Wild

12 Days of Laura’s Wild Photos 2023

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

For the last couple of years I have accompanied the 12 Days of Christmas, up to Twelfth Night, with my own 12 Days of Laura’s Wild Photos. On these 12 days I share one photo a day on my social media platforms from the collection of photos that I have taken over the proceeding year out in nature with my camera, camera trap or phone. With these photos I aim to share glimpses of the beauty of nature, share some of my favourites from the year that have yet to take centre stage, and to simply put a smile on people’s faces.

This last christmas I embarked on my 12 Days of Laura’s Wild Photos challenge once again and had a lovely response to my collection of photos with my landscape photos being the main favourites. As I look forward to more wild adventures to come in 2024, here’s my 12 Days of Laura’s Wild Photos for 2023.

12 Photos

Day 1 – I began my 12 Days with a bang on Christmas Day as this photo of a snowy woods in misty sunlight ended up being the most popular photo of the 12 days. It’s a family favourite and was also described as ‘could be a painting’ which I was extremely happy to hear. Maybe it has a future beyond these 12 days!

Day 2 – For the second day, I wanted to share 2 classics of spring combined in one photo: a Chiffchaff and Blackthorn. A season of hope, joy and new beginnings, spring is my favourite time to get out with a camera and this photo captures that start when the landscape is just coming back to life.

Day 3 – As I continued on through the days, day 3 had been a very stormy one in the UK, thanks to Storm Gerrit, and so I wanted to bring some warmth to people’s homes. Here is suckler calf Blueberry Muffin, who in January last year, was still living outside with her mother as the ground had stayed drier than this winter!

Day 4 – Drawing our focus down to the ground, this photo takes us back to the days of spring with lush woodlands and glades with soft light filtering through unfurling leaves. A sign of ancient woodland, the wood anemone is also said to bring good luck!

Day 5 – This year I was licensed for the first time to handle and ring Barn Owl chicks on my own, as part of the vital work going on to conserve protected Barn Owls in Dorset and further afield, including on Dorset County Council farms. Some very special moments were had this year and lots still to be learnt! (Disclaimer: Barn Owl Chicks were handled following specific protocols by trained ringers and under a Schedule 1 license)

Day 6 – When we are in the clutches of winter and the landscape is bare, the snowdrop is a wonderful symbol of the end of winter to come, creating carpets of pure white wherever you go. It will not be long now until the first white heads can be seen nodding in the wind once again, and a feeling of hope and strength will return.

Day 7 – The 7th day marked the arrival of New Year’s Eve and the ending of another year. I thought this photo of a magnificent oak tree resplendent in its skeletal form in front of a warm winter sunset was a perfect way to match the feeling of the light falling on 2023.

Day 8 – This year I finally bought my first super telephoto lens and so to practise I made use of our very last baby lambs born in spring 2023. It is a wonderful sight to now see subjects up close through a lens without having to be really close. Here’s to more fun in 2024!

Day 9 – For the 9th day of my challenge, I decided to focus on the effectiveness of simple photos. My example is a photo from last year when soft winter sunshine could be seen glistening off cobwebs completely blanketing a field. A quite simple and spectacular phenomenon!

Day 10 – I got to experience lots of fantastic wildlife during 2023 with my two camera traps, and one highlight species was definitely the fox. Here is the first glimpse I got of a family foxes with four very young cubs, that I went on to watch grow up to become independent themselves. Fantastic! (For more check out my blog post Spring Dorset Camera Trapping Part 2.: Fabulous Foxes).

Day 11 – For my penultiate day, I picked this photo as I enjoy how the light delicately falls through this hazel leaf, highlighting the veins stretching out across its surface. Thus, I look forward to the return of green leaves when spring rolls round once again.

Day 12 – For my finale, I decided to head back into the woodlands during late spring. Under boughs of hazel here, a lone early purple orchid can be found standing watch over a well trodden animal track, calling the observer deeper into the trees.

For now it is time to look to the present and to make the most of the winter months still to come!

30 Days Wild 2022: My Wild June

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

Every June the Wildlife Trusts hold their annual 30 Days Wild challenge, aiming to connect more people with nature. It is free and easy to get involved with, and is a great way to have fun, relax, and learn something new. It is completely up to you how you spend your 30 days, with every ‘Random Act of Wildness’ counting. Now in its 8th year, the Wildlife Trusts hope that this year will have been the challenge’s best year yet.

For the last 3 years, I have been taking part in 30 Days Wild each June. From baking to birdwatching, this challenge has been an opportunity to slow down and spend more time out in nature. If you want to read all about my previous years participating in 30 Days Wild, check out my blog posts from 2020 and 2021.

For this year, I wanted to try something a little bit different. Instead of intentionally trying to do something wild every day, I wanted to simply appreciate nature in my everyday life. Being a very active, outdoor person, I wanted to see how in 30 Days I naturally connect with nature on an average day-to-day basis. Read on to find out all about my 30 Days Wild 2022!

30 Days Wild 2022

Wednesday 1st: The first day of the month was a busy one, but in my downtime I spent part of my evening exploring my farm’s and neighbours’ buildings for occupied swallow nests ahead of monitoring them over the coming weeks. So far I have found 4 that were either lined or already had eggs laid or chicks hatched.

Thursday 2nd: I spent my Thursday working, but also taking some time to relax out in nature. This included going out for a hack on my neighbour’s lovely mare Marsha with a friend and her horse, and watching a spectacular sunset with friends on Okeford Hill for Okeford Fitzpaine’s Platinum Jubilee beacon lighting.

Friday 3rd: This Friday was my first Wild Friday of the month on my blog. For this one, I went back to one of my very favourite times of the year: the blooming of the bluebells. This post had a twist though as I explored a little further and focused on the life amongst the bluebells this year.

Saturday 4th: As the breeding season for birds continued, I took some time today to check some of my nests. My barn owl nest box was looking good, and I discovered an interesting new nest tree on the farm (stay tuned!). I also discovered a robin’s nest hidden in the middle of a rubbish pile where the chicks are close to fledging.

Sunday 5th: On a more chilled work day, I began reading Simon King’s book ‘The Shetland Diaries’ and continued sketching butterflies and their caterpillars for my next blog post. A little bit of escapism!

Monday 6th: Today I got to ring my first swallow chicks of the year, with one nest that has done well and is 2 weeks ahead of all the others. I hope the chicks continue doing well and fledge successfully! The rest of the day I was out working in nature, until I ended up hurting my knee and going to A and E!

Tuesday 7th: Despite a stitched up knee, between rest and easy jobs, I still went to check my current bird nests. I now have 5 swallow nests, 1 with my ringed chicks and 4 with eggs, and discovered my second kestrel nest of the year.

Wednesday 8th: My wild highlight of the day came in the form of fluffy goslings. At lunch my neighbour’s family of Canada geese got spooked and the parents flew off. The 6-8 goslings fled in fright and I did my best to catch them back up. I only found 4, but I was able to successfully release them back to their lake and their parents thankfully returned to them later on in the day.

Thursday 9th: I began my busy day, that included some habitat maintenance, bright and early with the dawn chorus and a wonderful sunrise. It was a great start to the day, listening to the songs of robins, song thrushes, chiffchaffs, and more.

Friday 10th: Today’s wild time was spent out in nature walking a lovely little dog called Kaya for the Cinnamon Trust. It was also Wild Friday on this blog once again, and this Friday’s post was one of my favourites to put together. With a collection of facts, my photos, and my own drawings, my post was a How to.. guide to identifying common British butterfly species.

Saturday 11th: Today I had a lot on my mind, weighing me down. So I thought it was the perfect time to take a break and be mindful in nature. It was just what I needed to clear my head and calm my body, allowing me to pick myself up and carry on.

Sunday 12th: I took the day easy, giving my knee some more time to rest. I did though check my bee hotel, which is currently being well used, and spent a really lovely summer’s evening with my brother and his family in their wonderful little garden.

Monday 13th: Today was another day when I got to walk the little dog Kaya, and this time we escaped the hot day by walking in the shade of a huge avenue of trees and looking out for all the wildflowers we could find.

Tuesday 14th: Today was a special day on the farm for me. I got to ring the first of this year’s barn owl chicks, which is always a real pleasure, but I also got to ring our very first kestrel chicks on the farm! Stay tuned to this blog later on in the year to find out how our barn owls (and kestrels) have fared this year.

Wednesday 15th: My wild highlight of today’s work day was seeing fox cubs. On my daily travels around our land, I saw not one family of fox cubs, but 3, all out playing and exploring. Whatever people might think of foxes, fox cubs are a real joy to watch.

Thursday 16th: Though a day late, today I made my usual swallow nest checks. My 5 nests are doing well, 1 ringed brood of 5 staying close to their nest, 2 nests nearly ready to be ringed, and 2 more that are just hatching.

Friday 17th: I was outside most of the day, but my wild highlight has to be watching 4 red kites swooping over the fields following grass being cut by tractors. It was also Wild Friday on this blog, and so this Friday’s post was a collection of some of my favourite photos from spring 2020.

Saturday 18th: In between work hours, I used my free time to finish hand painting the bee hotel I had been working on for my niece’s 4th birthday. I really enjoyed painting it and I was very happy with the end result! Maybe I will have to do more wild wood painting in the future!

Sunday 19th: As I had a more relaxed day, I headed out and collected recent photos and videos from my two camera traps that are out and active at the moment. This is my favourite part of camera trapping, and my cameras did not disappoint. Check out my blog posts coming in the next few weeks to see all about my camera trapping adventures this spring!

Monday 20th: Around work today, I picked the first gooseberries of the year, explored what flowers are currently out right now, and watched a lovely sunset.

Tuesday 21st: Today I spent most of the day working away from the main hub of our farm, provided with wild moments including listening to yellowhammers sing, watching adult kestrels feeding their chicks, and escaping a swarm of honey bees. To finish the day, I got to ring another 2 of my 5 swallow nests. I am enjoying monitoring my small swallow population!

Wednesday 22nd: As Wednesday rolled around once again, I was back checking on my swallows that have yet to reach the ringing stage. Now 1 nest has completely fledged, another 2 have been ringed, 1 is ready to ring, and unfortunately 1 of my nests has been predated. This year has definitely been a tough one for swallows once again, but it is good to have seen some chicks fledge already.

Thursday 23rd: After a couple of weeks resting up from my knee injury, I was finally back out on horseback. I went for a lovely chilled hack out around my local area on Marsha, taking in lots of wildlife, including singing greenfinches and a hunting buzzard.

Friday 24th: Today I enjoyed sharing the last Wild Friday on my Laura’s Wild World blog this June. This particular post celebrates spring by looking at how spring happened in 2022. It was an interesting post to put together!

Saturday 25th: For the first day I had had off in a long time, I had been invited to a ‘Greylag Goose Roundup’. This event was being held at Poole Park to catch geese for a project where each year as many as possible of the current population are being coloured ring. It was a great day of catching up with other bird ringers and getting to ring my very first greylag goose!

Sunday 26th: Today I woke up to the rain falling and quenching the thirst of the land right now. It was great to take some time to appreciate the falling rain, before getting some drier spells to walk the countryside.

Monday 27th: Again another day begun with rain, before heating up and drying out. After a busy day, I enjoyed taking a break from life and walking around our land, exploring nature. Flocks of juvenile goldfinches, knapweed blossoming into purple flowers, and hares grazing in the fields, just some of the few sights to be beheld.

Tuesday 28th: This morning I had another lovely ride out on Marsha, with some of my wild highlights being a buzzard trying to hide in a tree, painted lady butterflies on the wing, and hedgerows full of wildflowers. This afternoon I had a good walk with my Dad watching butterflies and birds, including meadow browns and red kites.

Wednesday 29th: Today when I was not working or going to appointments, I spent time organising my wildlife photos and camera trap photos, and playing outside with my young nieces, who both love nature in their own individual ways.

Thursday 30th: For the last day of this year’s 30 Days Wild, I have been travelling up to London by bus to spend a few days exploring with my mum. For something a little different, I challenged myself to my annual A-Z of wildlife, but a travel edition. Here’s how I got on:

Looking back at my June this year, I was very busy, but the month shows that I naturally take time each day to connect with and appreciate nature. This could be through harvesting food, walking out in nature, or even getting involved in conservation projects. Being outside out in nature is important for my mental health, for my inspiration, and for my lifestyle, and so after this year’s 30 Days Wild, I now appreciate our natural environment even more so. Here’s for living every day a wild one!

Rural Dorset vs. Urban Manchester: Exploring Winter’s Wild Birds

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

Series in collaboration with guest writer Emma Rogan

Winter is a time when a stillness grips the landscape, activity slows, and nature slumbers. This said, if you know where to look at this time of year, life can still be found. Barn Owls hunting along rough edges at first light, chattering Starlings feeding in flocks in open spaces, or Robins fighting to defend their small territories. For birds, winter is a time when migrant visitors, such as Redwings and Fieldfare, mix with resident species, such as Greenfinches and Great-Spotted Woodpeckers. Side-by-side through cold spells and stormy showers, in cities and the countryside, these birds are staying busy to try to survive.

Last time in Rural vs. Urban, we explored the wildlife that live close to home and delved into their hidden lives, all through using simple camera traps. For Dorset-born naturalist Laura, camera trapping has allowed her to record and explore the species that live on her family’s 250 acre farm, opening up a world that would otherwise be overlooked. For Manchester-born wildlife enthusiast Emma, her highlights included seeing a Badger, a Hedgehog, and getting to know the frequent visitors to her garden, such as a lovely Blackbird couple. For both, camera trapping has been a great way to connect with nature, whilst acting as a form of escapism!

For this last instalment of the current Rural vs. Urban series, we are now in winter, with days of sparkling frosts, stormy skies, and low-hanging mist. Last weekend was the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch, so for this week we explore the bird species that call our local patches home during winter. As bird species try to survive, what may differ between the challenges of a city and of a countryside landscape? Are there differences or similarities in the species seen or in their behaviour? Lets explore winter on the wing to find out!

Laura’s Rural Garden Bird Survey

Over the last few years, I have taken part each year in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch and the BTO’s Garden BirdWatch in 2020, and have enjoyed gaining a deeper knowledge of the species that visit our garden all year round. Winter is one of the best times of year for a variety and abundance of species to be experienced in our garden, and at this time of year my parents and I often enjoy a lunchtime accompanied with birdwatching from our living room window.

So on the 12th December we did just that, spending 30 minutes recording the diversity and abundance of bird species we saw in half an hour. For such a short period of time, the bird feeders in our garden delivered, with 17 species, varying from Greenfinches and Robins to a Great-Spotted Woodpecker and Starlings! By far the most abundant species though was the Goldfinch, with 14 spotted at one time, closely followed by 12 Chaffinches and 9 Blue Tits. A very good representation of our garden’s winter visitors, just missing Long-Tailed Tits and Coal Tits, the latter being amiss this year!

Emma’s Urban Garden Bird Survey

I combined my bird count with the event of the year, the Great Garden Birdwatch! We sat down with cups of tea and my dad’s iPad to record our garden visitors and contribute to this important monitoring exercise.

Expecting our birds to use their sixth sense and avoid our garden for an hour, we were pleasantly surprised to see a lot of our regulars! The Robin stopped by, as did Mr and Mrs Blackbird, who come every day for their plate of mealworms. Our bird feeders are also popular with Coal Tits, Blue Tits and Great Tits, and of course the neighbourhood Squirrels! We also have a Nuthatch who visits frequently, nibbling at our bird feeders in his distinctive upside-down stance.

My absolute favourite though are the Long-Tailed Tits, they’re so round and fluffy! Although, I will always have a soft spot for our Dunnock, who we recognise by his extra-fluffy head feathers. Even a bird can have a bad hair day! Sadly though, our Woodpecker didn’t make an appearance.

Laura’s Countryside Bird Walk

Today (Sunday 9th January) was the first beautiful day of a new month and new year. Though the air was cold, it was calm and the sun was shining, a soft golden glow. Stepping out from my back door, I was immediately hit by an abundance of avian activity. Two Carrion Crows flew over my head, cawing as they went. Goldfinches chattered from the garden, hinting at a visit from a good sized flock. A Blue Tit sung its distinctive song, a Robin ‘ticked’ in alarm, and a Blackbird watched me from a nearby fence post. I could not miss this perfect opportunity to explore the bird life that could be found on my family’s land at this time of year.

First, I headed down to our farm buildings, joined by the chattering of Starlings feeding out in the nearby fields. As usual at this time of year, the still hulking forms of the barns were being brought to life by busy birds living alongside our wintering animals. House Sparrows could be heard singing in the eaves of the barn, complimented by Great Tits calling from a lone Hawthorn tree, Collared Doves flapping here and there, and a flash of a yellow rump as one of our resident Grey Wagtails was disturbed from where it was feeding. The only thing that could add to the scene would be a Barn Owl floating by, a common sighting at dawn on the farm.

Satisfied with my sightings on the farm, I then headed away from my home hub, following the tracks out into the wider expanse of our land. Here I could find birds flitting along the hedgerows, such as feeding Redwings and wary Wrens. and fields busy with bird feeding activity, including Gulls, Rooks, and Pheasants.

As Fieldfare flew over head, I finished my wintery walk with a meander along one of the larger rivers on the farm. Here I could see the first Snowdrops beginning to push green shoots up from the river bank, marking the start of changes to come. This was joined by the calls of Dunnocks and the twittering of Meadow Pipits out in the fields across the river. With a count of at least 22 bird species, I felt this was a good end to my adventure.

Emma’s City Bird Walk

Manchester is home to a huge variety of urban birds. From Herons and Cormorants fishing under motorway bridges along the River Mersey, to hardy Woodpigeons in the city centre, to garden birds drawn in by feeding stations, there is always something new to see! I always love to see how many birds I can spot when I’m out for a walk, and I find that watching the birds in my garden brings me a moment of peace in the middle of busy days.

For my bird walk, I decided to head to a different park for a change! I’m lucky to live in a part of Manchester with a lot of nearby green spaces, and one of these is Didsbury Park, one of the first municipal planned parks in the city, and redesigned in the 1920’s to include recreational features which still exist today. There is also thought to be an old air-raid shelter under the football pitch! The impact of both World Wars One and Two on the local area, just a small village when WW1 began, is commemorated by a beautiful poppy field mural in the park created by graffiti artist Russell Meeham, also known as Quebek.

Suffice to say, I’ve spent many happy hours in Didsbury Park, and my bird walk was no exception! Although, I didn’t have a lot of success at spotting birds. The highlight of the walk was wondering why a group of people were gathered around a particular bush and wandering over there, to find a flock of House Sparrows singing away! My Mum and Dad remember House Sparrows as the most common bird about when they were growing up, but we’ve never actually seen one in our garden. Sadly, their populations have declined substantially in the UK in both rural and urban populations.

It’s All About The Birds!

If you open your eyes, wherever you go during winter you will see life and activity. Though from Laura’s and Emma’s adventures, Laura experienced more bird activity out and about in the countryside, both currently have vibrant gardens. This is testament to how everyone’s gardens right now are a lifeline for our wildlife, whether you live in a bustling city or a quieter piece of the countryside. They provide a valuable home in a changing landscape and prove that we can all do our bit for nature. Why not put out a bird feeder and see what you can see today?

Wildlife Photos for 2021

/ Laura Tuke / 1 Comment

Last year was an unusual one for us all, as we got used to a new reality, but for me it was also a year of colour, amazing wildlife, and fabulous adventures. I learnt alot and was able to continue to grow as a person, which includes my skill in wildlife photography and passion for communicating nature with you all. To celebrate, here’s a collection of my nature photos spanning 2021, capturing a range of themes, species and stories, and holding a feel good factor. Enjoy!

January

I began my year taking advantage of frosty mornings to capture the birds relying on our garden during the winter. Here a starling looking magnificent in its speckled plumage.

February

In 2021 I made it my mission to take my first up close photos of snowdrops. I enjoyed the challenge, brightening up a gloomier start to my year.

March

As the first signs of spring began to arrive, my focus turned to the ground and colourful spring flowers. Here a celandine peaks out its sunshine head from a thick cluster of green leaves.

April

As spring burst into life, my focus turned to the animal species now becoming active in the rural landscape. Here is a relaxed hare (and pheasant) that I ended up spending a sunny afternoon watching feed on this hillside.
Each year grey wagtails are becoming a more and more frequent sight on my family’s farmland. We now have a soft spot for them as they brighten gloomy winter days and add a flash of colour in spring sunshine.

May

In 2021 I bought my very first macro lens which I was very excited about. It was great fun to head out with no set challenge, and just see what I could find!

June

Last year was definitely the year of butterflies for me. I had alot of fun expanding my knowledge of species and getting to see an increasing number living on my family’s land, such as this meadow brown.

July

A series of photos that I took of this ladybird became some of my favourites for myself and my family in 2021!
Another one of my 2021 favourites, a spectacular marbled white!

August

There’s something special about a sunrise over water with pinks, oranges and yellows streaked across the sky like a watercolour.

September

One of my favourite places to be is between two ears exploring the countryside. Here I also had the golden glow of a setting autumn sun to make my ride even more magical.

October

Autumn has some of the best sunsets, with everyday promising something different. Here an oak tree holds on to its leaves as autumn continues its advance through the landscape.

November

A magical part of late autumn is seeing the sun rise over dewy fields covered in a blanket of wafting spiders’ webs. These are produced by thousands of small spiders active before winter arrives.

December

To round off the year, one of my wildlife activities was to plant some new fruiting trees and shrubs down in my family’s conservation field (here a crab apple). Tree planting is definitely a rewarding activity at this time of year!

Here’s to new adventures in 2022!

Rural Dorset vs. Urban Manchester: Magical Minibeasts

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

Series in collaboration with guest writer Emma Rogan

Rolling green hills, trees sprawling across the landscape, hedgerows thick with plant and animal life, flowers growing up here and there, and rivers flowing through it all. The light of an orange sunset cast out over the city by a soaring glass tower block, the lonely lights of a crane against an evening sky, busy streets lit up for Christmas filled with music and laughter. Everyone’s idea of idyll varies, but for nature any landscape could provide a home. Let us explore.

Growing up within her family’s 250 acres of land, for naturalist Laura, rural Dorset is home. In what may be called the ‘middle of nowhere’ for an urban adventurer, Laura grew up alongside wildlife from barn owls and hares to grass snakes, damselflies, and oak trees. With parents that nurtured her to take an interest from a young age in looking after the wildlife they saw on their doorstep, this landscape has made her the conservationist and scientist she is today. Now her home provides inspiration for her photography and writing, including her Laura’s Wild World blog. Check out her blog here.

Guest for this series and wildlife enthusiast, Emma grew up in Manchester and will always be a city girl at heart. As a child she loved to watch nature documentaries and daydreamed about faraway places, but over time she fell in love with the wildlife that also calls Manchester its home. Emma has spent the past year documenting the lives of the insects, birds, squirrels and foxes that stop by her little rectangle of garden, and exploring the local woods alongside the River Mersey with her mum. Check out her page here.

In this brand new blog series, we take a look at the local wildlife that can be found in two very different home locations. Though at a contrast with each other, we will see how nature can make its home in both rural and urban landscapes, and the wealth of life that can be explored on anyone’s doorstep. At a time when it is so important that we protect and conserve the natural environment around us, let us inspire you as we take an adventure to explore a smaller side to nature.

Laura’s Countryside Minibeasts

Today was a warm and breezy day, perfect for walking through my family’s Dorset farmland in just a T-shirt and shorts. It was the kind of day though when you could feel the first breath of autumn in the air, kept at bay by the bleaching late-August sun. Pushing the cooler days to come to the back of my mind, I set out to try to see what smaller creatures I could find out in nature.

Journeying along tracks, through grass fields, over rivers, through tall maize, past a chalk ridge, and back home to my garden, my quest bore more and more fruits along the way. With every turn I got to experience a colourful and spectacular diversity of butterflies from small coppers to peacocks, got to be serenaded by grasshoppers singing their chirping tune, and to be joined by crane flies lazily hanging in the hazy golden light as I walked along on my own.

As my minibeast list grew, I stopped here and there to take a closer look, such as to gaze at beautifully banded snails hanging from nettles, or to photograph minibeasts, such as the curious looking froghoppers making maize leaves their home. I was loving it! The main highlight of my adventure though, had to be discovering a treasure trove of dragonfly and damselfly species on and around the pond in our conservation field. One minute I would see the golden-brown of an unknown dragonfly fly past me, before catching sight of common blue demoiselles dancing in the air and red-veined darters defending territories over the water. I was amazed at how many beautifully-coloured species I saw in such a short space of time!

When I set out on my minibeast adventure, I was not entirely sure what I would find at this late stage of August. Whatever I thought though, by the end I was having a really great time, seeing some cool minibeasts ranging from busy honey bees enjoying a medley of flowers to many butterflies adorning buddleia bushes like gemstones. It really brought home that you never know what you might find until you open your eyes to the world around you. I am no invertebrate expert, but I was still able to take in all the wonders this mini world had to offer. It was a great break from life, though more importantly, a game changer!

Emma’s Minibeast Hunt in the City

Unbelievably, the afternoon I’d planned to go on my Minibeast Hunt was beautifully warm and sunny with a slight breeze. This is a rarity in Manchester! I gleefully pulled on my walking boots and headed out with my other half to Fletcher Moss, a nearby park and woodland alongside the River Mersey. We spent an hour wandering through the Parsonage Gardens, down to the river (down, down, doooown by the riveeeer – any Baldur’s Gate 3 fans?), and through the woods, making a brief stop for ice cream along the way!

The Old Parsonage and it’s beautiful walled garden was left to the citizens of Manchester by Alderman Fletcher Moss in 1919, and has since become a much-loved community space which is carefully looked after by volunteers. The garden was buzzing with pollinators drawn in by the variety of flowers, the echinops was particularly popular! It’s always lovely to see bees out and about in Manchester, as bees are the symbol of our city.

We then walked down the hill and took a winding path towards the river. The first stop on our riverside walk was Simon Bridge, a green iron bridge across the River Mersey which was gifted to the people of Didsbury by Henry Simon in 1901. Plenty of bees, wasps and hoverflies flew past us as we walked, but our second stop came when we heard what we thought was the singing of a grasshopper! This necessitated ten minutes of searching and more than a few curious glances before we found the little guy sat solemnly on a blade of grass.

As we wandered on, our path took us away from the river and back up into Stenner Woods, a small area of woodland in the original Mersey Valley flood plain. It was at this point that a dragonfly decided to join us! Unfortunately, he wouldn’t stay still long enough for me to take a picture. We also came across a snail clinging to a thistle, and a ladybird nestled between the spines of a teasel, and a very hungry group of mint leaf beetles. Butterflies were noticeably absent, as we spotted only one female meadow brown butterfly during our walk. Our final stop was at a small pond area, where we saw what seemed to be hundreds of pond skaters!

I’ve been fond of bees for quite a few years (I even wrote my dissertation on bees!), but I don’t often take the time to pause and notice the other minibeasts that live in my local area. This minibeast hunt was a great opportunity to challenge myself to look closer, and I felt very lucky to gain a snapshot into the lives of these smallest of animals.

Minibeasts

When people think of animals they usually think of lions, bears or elephants, for example, forgetting the smaller less observed animals in nature. The minibeasts we walk past each day though, can be equally majestic and awe-inspiring. Butterflies in spectacular colours, weird and wonderful froghoppers, or wriggling hard-working earthworms. All play an important role in nature, but tend to go unnoticed and be underappreciated.

On both Emma and Laura’s minibeast adventures though, they found taking the time to focus on the smaller things eye opening. They might live in very different areas, but the green spaces they both have access to show an amazingly similar host of minibeasts. From grasshoppers to dragonflies, amazing minibeasts can be found anywhere. By challenging yourself to look closer at the smaller things in life, you can learn a lot, be provided with inspiration and even experience a moment of distraction and escape. Minibeasts are colourful, unusual, and awe-inspiring, so why not stop and find out what you could discover too?

My 30 Days Wild 2021: A Wild Month

/ Laura Tuke / 1 Comment

June has been one of those months that has passed by in the blink of an eye. Rainy days quickly moved into scorching heat and then back to rain, framing the last of spring’s events. Every day I have tried to be outside as much as possible, with my happy place being out in nature. From work to down time, my life and hobbies revolve around the wild and the natural world around me. This is why I love to share my experiences with others, to excite, inspire, and instill, and to help motivate people to protect and conserve what is left of our natural world.

It is not surprising then that I am always up for a wild challenge. Last year this took the form of the Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild, an annual nature challenge that has now run for 6 years, with more than a million people taking part last year. This challenge aims to bring people closer to nature whilst making a positive difference for wildlife and its conservation. All you have to do is complete one ‘Random Act of Wildness’ each day for the whole of June. It is that simple!

Last year I really enjoyed participating in 30 Days Wild, with the challenge enriching my days, helping me to relax, and allowing me to develop a deeper connection with the natural world around me. It also gave me an added focus on days that were busy and stressful, keeping me centred and moving forward. My Random Acts of Wildness ranged from making bird food and picking fruit, to dissecting barn owl pellets and learning my chalkland wildflower species. So it was an easy decision this year to take part once again.

Here’s what I got up to during 30 Days Wild 2021:

Day 1: Tuesday 1st (Work)

For the start of my 30 Days Wild, I began strong.

After failing to find an active kestrel nest last year, I finally found the natural nest I had been hoping for! I also checked and moved my camera trap after a week out at a badger sett, discovering my second family of foxes of this year, with it being by far my best camera trapping season yet!

Day 2: Wednesday 2nd (Day Off)

I love an adventure, and so today I ventured out into my local area in the rain to take in as many different habitats and species as possible, with the highlight being 4 red kites sitting in a tree on my family’s land. After drying off and allowing the rain to pass, that afternoon I headed back outside, this time to test my brand new macro lens and get stuck in to the world of the small.

Day 3: Thursday 3rd (Day Off)

For my second day off, I made the most of free time and went for a long ride with a friend, the highlight being riding through chalk grasslands, embellished with colourful flowers and melodious birds. Being on horseback in this way allows me to take in a range of wildlife in a short period of time and also give me great up-close views.

Day 4: Friday 4th (Work)

For spring, my wildlife blog has been back up and running, and every Friday has been a Wild Friday. For this week, my new post was all about the spring bluebells, which are one of my favourite parts of spring each year. Check it out on my blog now!

Day 5: Saturday 5th (Work)

After a long day at work, I still had energy to work on some of my nature projects. This included putting my dad together a list of all the bird species seen on my family’s land in the last year (65!), and learning how to fill in nest records for the BTO’s Nest Record Scheme, beginning with a blackbird’s, kestrel’s, and barn owl’s nest.

Day 6: Sunday 6th (Work)

A week ago I cleared a small wildlife area of docks and sowed some homemade wildlife mixes, so this evening after work I headed over to the area to do some management and to water the seeds. I then headed home to finish off my day with Thursday’s and Friday’s missed episodes of Springwatch.

Day 7: Monday 7th (Work)

After catching my neice’s cold, today I felt particularly under the weather. It was a perfect way then to spend my evening curled up in an armchair reading some lovely nature blogs to cheer myself up before an early night.

Day 8: Tuesday 8th (Work)

My happy place is out in nature, and so I have been enjoying working at the moment on my family’s farm in Dorset, and keeping an open mind to what I might discover during day-to-day life. Today I had everything from peacock butterflies and Lackey moth caterpillars, to yellowhammers singing and brown hares grazing within 10 metres of me!

Day 9: Wednesday 9th (Day Off)

I began my first of two days by heading to my bird ringing trainer’s private nature reserve to help with summer maintenance work, before returning home to check the kestrel nest and to head round to my next door neighbour’s to look for active swallow nests (4 so far!).

Day 10: Thursday 10th (Day Off)

For my second day off, I had a lovely relaxing hack with Marsha exploring a new route near my home, and spent time watching and counting the birds visiting the feeders in my garden. From pheasants and house sparrows to goldfinches and greenfinches, all species and their abundance are recorded in my garden and sent off at the end of the week to the BTO’s Garden BirdWatch scheme.

Day 11: Friday 11th (Work)

Today after work I spent time expanding my wildlife knowledge through reading the BTO’s Lifecycle magazine and BBC Wildlife magazine, and watching the very last episode of 2021’s Springwatch.

Day 12: Saturday 12th (Work)

Today I used my lunch break to take photos of the bees buzzing around the poached egg flowers in my family’s garden using my brand new macro lens (very exciting!). My evening was then spent relaxing with my family in my brother and sister-in-law’s garden for a lovely family bbq in the setting sun.

Day 13: Sunday 13th (Work)

Last year I completed a self-set challenge to find an example of wildlife for every letter of the alphabet during just 1 day. Today I decided to have a go once again, but with the added challenge of finding different examples compared to last year. It was tough, but I did it!

Day 14: Monday 14th (Work)

After a long day at work, I spent some time exploring Twitter’s wildlife community, visiting some of my favourite and some new pages. Why not check them out yourself to find out what they have been getting up to?

Day 15: Tuesday 15th (Work)

After work, I had a really lovely evening checking my family’s barn owl nest box and kestrel tree nest with fully licensed members of my ringing group. We were excited to find the adult female barn owl brooding 4 young and the adult female kestrel feeding 3 two week old chicks!

Day 16: Wednesday 16th (Day Off)

To finish off a jam packed day off, I went for a lovely evening walk that began with just me and my camera and ended with me also carrying my camera trap and family’s farm cat. He likes to have a walk, but he gets tired too easily!

Day 17: Thursday 17th (Day Off)

Around my usual horse riding today, I kept myself busy with my wildlife photography, using my camera, taking photos off of memory cards, organising photos, and sorting my camera trap.

Day 18: Friday 18th (Work)

Today was another ‘Wild Friday‘ on my blog meaning a brand new blog post went up all about how spring 2021 unfurled. A little scientific, a little anecdotal, and a little visual-based, it was an enjoyable piece to write.

Day 19: Saturday 19th (Work)

Today I have been very busy looking after my parents’ farm whilst they are away. It has been a great opportunity to take in all that the farm has to offer and to appreciate all the work my parents have done and are doing for wildlife on the farm, from digging ponds to planting trees.

For more information check out my 2020 blog post called ‘Giving Nature a Home on the Farm’.

Day 20: Sunday 20th (Work)

After a busy few days looking after the farm, this afternoon I took some time to relax with my family, and be a proud aunt seeing how my very intelligent neice is learning more and more about wildlife. To top off my day, I took part in the Wildlife Trusts Big Wild Quiz, getting a respectable 28 out of 35.

Day 21: Monday 21st (Work)

Nature has a strong influence on british culture, influencing everything from music to art and literature. Nature is also a great inspiration for my own creativity, for example encouraging me to improve my own ability to draw and sketch, and to use my drawings to illustrate my wild ‘How to’ guides.

Day 22: Tuesday 22nd (Work)

After a busy day at work, I decided that for today’s Random Act of Wildness I would make a valuable donation to Dorset Wildlife Trust. Any donation that can be made is important for such organisations to be able to do their conservation work, such as rewilding and habitat management.

Day 23: Wednesday 23rd (Day Off)

Around a lovely much needed catch up with and old friend, I spent my day off countryside walking, checking swallow nests, and baking. I followed suit of last year’s baking, and kept it simple with yummy sponge cakes with wild decorations, in the form of flowers, butterflies and leaves. A lot of fun!

Day 24: Thursday 24th (Day Off)

Today I spent my day checking barn owl nest boxes with Dorset County Council and Alan who I ring with at Conservation Action. Such experiences always feel like a privilege to me and it was a great training experience, topped off with ringing 3 out of 4 of my swallow nests.

Day 25: Friday 25th (Work)

Today was Wild Friday on my blog, with this week’s post being all about my how spring looked for me personally, featuring 16 of my favourite photos from the season. They are either aesthetically pleasing, a great memory, or just bring me joy. Check it out now!

Day 26: Saturday 26th (Work)

Today on a much needed afternoon off, activities included exploring a road verge in my local area to ID plants with my mum (24 wildflower species), and picking elderflower heads to make this year’s elderflower cordial.

Day 27: Sunday 27th (Work)

For the last 2 years I have been enjoying training as a bird ringer, and have become a member of my trainer’s conservation group called Conservation Action. We are based in Dorset and the South West and aim to protect, restore and preserve biodiversity, promote conservation, and to research and monitor the state of nature.

For more information, check out our website at www.conservationactionuk.org or our Twitter and Instagram pages.

Day 28: Monday 28th (Work)

Though my happy place is being outside in all weathers, today was one of those days when I got a bit too wet and then a bit too sweaty. The day was still very productive, so I felt content at the end of the day to head home and curl up with my current wild book: Gavin Thurston’s ‘Journeys into the Wild: Secret Life of a Cameraman’.

Day 29: Tuesday 29th (Work)

Today I accidentally found a bird’s nest at waist height in a hedge on my family’s farm, spent a lovely half hour out in my garden, the flowers thick with bumblebees, and ringed my final of first brood swallow nest.

Day 30: Wednesday 30th (Day Off)

Today I had a glorious last day of 30 Days Wild. I had a lovely early morning walk with my mum, took photos of the many butterflies on the farm at the moment, and finished the day checking barn owl boxes with my bird ringing training as the sun set

A lovely, active and wild month spent in some of the best ways possible!

Spring 2020: How It Happened

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

Walking through the trees, in dappled early morning sunlight, through swathes of brilliant blue. Standing rooted to the spot, hearing the first Chiffchaff, Swallow, Cuckoo. Sitting in breezy sunshine, learning to identify Hawkbits, Vetches and Viper’s-Bugloss. These are just some of the highlights of my spring this year, wild and full of life. With each new day, there was a new wild highlight to be had.

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Following on from my post last week about my favourite photos from this spring (check out Spring 2020: In Photos), I wanted to continue celebrating the lifeline that has been spring and the natural world for me during lockdown. This week I am looking at how spring unfolded this year in my local area and how it looked now the summer is hitting our shores.

Since 2015 I have been writing down a lot of my observations about spring each year. This means I can now look at spring 2020 in light of how the last few years have actually looked and see if anything interesting comes up. Last year I did this in more detail, so for that check out my post called: How Spring Happened 2017-2019.

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So, did a favourite of my mum’s, the Chiffchaff, return by Mother’s Day this year? Did the Oak burst into leaf before the Ash (and so are we in for a splash)? And did the song of the Cuckoo return to my family’s land for another year? As spring now slips into summer, it is time for me to reflect on an extra special spring.

Trees

One of the very first trees to start showing signs of life each spring at my home in Dorset, is the Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). This year the first buds burst on the 18th of February, which shows a gradual shift forwards over the last few years, being 6 days earlier than last year, and a month earlier than 2018. The first leaf then unfurled on the 10th of March (9 days later than 2019), followed by the first flowers on the 2nd of April (13 days earlier than 2019).

Due to a cold start to spring and a very wet winter, which left the ground cold and waterlogged, Pedunculate (English) Oaks (Quercus robur) were late to make a start, with the first budburst seen on the 2nd of April, 37 days later than 2019. They got going quickly though, with leaves bursting forth by the 8th of April (4 days earlier than 2019) and flowers blooming by the 12th of April (13 days earlier than 2019).

Despite the ground, the trend this year was towards earlier budburst, first leaves and first flowers. Silver Birch (Betula pendula) buds burst on the 15th March, 15 days earlier than 2019; Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) flowered on the 2nd of April, 18 days earlier than 2019; Field Maple (Acer campestre) buds burst on the 5th of April, 13 days earlier than 2019. Grey Willow (Salix cinerea) bucked the trend though, first flowering on the 24th of February, later than last year by 10 days.

This year I added Alder (Alnus glutinosa), Beech (Fagus sylvatica), Lime (Tilia x europaea), Wild Cherry (Prunus avium), and Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) to my spring records, but I did not make observations for Sycamore as in previous years. Lime buds burst on the 14th of March, followed by the first leaf on the 3rd of April; Wild Cherry buds burst on the 15th of March, followed by the first leaf 1 month later and first flower 15 days after that; Norway Maple first flowered on the 21st of March; Alder buds burst on the 6th of April; and Beech buds burst on the 10th of April.

Shrubs

Hazel (Corylus avellana) is one species that flowers early in the year, providing a first hint of colour in a wintry landscape. This year I first saw the male catkins on the 8th of January, followed by the female red flowers on the 1st of February (5 days later than 2019). The first hazel leaf then unfurled 43 days later on the 14th of March.

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) is another species that flowers before it produces its leaves, cloaking hedgerows in drifts of snowy white and accompanying a ‘blackthorn winter’ in early spring. This year the first flowers burst open on the 6th of March, 5 days later than last year, but 24 days earlier than 2018.

After the early flowering species have brought colour to our countryside, Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is one of the first shrubs to burst into leaf in the hedgerows. This year its buds first burst on the 2nd of March, 5 days later than 2019, followed by the first leaf unfurling 10 days after (28 days earlier than 2019). Their flowers then followed a month after, on the 18th of April, 10 days earlier than 2019.

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A similar trend was shown with Lilac (Syringa vulgaris), where budburst took place on the 8th of March, 13 days later than 2019. The first leaf then unfurled 3 days later too, on the 25th of March, and the first flowers bloomed on the 15th of April, 7 days earlier than 2019.

The flowers of Elder (Sambucus nigra) are well known and iconic in our countryside, popular for making elderflower cordial. This year Elder flowered early, with the first flowers being seen at home on the 25th of April (22 days earlier than 2019). Just like Elder, the Dog Rose (Rosa canina) is another late bloomer, which opened its petals for the first time on the 17th of May this year (11 days earlier than last year).

Flowers 

The very first flowers to be seen blooming in the countryside is the dainty snow white Snowdrop (Galanthus spp.). Over the last few years the drooping heads of snowdrops have been flowering earlier each year. This year though, it appeared only 1 day earlier than 2019, welcoming in the year on the 3rd of January.

Snowdrops were soon followed by other iconic spring species, in the form of the first Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) on the 18th of January (44 days earlier than 2019), the first Primrose (Primula vulgaris) on the 27th of January (8 days earlier than 2019), and the first Daffodils (Narcissus spp.); on the 2nd of February (the same day as last year!).

As spring went on, the Snowdrops and sunshine yellows were joined by Wood Anemones (Anemone nemorosa) on the 22nd of March, Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) on the 28th of March, Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum) on the 6th of April, Cuckooflowers (Cardamine pratensis) on the 18th of April, and Oxeye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) on the 18th of May, all occurring 6-17 days earlier than last year.

This year I also included three new flowering species to my spring records: Cowslips (Primula veris), Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea), and Early Purple Orchids (Orchis mascula). I saw the first Cowslip flower on the 20th of March, the first Greater Stitchwort on the 28th of March, and the first Early Purple Orchid on the 6th of April.

Grasses

This year I was so busy in May and the first half of June that I completely overlooked the flowering of 3 common perennial grass species in my local area: Cock’s-foot (Dactylis glomerata), Timothy (Phleum pratense), and Yorkshire Fog (Holcus lanatus). I did though catch Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) flowering, which first occurred on the 22nd of April (23 days earlier than 2019).

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Birds

With the start of every new year, I begin to keep my eye out for the start of the Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) nesting in the bare and skeletal forms of large oak trees near my home. This year they kept me waiting awhile though, with the first signs of nest building appearing on the 15th of February, 17 days later than 2019.

Unlike the start of the Rooks nesting though, the start of male Song Thrushes (Turdus philomelos) singing crept even earlier than last spring. This was 13 days earlier in fact, with me hearing my first on the 15th of December in 2019! This was not reflected by Blackbirds (Turdus merula) though, as I heard my first male singing on the 23rd of February, 17 days later than 2019.

One of my favourite first signs that spring has begun has to be the return of the Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita). This year they returned to my home in Dorset on the 1st of March, 17 days earlier than 2019.

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The glorious return of the Chiffchaffs were then eagerly followed by the first Swallow (Hirundo rustica) on the 5th of April (1 day later than 2019), the first House Martin (Delichon urbicum) on the 12th of April (12 days earlier than 2019), the first Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) on the 22nd of April (11 days later than 2018), and the first Swift (Apus apus) on the 6th of May (19 days earlier than 2018). A Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) did make its exciting return to my family’s land too, which I heard for the first time on the 28th of April (24 days earlier than last year).

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Insects 

This year the majority of the insects I observed, emerged later than they did last year in 2019. I saw my first Brimstone Butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni) on the 24th of March, my first Peacock Butterfly (Aglais io) on the 4th of April, my first Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Aglais urticae) on the 5th of April, my first Orange-Tip Butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines) on the 13th of April, my first Red-Tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) on the 1st of May, and my first queen Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) on the 7th of May, with all ranging anywhere between 4 and 37 days later in date than last year.

The ones that did not follow this pattern though, were the Speckled Wood Butterfly (Pararge aegeria) first seen on the same day as last year on the 22nd of April, and the Red Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) that was first seen 29 days earlier on the 22nd of April. This year I also added Buff-Tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) to my observations, seeing the first at home on the 13th of March.

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This Year

This year it has definitely been an interesting and joyful experience to watch how spring unfolded. It started with early signs during the winter, before arriving with a blaze of glory in March.

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This last winter was a warm, wet and windy one, which left the ground cold and waterlogged for quite a while into spring. A number of species such as Oak trees struggled with this, but for many it did not stop them from emerging on time or earlier, such as snowdrops and field maples. This variation continued with bird species, some arriving and beginning breeding earlier and some later. For a lot of the insect species though, they emerged late, which will have had a lot to do with the less than ideal weather conditions this spring, for example frosts in April. Thus, how spring is changing year-to-year definitely has a lot to do with changing weather conditions.

So as spring fades to summer heat, I can now say that the Chiffchaff made its return to the British Isles by Mother’s Day, the Oak burst into leaf before the Ash (and so we are in for a splash!), and a Cuckoo made its return to my home. It has definitely been a great spring this year!