30 Days Wild

During June a UK based wildlife trust challenged us to 30 Days Wild.  In a world where nature is abundant everywhere but we are becoming increasingly disconnected from, this challenge is one small way to help re-establish those vital connections.  It wasn't meant to be about walking up a mountain every day or going to places where you won't see another soul, it was about looking at the cracks in the pavements, observing your local tree, noticing the flowers wherever they grow or watching the sky.  Whatever it looked like it was about stopping, looking and noticing.

We spend a large proportion of our time outside, even more so at this time of year.  I went for a see what happens approach, with the exception of Wednesdays which are our nature study day, the rest of the month was something we observed by being outside.

1. Carried out two hedge transects, studying the plants in a 30m section of hedge, on a local hedge as part of our study of the hawthorn tree.
2. Paddled in a stream with a home ed group
3. Observed Spotted Flycatchers in the bushes at the end of the garden, I only saw this bird for the first time last year and was amazed to see it living so close to us!
4. Watched the blue tit parents flying in and out of the nest box in our garden.
5. Took our canoe out on a local lake, observed many birds including several geese families, had a swim in the lake.
6. Watched a mouse exploring and a sparrow feeding its young, both in the garden
7. Observed sparrows mating and a spider spinning its web.
8. Watched lightning 
9. Made a river using silver foil
10. Took a closer look at a peony flower 
11. Observed the rabbits in a neighbours garden which led us to realise that they have created a new den in and amongst some tree stumps 
12. Observed an osprey carrying a fish, it flew in front of the car
13. Identified wild flowers, picked nettles, lit a fire and made tea with a home ed group
14. Identified bees on the comfrey and chive plants in the garden and listened to them drinking the nectar
15. Identified wild flowers and plants for foraging on our village walk
16. Picked cleavers and nettles to make a pot of tea
17. Pressed poppy petals that had fallen from a flower in the garden
18. Watched the clouds to work out what the weather was going to do
19. Listened to the birds in the trees all around us as we waited for our friends to arrive of our annual summer camp
20. Camping always brings you closer to nature, you are much more aware of the weather, the time of day from what the wildlife, particularly the birds, are doing
21. Heard green woodpeckers 'laughing' in the woods and another sound that we couldn't identify but had fun trying to track (still camping)
22. Identified a meadow brown butterfly fluttering in the long grass behind our tent
23. Watched wren fledgings in the garden, we had no idea we had a nest (we found it after some hunting!)
24. Listened to a song thrush singing from the top of a tree in our neighbours garden it has done the same every day since.
25. Observed a frog hopping about in the garden, enjoying the rain
26. Watched rooks flying overhead and making a lot of noise, we couldn't work out why perhaps they were just conversing?
27. Had a close look at buttercup flowers, the seed heads were totally unexpected
28. Blew a dandelion clock, had a close look at one of the seeds, watched the seeds fly away and followed some of them, they flew a good distance.
29. Watched a spider trapping and wrapping a moth in its web
30. 
    

I really enjoyed this challenge.  It did make me stop, look and be more aware of my surroundings.  I loved that most of what we saw was not hunted out it was there for us to see with the right mindset.  Some days we saw more than I have noted here, but for me these were the highlights. I would love to try doing this again in a different season, I am going to give it a go in September another month with 30 days, so another 30 days wild who knows what we will see then?