30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Twenty-nine.

Posted on June 29, 2021 by Christine Lucas

Day 29: For today’s 30 Days Wild, I’d planned to tune into The Wildlife Trusts’ Wild LIVE: Bringing Back Beavers, however it has been postponed. Beavers went extinct in the UK during the 16th Century. For the past 20 years The Wildlife Trusts’ have been at the forefront in restoring beavers back to the rivers they once inhabited. This Wildlife Trusts’ talk was to celebrate the reintroduction of this ecosystem engineer and why beavers are so essential in the restoration of nature in the UK.

wild live

Here’s some facts on the Eurasian beaver.

The beaver (Castor fiber) was a semi aquatic mammal native to Britain before it was hunted into extinction for its fur and castoreum, a secretion used in perfumes and medicine. They are a keystone species due to their positive influence on the environment. They prefer freshwater habitats. They dig canal systems, coppice trees and shrubs, and create wetlands which in turn has enormous benefits on other species such as otters, fish and birds. As they create their environment, their influence can be seen in the reduction of flooding, increased water retention and cleaner water.

Eurasian Beaver from the Northwitch Guardian

Their home is called a lodge, made up of sticks and branches and they live in small family groups. They are herbivores and willow bark, twigs and leaves are their favourite foods. Beavers are a large mammal weighing in at around 30kg and are as large as a Labrador. Their teeth are orange due to the protective iron enamel and like all rodents they grow continuously throughout their life. They are crepuscular meaning active during dawn/dusk, and can remain underwater for 15 minutes. There are currently eight beaver reintroduction projects across the UK with several more upcoming.

Have you ever seen a beaver in the wild?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine xx

30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Twenty-eight.

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Christine Lucas

Day 28: A new series for 30 Days Wild 2021, Mindful Mondays, were we take time out of our busy days and slow down, breathe and experience nature each sense at a time.

Spider Warning:

Today’s theme for Mindful Monday is: stop, observe and wonder at the intricacy of a spider’s web.

The web in question doesn’t look that intricate but the web owner is quite spectacular.

Spider and web

I think it is a giant house spider enjoying the warm weather and abundant insects in my yarden. House spiders spin sheet like webs and is one of our fastest invertebrates. Their body length can be up to 1.8cm, with a leg span of 7.5 cm. They can be seen all year round, but mostly in autumn when the males come into houses looking for females. After mating the females eat the males. Females can live for several years and both males and females can go without food and water for several months. They feast on small invertebrates such as flies, mosquitoes and bees, and are very good pest controllers in the house.

Do you like spiders or like me learning to get over an irrational phobia?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine xx

N.B. Thanks to the Wildlife Trusts’ website for the above information.

30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Twenty-six.

Posted on June 26, 2021 by Christine Lucas

Day 26: For today’s 30 Days Wild, David and I spent a leisurely two hours walking around the recently re-opened Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve. It had been closed since February 2021 due to the River Alt bursting its banks and flooding the reserve. Lunt Meadows is a flood storage area but I don’t think visitors thought it would be closed for so long! It was nice to be back and see the changes the volunteers and Wildlife Trusts’ have made to the site. New pools and paths and lots of wildflowers had been sown. I took David’s camera along with us and below are a few of my snaps.

whitethroat

Lunt Meadows

female linnet

graylag goose and godwit

Swan

Great Crested Grebe

Baby Swallows

meadow brown butterfly

Where is your favourite nature reserve?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine xx

30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Twenty-five.

Posted on June 25, 2021 by Christine Lucas

Day 25: Continuing a theme from the past two years, Close Up, where I throw a spotlight on a given species and delve a little deeper. These Close up days will be on Fridays for 2021!

Today’s Close Up will be all about the fastest bird in the world – the peregrine falcon.

In the 19th and 20th centuries numbers of peregrine falcons declined rapidly due to persecution from humans and the introduction of pesticides such as DDT. The use of DDT increased adult mortality and caused the thinning of egg shells, resulting in many breaking and the parents unable to breed. By the 1960’s 80% of the UK peregrine population had been lost! There was another population decline in the 1990’s but the cause is unknown. Since these dark days the numbers of peregrines are slowly increasing, and city residents are faring better than their countryside brethren.

peregrine_adult_ rspb

peregrine chicks jack perks-alamy stock photo

In the past, peregrines were found in the north and west of the UK, however in recent years they have been spreading south. They do not migrate and most stay within 100km of their hatching. The peregrine is our largest falcon, and can reach speeds of up to 200mph as they stoop or dive for its prey.

In cities they prey on pigeons but have a wide and varied diet from garden birds to wading birds. They are very territorial and nest on cliff ledges but in cities nest on tall structures, such as cathedrals. The breeding season begins in March-April and the female will lay 3-4 eggs with incubation up to a month. The male will provide food. The chicks take up to two months to be independent and up to a third will reach breeding age. The lifespan of a peregrine is around five years. 20% of the European population of peregrines live in the UK. The main threat to peregrines is illegal persecution especially on grouse moors.

Have you seen a peregrine falcon? I briefly spotted one on a walk a few years ago at Raven Crag, the Lake District.

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine xx

30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Twenty-four.

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Christine Lucas

Day 24: In keeping with tradition, Thursday’s are Throw Back Thursdays, where I take a look back on what Random Acts of Wildness I did for 30 Days Wild since 2015!

In 2020 I sketched an elephant hawk moth. I got up close with dragonflies in 2019 and visited Brereton Heath Nature Reserve in 2018. I spent an hour at Sanky Valley Country Park in 2017 and made an attempt to make a moth trap in 2016. Finally, in 2015 I watched a wildlife camera.

For 2021, though the weather has taken a turn I’ll try and make a moth trap. I’ll use a white cloth and light to entice the night fliers in. For this post I shall focus briefly on a day flying moth, the cinnabar.

cinnabar moth

Due to the colouring of the cinnabar, this medium sized moth is easily confused with a butterfly. The cinnabar can fly both day and night and it’s red and black markings signal it is poisons to hungry predators. The toxin is ingested by the adult’s yellow and black caterpillar which feasts on the ragwort plant. They over winter as cocoons and emerge as adults in the summer. The cinnabar is widespread across the UK but prefers coastal habitats. Cinnabar’s are named after an ore of the metal Mercury, cinnabar was used by artists for its red pigment.

Have you spotted this moth flying where you live?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine xx

30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Twenty-three.

Posted on June 23, 2021 by Christine Lucas

Day 23: Gaining inspiration from last year’s 30 Days Wild, Wednesdays will be RAW days, meaning Random Acts of Wildness. In this series I’ll be using The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild app, and the 365 Days Wild book to help choose the day’s theme.

Today’s RAW is: do a litter pick.

Littering is one of my pet hates. I never knew how cluttered with rubbish my local park was until I took a bag and my litter picker. In fact I should have brought a bigger bag as the litter I picked was only a fraction that was still left. Among the rubbish there were ten masks, plastic cups and bottles, fast food wrappers and lots of crisp and sweet packets.

Litter Pick

Litter collected

Have you joined in a litter pick?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine xx

30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Twenty-two.

Posted on June 22, 2021 by Christine Lucas

Day 22: This week is National Insect Week, an initiative by the Royal Entomological Society, to highlight the conservation of insects. To celebrate this event, I decided to do a pitfall trap in the yarden. Here’s what I found!

On lifting out the cup from the pitfall I discovered many springtails, no longer considered insects but hexapods, and one scared woodlouse which is a crustacean.

Springtail

woodlouse

Have you tried a pitfall trap yourself? If so what species did you discover?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine xx

30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Twenty-one.

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Christine Lucas

Day 21: A new series for 30 Days Wild 2021, Mindful Mondays, were we take time out of our busy days and slow down, breathe and experience nature each sense at a time.

Today is the Summer Solstice. The UK will have 16 hours and 38 minutes of daylight. The sun will rise at 4.52am and will set at 9.26pm. The solstice marks the beginning of astronomical summer. Sadly, the hours of daylight after the Longest Day become shorter.

For today’s Mindful Monday, I shall watch the sunset.

I’ve not been particularly successful in catching sunsets, below is one a few weeks ago. Tonight, on the longest day, I shall watch as the sun dips beyond the horizon and savoir the last light of this solstice.

How will you be celebrating the Summer Solstice?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine xx

30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Twenty.

Posted on June 20, 2021 by Christine Lucas

Day 20: As part of The Wildlife Trust’ Big Wild Weekend, for 30 days Wild, today is the Big Wild Quiz!

At 3pm there is a Big Wild Kid’s Quiz. Then at 7pm the Big Wild Quiz, for adults! David and I joined in last years quiz and it was very enjoyable. A perfect way to spend a Sunday. So this year we will be tuning in once again.

big wild quiz

Will you be joining in?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine

30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Nineteen.

Posted on June 19, 2021 by Christine Lucas

Day 19: Today’s Random Act of Wildness for 30 Days Wild, is to visit a Wildlife Trusts’ Nature Reserve.

David chose the 250 acre reserve of Brockholes nr Preston, with its woodland, meadows, pools and reed beds. This year, Brockholes is celebrating 10 years of wildlife! We spent three hours walking around the reserve, watching damselflies flit along the paths, and dragonflies hum about like mini helicopters. The four spotted chaser was a new species for me. Of the flora there were common spotted and marsh orchids. Of the avian life we spotted oyster catchers, a male reed bunting (another first sighting), visiting common terns (or sea swallows), a summer visitor to the UK (another first), and a kestrel sand bathing! We had a perfect day out and here’s some of my photos I managed to capture with David’s Nikon.