What to Look for in Nature – June Welcome to Summer! Not only does June include Midsummer’s Day, the point of the year when day-length is at its longest, but is also the peak time for wildlife activity. Across the country, wildflowers are blooming, insects are buzzing, birds are nesting and young animals are growing …
Wealden Worship and Wrens in the Woods
I could hear the song thrush even before I opened my eyes. In that lull of morning when the world breathes gently and gathers itself for the day, I lay and listened to the bird’s song ringing out like a call to prayer. Yellow spring sunlight found its way through the east-facing window of the …
What to Look for in Nature: May
Marvellous May. Certainly one of my favourite months of the year, and the month that usually forms the bridge from spring into summer. True summer is a few weeks off yet, coming around the summer solstice in mid-June, but May gives us a glimpse of those deliciously scented, warm sunny days that enchant us. This …
Patch Watch: What a Lot of Wellie-Weather!
After a relatively dry 2017, the first month of the new year seems to be excited to have discovered rain, and has been enthusiastically demonstrating this day after day. Few bright days have punctuated the curtains of rain, but when they have, they have been glistening gems. We may complain about the wet weather, but …
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What to Look for in Nature: January
January is the very core of winter; short cold days that all too often seem dreary and grey, punctuated with icy freezes. Despite the apparent bleakness of the month, the workings of spring are gradually gaining momentum, mostly under the surface. Above ground there is plenty to enjoy as well, if you know where to …
#30DaysWild: The ‘Undersong’
I woke early today. Unintentionally early. An hour and a half before my alarm was due to ring. Sun streamed into the room (we never close the bedroom curtains at night). It was a pure yellow light, as yet unpolluted by dancing dust motes, leaf filters, or heat haze. It was filled however, saturated in …
#30DaysWild – On the verge
I spent some of my lunch break today just down the road from work. In fact, that should more accurately read, 'on the road'. I had noticed in recent days, when driving to-and-fro, that the grass verges either side of the T-junction where the village exits onto the A272, are awash with wild flowers. On …
