30 Days Wild 2019 – Day Two.

Day 2: We decided to stay local today and headed to my favourite local nature reserve, Lunt Meadows.

On our three mile walk, we listened to the chirruping of warblers, watched acrobatic swifts and cooed over cute avocet chicks. Though the weather was not sunny there were many bees foraging and small moths were in abundance. It made for a peaceful few hours outside.

Sedge warbler

Roe Deer

Avocet

Moth

Avocet Chicks

Reed Bunting

Snail

Toad

Did you manage to get outside today? Where is your favourite local nature reserve?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine x

30 Days Wild 2017 – Week 4

It’s the last full week of the Wildlife Trust’s, 30 Days Wild. How fast has June flown?! Though it’s been a challenge this year. However, I think I’ve managed to make my week four, wild with diverse activities.

If, like me you are looking for inspiration on where to visit, why not try the Wildlife Trusts’ Nature Finder app? With over 2000 nature reserves it’s a helpful aid to search for the wild!

Day Twenty-two: Thursday.

Plantlife have launched The Great British Wildflower Hunt. Their aim is to help more people identify wildflowers. They have downloadable identification sheets with helpful pictures and information on 20 popular wildflowers. You can do two counts. One in the city and the other in the countryside. I opted for the city.  I was able to count a very respectable 13/20, though there is still a lot more I could learn about wildflowers.

Dasies

Ragwort

Herb Robert

Have you joined in this count? What were your highlights?

Day Twenty-three: Friday. 

A week ago I planted some of my accumulation of freebie wildflower seeds. One pack I received with my 30 Days Wild mailing, the other I requested via Nestle Cereals. In just seven days my seeds have sprouted into seedlings. Hopefully they will flower come August!

Seedlings

Day Twenty-four: Saturday.

Today as we were visiting local pet shops I decided to visit a nature reserve we drive past every-time we travel from Liverpool to St. Helens. Stanley Bank is a nature reserve with an easy 1 mile walk. It’s part of the larger Sankey Valley Country Park. On a rather grey day there wasn’t many insects on the wing. There were however lots of wildflowers gracing the path as we followed a stream, watching a pied wagtail flit from bank to bank. There were lots of bird song from the canopy of trees above our heads. I could identify a blackbird, blue and great tits and wood pigeons. Here’s a few pictures I took of our short woodland walk.

Day Twenty-five: Sunday.

The plan for today was to visit Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve near Crosby. I had planned the weekend around the weather forecast which said that Saturday was to be drizzly and Sunday just a grey day. However Saturday’s visit to St. Helens remained rainless while waking up on Sunday the rain fell like rods. Feeling a little miffed to say the least, I dawdled breakfast and then left for Lunt at 10am, when thankfully the rain started to ease up.

Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve

Map

Only 40 minutes drive from Liverpool, Lunt Meadows is 77ha of land along the River Alt. It is a relatively new reserve being only opened to the public since 2015. The habitats include wetland and fens. During our visit we only saw a handful of other walkers, mainly with their dogs. David and I took a leisurely three hours to walk around the reserve.

The path – Lunt Meadows

8000 year old settlement

During excavations of Lunt Meadows archaeologists discovered a rare Mesolithic settlement by a group of nomadic stone-age hunter gatherers who lived in the area 8,000 years ago. It made me think of what their life must have been like and what they would think of the area today. If you are interested in what the archaeologists found, you can read more here.

While walking along the River Alt, we enjoyed watching swifts swoop past us. It made me feel dizzy watching them as they skimmed over the water. I later read that they live their life of the wing, even sleeping whilst flying! Butterflies we had disturbed fluttered before us. I was excited to see my first sighting of a large skipper! The air was filled with the chatter of warblers and the hum of bees. At one stage even small toads hopped across our path. We managed to pick one up and its padded feet felt cold and wet. Here’s just a small selection of pictures David and I took of our wonderful visit.

Swift

Toad

Red-tailed Bumblebee

Small Tortishell

Ladybird

Large Skipper

Warbler?

We will definitely visit Lunt Meadows again, hopefully in better weather!

Where is your favourite nature reserve?

Day Twenty-six: Monday. 

Inspired by a photo featured on Thomas Heaton’s photography YouTube by Cora Iwanowsky, David set out in search of a garden snail to photograph. He searched our yarden, under overhanging plants and behind pots. After selecting the right model, he gathered stones from our fireplace and placed them in our fountain. He then positioned the model at the pinnacle of the display. He quickly took some photographs before putting the snail back in the yarden, none the wiser of what had just occurred. Here’s David’s attempt.

Snail on Stone by David Evans

David’s antics got me thinking about garden snails and that I knew nothing about them. So here’s a few facts about these abundant garden friend or foe.

• Are classed as a terrestrial gastropod mollusk.
• Are native to Europe.
• Have a flat “muscular foot” that helps them move, aided by the release of mucus to reduce friction (hence snail trails).
• Feasts on plant matter and debris.
• Has nocturnal habits and rests during the day.
• During hot periods they can retract into their shell and seal it shut, this induces a hibernation state and they can remain like this for several months.
• Most hibernate during the winter.
• Their fastest speed is only 1.3 centimeters per second.
• They are hermaphrodite (both male and female) but need another snail for sperm transfer.
• Can lay up to 100 eggs and up to six batches a year.
• Are a food in France and Spain.

Who would have thought the common garden snail could be so fascinating! Their induced hibernation amazed me!

Day Twenty-seven: Tuesday. 

The RSPB’s Wild Challenge, is an initiative to get children and families that little bit more wild. I think it is a great resource once 30 Days Wild has ended. There are three levels of challenges, bronze, silver and gold, with a list of activities to achieve before each level is reached and a certificate awarded. Having a wild sleep-out, learning about moths and going on a bug safari are some of the activities you can participate in.

Have you signed up for this challenge? What are your thoughts on the initiative?

Day Twenty-eight: Wednesday. 

As we were visiting family this evening and didn’t have much time available for anything too wild! David and I decided to take Riley to Newsham Park. Riley having not been to this park before, was excited at all the new smells. He even chased and barked at the congregating seagulls. Indeed it was weather for seagulls as it had been raining all day. The field we let Riley run free was sodden with water and soon Riley and our feet were soaked too! The park boasts two lakes, a band stand and Newsham House which Queen Victoria visited during her reign. However, all we managed to visit on this dreary evening was the gardens.

Trees

Flowers

Flowers

Summary:

Even though the weather was unsettled this week, we did manage to see lots of wildlife. Highlights for me was visiting Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve and seeing that my wildflower seeds have sprouted.

What random acts of wildness have you enjoyed doing this week?

A Look Back:

2015:  Passion Flowers and a trip to Norwich

2016: Moth sighting and no tech day

Thanks for dropping by,

Christine x

One Wedding and a Sunday!

Saturday dawned brightly. The past week had been rather dreary, energy sapping really! However, the warm, late summer weather arrived just in time for Paul and Gemma’s wedding!

The wedding was to be held at Wainstones Hotel, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire at 2pm. We headed across country dressed in our finery with David’s cousin Keith.

The journey from Liverpool would usually take about 2.5 hours, though it took a bit longer due to road works on the M60 and congestion for the Leeds festival!

We stopped off at Wetherby Service Station to refresh, but due to the sheer volume of traffic and the inability of the car parking staff to guide drivers to free parking berths, we were a lot longer at this stopping station than usual. This hold up meant that we would arrive at our destination with just minutes to spare. Thankfully the bride, Gemma was fashionably late and we managed to arrive in time, find our table and be composed for the ceremony!

The ceremony itself was emotional, and I found it hard to control my tears. I don’t know what it is about wedding ceremonies but they always make me blub…  A candle was lit for those family members not able to attend the celebrations, something if I ever marry, I may adopt.

Once rings and kisses were exchanged the bride and groom headed out to the garden for photographs.

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Before the Wedding Breakfast, came the speech from Gemma’s Father, which was also very emotive! A blend of Elderflower and Prosecco was served for the toast. It was very light and something I could try in the future! Then came the home made meal, something my poor grumbling stomach had hoped for. It had not seen food since 8.30am that morning! I had already banished a migraine with a tablet, thankfully!

The food was served hot and the starter of tomato soup was tasty, I even had David’s bread roll! The main event that I had hoped for, for so long (as usual), sadly fell short of expectations.

I was the only vegetarian at the breakfast and weeks before the wedding I was given a menu of meals to chose from and I (eventually) decided on the Goats Cheese and Sun Blushed Tomato Risotto. I thank the bride Gemma and the wedding team for being so patient with me!

I love goat’s cheese but not in excess. I don’t want to sound like I am complaining. However the meal, was not as I had imagined. I had imagined a risotto with a sun blushed tomato sauce with the goat’s cheese sprinkled on top. The reality was that the goat’s cheese was mixed in with the sauce. It would have been ok, if it was not for the amount of goat’s cheese… a little too much, and it became rather sharp and sour on the tongue!

The pudding also was not as imagined, though if we were a little more aware of restaurant food maybe we would not have been surprised! The profiteroles with white chocolate creme patisserie, was a little too eggy than hoped for! Though we were thoroughly stuffed for it to matter! Other people on our table had roast beef and for pudding creme brulee and they didn’t complain!

After the Wedding Breakfast we ventured outside to enjoy the warm sun, listen to bees busy around a Buddleia and Swifts swoop across the sky!

Christine smelling the flowers

Once we ventured back inside, the function room had been rearranged for the evening festivities. We sat at a table that was adjacent to a photo screen and a photographer (Phantom Imaging) with lots of props! They came over to us with a calk board and asked us to write something for Paul and Gemma and to try on their costumes as a test! Our child selves, didn’t have to be asked a second time!

David and Christine

We have a history of dressing up! David dressed up as William Wallace on our Scotland holiday, and I, when we visited Old Sarum, Salisbury also in 2007 had to try on the props! (It seems such a long time ago!)

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Here’s a few picture of us and Keith dressing up with Gemma the bride!

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We also posed for a group shot of David, Keith and myself!

It was a lot of fun and helped us to enjoy the evening even more! I wouldn’t be the first person on the dance floor but I would to a costume box! 🙂

David got footage of Paul and Gemma cutting the cake and of their first dance together!

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After ten o’ clock we said our farewells and left the gaiety as we headed back home. My poor Artie was missing us!

We had a fun time together and enjoyed being a part of Paul and Gemma’s celebrations!

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Come Sunday we were tired and worn, after not getting home ’til after 1am! Then after a broken sleep the household chores beckoned! Poor Artie who doesn’t like Henry the Vaccum cleaner hid under the bed covers!

Artie in bed!

I spent lunch with the finches and bold Romeo even sat on my head trying to harvest my hairs for a nest!

Romeo on my head!

Come the evening I watched at Sparrows and Goldfinches visited the sunflower heart feeders and bumblebees/leaf cutter bees enjoyed visiting the Borage.

Bumblebee on Borage

I also caught a striking sunset! Red sky at night…. hopefully tomorrow’s weather will bode well?

Red sky at night…

Goodnight x