A journey through nature's wonders

It’s 26th June: almost the end of another wonderful 30 Days Wild, so here’s a little retrospective of my 26 days ‘wilding’ so far…

One of the reasons 30 Days Wild is so much fun is that although we can (and I often do!) enjoy nature any day, 30 Days Wild is a commitment to making sure we acknowledge the wild, pay even more attention to what’s going on, and ‘do our bit’ for the other-than-human as best we can.

This June, so far, I’ve enjoyed several visits to my nearest woodland and wetland Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserves, seeing or hearing many different species and watching some exciting behaviours during this busy-busy time in nature.

I’ve also been puffin and gannet seeking at Flamborough Head. Not that any special seeking skills needed to see over 11,000 pairs of breeding gannets on the cliffs! The sights and sounds (and definitely smells!) of the gannets, and other noisy seabirds like kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills, and more, is the largest scale of my 25 activities up to now.

Wide shot of auks and gulls perching on white cliff ledges as other seabirds fly over the sea

Although I love all wild creatures (well… insects still a work-in-progress), and like to record a few every day in my 30 Days Wild journal, I love trees and wildflowers too, and June is such a fantastic month to see wildflowers in abundance and our native deciduous trees reaching what I call ‘peak green’.

Looking up to the sky through an oak tree canopy

And no special trip to nature reserves required, wonderful as such events are. A wander around your own garden, if you have one, or even your local streets, will give you the joys of seeing so much - from tiny plants pushing through concrete to the grandest beech or oak trees in full leaf.

Along with my birds and mammals I like to record a tree or flower for each 30 Days Wild. And while I’m on the plant-case, I notice the visiting pollinators and other insects too, though that list has rather more ‘unknowns’ on it!

We’ve had a lot of dry weather this month - although we can still go ‘wilding’ when it rains: experiencing whatever-the-weather is a wild activity in itself - but what’s your choice of wild activity on a day you don’t step outside? It’s a great opportunity for watching Springwatch of course, or catching up on a wildlife documentary; and what about art-and-crafting with a nature focus; reading or writing a nature poem; or getting involved in online nature-based projects?

My favourite indoor wilding this June has been to make some bookmarks with a nature image on one side (cut outs from my membership magazines!) with a quotation about the natural world on the other.

I also completed a wonderful ocean-life jigsaw which I varnished and put up in my newly decorated bathroom. These indoor wilding activities often set me off on a Google search - or more in-depth reading - so always good for raising my awareness and knowledge levels.

But my favourite 30 Days Wild experience this June - in fact, favourite ever - has been seeing an otter at my ‘own’ reserve of North Cave Wetlands. I’ve had to spend several hours waiting and watching in the areas it’s been seen, but my patience was rewarded two days ago, late one evening, in the rain, after every one else had left. One of the other regulars has seen two otters together - maybe mates? - but I was overjoyed to see one: I’ll say she.

She swam out from where the vegetation meets the water, looked at me full-on, and presumably identifying me as an object of zero interest or threat, carried on swimming around skeletal branches jutting from the water, disappearing and reappearing several times. One last look at me - one huge yawn (I’m that inconsequential then!) and she swam back into the almost darkness of the water’s edge. I stood there several minutes more, getting wetter and wetter. But as I dripped my way home, I was thrilled and began thinking of my 30 Days Wild journal entry…