30 days Wild ~ days 1 to 5. Brook Life.

You may remember me mentioning in a previous post that I have decided to take up ‘The Wildlife Trusts’ #30dayswild challenge. The aim is to connect somehow with Nature and wildlife every day in June. Here is my progress so far.

Day One ~ Identify a Wild Flower. Using my Collins gem guide to wildflowers I found out that this cheery yellow riverside plant is called ‘Crosswort’. I had seen it a few times whilst walking the dog and didn’t know what it was. Its named for its cross formation of leaves apparently and flowers May-June. Don’t you just love Collins gem guides!

Day Two ~ Dog walk in the rain. Ok so I do walk Hugo everyday, rain or shine but owning a dog does get you out and about amongst nature. This walk is in our local park and Hugo being a labrador enjoys being out in all weathers. It was wet and wild! I picked up a couple of fir cones that had been blown off the trees and Hugo found more sticks than usual. 🙂

Day Three ~ Grow some herbs ~ Yep I cheated a bit here, buying these already growing herbs from the market. I transferred them into pretty pots and will relocate them in the garden when they get bigger.Tarragon goes well in meat dishes, Borage bares edible butterfly attracting flowers apparently and mint, mint can be used in a mojito! 😉

Mearley Brook.

Day four ~ By the Brook. Thursday morning before work I sneaked off by myself to see what life I could find in and around a stream. I follow Mearley Brook quite often on my walks with Hugo, sometimes catching glimpses of Dipper, Heron and the blue jewelled gleam of a kingfisher. Today I wasn’t so lucky but I hope you like my pictures anyway.

Walking by the stream, just enjoying the fresh air and the gorgeous aroma of Hawthorn blossom ~ can only be good for the soul. 🙂 I saw a Mallard Drake and his Mrs enjoying a leisurely float and various small birds such as Long tailed tits, Great tits, Bluetits and a treecreeper hanging out in the hawthorn.

Sand martins have made their nests in the sandy banking and were darting about in a flurry of activity. I actually managed to get a ( blurry) picture of one ! The only other birds I managed to photograph were a pair of Grey wagtails, flashes of bright yellow enabling me to spy them amongst the stones. And another wild fragrance lingered from a patch of Water mint growing nearby.

Day Five ~ Pick a bunch of Wild flowers. So technically I did cheat as I gathered this small bunch of cow parsley on my Mearley Brook walk yesterday. But I am still enjoying the pretty blossoms that resemble lace umbrellas. In fact Cow Parsley is also known as ‘Queen Annes Lace’. I added a couple of buttercups too for a touch of colour. Both of these wild flowers are plentiful in meadows, grass verges and wasteland at this time of year. I think I may continue to pick a few choice blooms over the summer now. 🙂

So I have completed five days of the challenge. Hurrah! Let me know if you are joining in so I can follow your random acts of wildness. 🙂