in BBC, Encounters, Insects, Literature, Local, NestTagged 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, BBC Wildlife, Birmingham, Cuckoo, Insects, Invertebrates, Nature, Nest, Solitary Wasp, WaspsLeave a comment

I had a realisation recently, regarding the invertebrates I blogged about back in June… I’ll bee honest 😉 I didn’t think about what the Ruby-tailed Wasp may have been up to, but I was reminded in the September Issue of BBC Wildlife magazine – that they’re a kind of Cuckoo! This jewel-like wasp, happened to be close to where the Mason Wasp was coming and going from!

I only have this poor photo of these amazing Apocrita:

These weeny wasps (with metallic blue/turquoise tops and ruby red bottoms) lay their eggs in the nests of other Solitary Wasps, like the Mason Wasp!

When lava of the Ruby-tailed Wasp hatches, it eats the egg or grub of the host’s nest – which makes these sort of Wasps parasitoid (because they don’t live inside the host, they kill them instead). September’s issue of BBC Wildlife also features “7 WAYS TO SAVE SOLITARY BEES”.

Thanks 🙂

Day 20 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 20, 2015Jun 21, 2015Posted in Birds, LiteratureTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, Adam Canning, Bird Book, Birder, Birding, Birds, Birmingham, Encyclopedia, Environment, Hamlyn, My Wild Life, Random Acts of Wildness, The Wildlife Trust, Work1 Comment

Reading About Birds

Today I was sorting out the blog for yesterdays Random Act of Wildness – “Admire the setting Sun”, it was raining and I had work later. I wasn’t really left with many options, due to the constraints (time and weather). So, I chose to read a non-fiction book on the bus to work (wildlife related of course).

Refreshing my knowledge and filling in any gaps.

The bird on the front of the book is an American Goldfinch, it’s just a funky Siskin to us Brits 😛 I really like the first two paragraphs in the introduction for Section One of the book, so I’ve quoted them below:

Birds are not only one of the most successful groups in the animal kingdom but they hold a special position in our awareness of the natural world. They are often the most obvious living creatures in a landscape (their apparent confidence borne of an ability to fly to safety) and their bright colours and melodic songs have long been admired by man. Yet it is only recently that we have begun to fully appreciate just how intricate their lives are.
The 8000 or so species of birds have evolved over millions of years and have adapted to many different modes of life. If one was to take a single feature which places the birds apart from all other animals it would be the development of feathers. These complex and delicate structures not only make flight possible but also serve many other functions, notably providing insulation from cold or wet and furnishing attractive or eye-catching plumages for use in courtship and territorial rituals.

Such great facts! ❤ What a top way to introduce readers to a book all about birds.

I have to stop myself from quoting more paragraphs, so I’ll just quote one more. From the top of page 8:

Birds have lived on earth for far longer than man or any of the mammals. When giant dinosaurs roamed the world, there were already many kinds of birds inhabiting the forests, and wetlands and the marine environment. They included some types which we would recognise today, such as grebes, herons and waterfowl. In fact, it seems that birds are probably descended from small dinosaurs called coelurosaurs which ran standing up on their hind legs and balancing with their tails, much as birds do today. Compsognathus is a typical coelurosaur.

This book was published in 1989 by The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited. It has 3 sections in all; Biology of Birds, Bird Habitats of the World and Bird Families of the World – covering all aspects. It has a mixture of stills and illustrations, I think it’s a brilliant book.

Thanks for reading 🙂