30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Fourteen.

Day 14: 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’s theme for Mindful Monday is: observe the night sky. Though it was cloudy on the day of the partial solar eclipse this Thursday 10th June, the night sky is still awash with stars, planets and constellations.

Though there is less that six hours of darkness in the sky during June, Jupiter will be the predominant planet in the night sky. Noctilucent clouds, are upper atmosphere clouds and shine an electric blue colour and may be seen on the right occasions 90 to 120 minutes before sunrise/sunset at northeast/northwest.

June diary

17th Last quarter of moon

21st 04.31 Summer solstice

24th FULL moon at 17:39 – Strawberry Moon

Times are BST

The full moon of the 24th is called the Strawberry Moon due to wild strawberries ripening during June. It is also called the Rose Moon, Hot Moon, and Mead Moon.

I find it very relaxing looking for stars/planets during the lighter months as I can sit during twilight and enjoy the warm air and bird song. Will you be looking towards the sky this June?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine xx

My Bird Count for RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch 2021!

This weekend was the highly anticipated RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. I have been participating in this annual event for the past nine years and 2021 was no different. During the last weekend in January, you are encouraged to sit with a hot cup of coffee and count the visiting birds for this all important citizen science project. This year I had David alongside me, taking fantastic photos of the wonderful array of feathered friends we have visiting our yarden.

I suppose not many people can say a herring gull was part of their count, but Steven saw me sitting by the window and he flew to our wall looking for kitchen scraps, so obviously he had to be the first bird to be counted. We did our count on Saturday, 30th January 2021, 11 am to 12 noon. The weather was windy and drizzly, with a temperature of around 5°. It was a very damp, grey, overcast day which made for counting birds pretty easy. Through the hour, (and all day in fact) the feeders were visited frequently by swathes of hungry birds.

Steven wasn’t the only celebrity that featured during our one hour count. Hoppy the pigeon who, five years ago we rehabilitated after having string wrapped around her feet, decided to help herself to the feeders and frightened the goldfinches away in the process.

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch Results 2021

During the hour we counted 11 goldfinches, (a smaller charm than usual), a brave blue tit, four squabbling starlings, an unassuming dunnock (my favourite garden bird) and of course 10+ pigeons gobbling up the food dropped by the others. Six species in total. Perhaps not as many species for other gardens but for an inner city walled yard, I’d say that was a good tally.

The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch 2021 has now ended but it doesn’t stop me looking ahead to next year. Who knows what 2022’s count will look like, it could have the likes of such feathered visitors as the sparrowhawk, chaffinch, robin, house sparrow, chiffchaff, yellow wagtail and blackbird, all species who have visited the yarden in the past.

How did your RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2021 go? What birds did you see?

Thanks for popping by,

Christine xx

The Ingleton Waterfalls Trail

As the weather was forecast to be changeable this Spring Bank Holiday Monday, David and I went for a five mile walk along the very commercial Ingleton Waterfalls Trail. The trail boasts 20 falls with six main viewpoints. The well defined path (no worries about getting lost), follows two rivers (Twiss and Doe), and meanders through an oak wood before crossing open moorland. The area is a designated SSSI. Instead of parking charges there is a relatively steep £7 each for admittance (that was my only bugbear!) We spent a leisurely three hours walking the trail and were lucky the weather stayed dry.

On our walk we focused on the sights, sounds and smells of nature. Before we reached the first waterfall on the trail, we spied a parent dipper feeding its two fledged youngsters. It was fascinating to watch as the adult would plunge into the water, swim and then pop up with insects or fish in its beak. The two fledglings stood begging with open mouths waiting for the parent to bring back breakfast. The scene was a highlight of our visit and David got some great footage.

Dipper feeding young

Fledgling dipper

Dipper feeding young

Adult dipper

As we continued our walk, climbing upwards through woodland the smell of garlic scented the air and the path was awash with wild garlic (ransoms). I attempted to focus more on the flora of the area and noted a splash of bluebells among emerging woodruff and the odd early purple orchid. I identified the latter two with the help of the app PlantSnap, thanks to Sharon for the suggestion. (Sorry for the poor shot of the orchid.)

Woodruff

unfocused picture of an early purple orchid (sorry)

Wild garlic

Of course the waterfalls were undoubtedly the star attraction. Here’s a selection of photos by David and I.

Pecca Falls

Hollybush Spout

Thornton Force

Beezley Falls

Baxenghyll Gorge

Snow Falls

Have you walked the Ingleton Falls Trail? What did you get up to during the bank holiday?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x