Today I was at work 9AM-5PM, so I needed another easy Random Act of Wildness, so I arrived at work with enough time to get breakfast and watch the Springwatch Webcam(s) in the staff canteen.
After I was done watching, I left the channel on, so somebody would find a live-stream of wildlife at work, and would maybe watch, enjoy and become a fan of Springwatch/become more interested in nature, if they’re not already! 😉
After a while, the chicks started emerging from their hidey-hole
Today I helped out at Cranesbill Nursery – it’s a lovely company that sells Hardy Geraniums. ‘Cranesbill’ is the common name for a Hardy Geranium, and there were plenty of Bees buzzing around them today. Many of the varieties on the nursery are in flower at the moment, and they are fantastic for creating that rich micro-climate for wildlife in your garden. The plants are very diverse – they come from all over the world – so the good thing about them is that you can literally find one for every part of the garden, and because they come from a variety of climates, by mixing them up within your borders, you can ensure that you have flowers from very early in the growing year, until late Autumn, therefore providing a food source for wildlife for a very long period. So naturally I put a flower behind my ear. 😉
Me with a Himalayense behind my ear.
The nursery is located on a farm – just on the edge of South Staffordshire – where I observed Swallows, Skylarks, House Sparrows, baby Rabbits, Moths and Butterflies (as well as the Bees).
More info: The course is ran by B’ham Metropolitan College at the Botanical Gardens – the course involves; boundary habitat conservation, ecological surveys and techniques, ecology of trees, woods and forests, game management and environmental studies.
I thought it would be a good idea to combine a 30 Days Wild activity, with the BBC’s Do Something Great campaign! My parents needed some Broom planting, so I used this opportunity to my advantage – for a quick video:
Finally! I’ve managed a blog on the actually day! Well it’s night now, but you know what I mean! 😄
06/06/16
The weather was gorgeous today – so on my way back from my parents, I decided to film a stretch of road I grew up near (using my phone); showing off the fields, trees and farmland I used to explore and play around, thus showing how Green Birmingham is! I still enjoy a good walk around there, passing from the Suburb into the Country, and there are parts of it still left to be explored by me. 💚
I love the Greenbelt in my feature image and my video below – if houses are ever built there, it would surely break my heart… 💔 Just the thought of it makes me extremely upset… Anyway! There’s a meadow, which you see a bit of (it has the Oak Tree almost in the middle) – I have seen a few of my first ever Butterflies in that very field!
I should also mention; the video features a bit of road I filmed last night too…
I have been working most of the first few days of June, so I’ve opted for easy Acts of Wildness (I have had no choice really) for my 30 Days Wild ‘challenges’. They are still enjoyable mind! I particularly enjoyed Encourage wild at work, because it made me bring nature into the work place – more specifically; the staff canteen! 💚
So what did I do? Well, on my lunch break I put the Springwatch Webcams on the TV, it happened to be adorable Little Owls which were on screen. 😃
Sophie, my colleague and friend, showed some interest and happily sat down in front of the TV:
For day three, I caught up on Springwatch and UNSPRUNG episodes that I’ve missed, plus I’ve put together a short video of my highlights at RSPB Minsmere (below) featuring:
I travelled near enough 4 hours from the West Midlands to Suffolk, so I could visit RSPB Minsmere, and also be in the BBC Springwatch Unsprung audience! Some of you will know, it’s a reserve right on the East Coast of England! And is a host to a variety of habits, wildlife and of course, BBC Springwatch! 😃 I came over on the Wednesday night and stayed in near by Leiston, at the Field End Guest House.
I often wax-lyrical (to friends and family) about reserves that have a variety of habitats, I absolutely love them, because they are so enriching to explore and will be home to many different species of wildlife, which is fantastic to observe and have encounters with.
RSPB Minsmere certainly deserves it’s national recognition! I will definitely be visiting again in the near future! I arrived on the reserve at 10.30AM.
I was very happy to be there!
I love a good Log Pile and what an amazing extensive one this is!Top Nature of the Day:
That’s the Bittern Hide in the distance said Orchid Observing the Stone-Curlew (in the distance) Sand Martin colony Sea ThriftAt 5.00PM it was time to load the car up and get ready for Springwatch UNSPRUNG!
Cueing up for Unsprung with Gary Waiting to be let into the Studio! To see me on UNSPRUNG click here!
If you saw my last entry in June, then you know I spent a week in the amazing Lake District! This post is for the last 4 days of 30 Days Wild/June. For those who don’t know – I stayed in a place called Little Langdale with 4 of my friends, who are some of the best people and I’m truly thankful for knowing them 😀 I’m sharing with you iPhone pictures of my wild-and-natural highlights.
Day 27
We looked and ambled around one of our nearest towns, Ambleside – before heading to our home for the week! It had all the shops we would need 🙂
A lovely view from Ambleside’s recreation ground. Atmospheric clouds!
A few minutes before I took this photo, I saw my first ever Dipper down there! 😀 This is the River Rothay.
We had to walk up a pathway to get to our Little Langdale cottage, we had our very own tarn and everything! 😀
Taken a little way down the pathway, but it was just our wee garden & a field that separated us from Little Langdale Tarn (the lake) ❤
Mary, Scott, Nick, Charlotte & our cottage, High Hallgarth! ❤
The view from my bedroom window for the week ❤
Taken from our garden area, we were surrounded by hills & mountains.
Day 28
We awoke to a downpour… Despite the rain we decided to explore and visit our tarn first! 🙂 Later we found out tarn meant something completely different to our friend Mary (the redheaded lass), in Barnsley it means town! 😛
Even with unpleasant weather, it is fantastic! I loved seeing our Tarn each day!
On the way over to our very local lake, we came across a variety of nature. My friend Scott (the blonde chap) is excellent at spotting small members of the animal kingdom, and allowing me time to document his finds! 🙂
Chimney Sweeper (Moth)
There’s only one Orchid in this picture, but they were everywhere we went, with some fields/meadows brimming with them! Like the field we passed through on our way to the tarn.
We didn’t quite expect to find our selves in boggy conditions, and couldn’t make it down to the Little Langdale Tarn! So we decided to change course, move away from the tarn and get our exploration of Little Langdale underway!
We passed through this wood. Charlotte & Scott leading the way 🙂
We were getting closer to a known part of Little Langdale, Slater’s Bridge! Which relatively, is a short walk from High Hallgarth.
A Common Toad – which was on the path just before the bridge! 🙂
We passed over Slater’s Bridge.
Taken looking back at Slater’s Bridge.
High Hallgarth is the small white spec above the cottage you can just make out.
The last day of 30 Days Wild! We went on a Ten Lakes Spectacular Tour! My highlights/things I managed to take pictures of:
The tour bus! Kindly modelled by Nick 🙂 Behind Nick is Chris, our jovial Mancunian tour guide and his assistant for the day, Tess. (By the way, that’s not a ghost in the window, that’s a patiently waiting Charlotte) 😉
It felt almost as if I was in a scene of a film, Jurassic Park for example 😉
Derwentwater is near Keswick. It was funny feeling like I was in a film and then disembarking to a recently arrived Film Crew! They were setting up for a remake of Swallows and Amazons, I hear it’s a BBC Films production.
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