For week two of 30 Days Wild I have been waking up early to observe the birds, the early bird catches the … shots of a Great Tit and Buzzard!

The garden birds just love a photoshoot in the morning. Tuning into bird song is truly amazing. I absolutely love standing in the garden, closing my eyes and focusing on the bird song. It reminds me of when you look at the night sky and the longer you look the more stars appear, when you listen to the birds the more birds you hear. Identifying bird song has never been one of my strengths, however, challenging myself to learn more is a random act of wildness that I have really been enjoying over 30 Days Wild.

Lately, instead of looking up I have begun to look down. Maybe it was to balance out my neck ache from looking at the birds … maybe it was yin and yang inspiration from wildlife yoga (thanks Zanna van Dijk), but oh my goodness there are so many creatures in our grassy jungle! Say no to the mow, am I right!?

Bio blitz survey next week that’s for sure!

My favourite wild activity of the week has been observing what lives in my compost heap! Over lockdown my family and I have created an open compost heap, a variation to our existing enclosed compost heap. Compost heaps provide a safe haven for wildlife such as small mammals, toads, birds, hedgehogs, beetles, bats, grass snakes and slow worms!  We used sticks, branches and leaves to create our compost heap, and it is bursting with all kinds of invertebrates! I wanted to know if there were any creatures living inside our compost heap, so I set up an experiment and created a video documenting the creatures that have moved in.

The best part about composting systems is that there are many ways of creating one, so they can be suitable for all gardens of different shapes and sizes! If you don’t already have one, I would definitely recommend making one, and observing all the different creatures that thrive in your compost heap!

Speaking of observing creatures, shout out to animal behaviourists and deer lovers!

In the video link below, I initially thought these two bucks were helping each other out, a kind of ‘I’ll scratch yours if you scratch mine’ type of situation. However, it looks they are practicing their rutting behaviour and establishing a dominance hierarchy. What do you think?

Alongside carrying out 30 Days Wild Random Acts of Wildness, I have spent time learning about how the Black Lives Matter Movement and environmentalism are intrinsically linked, and I encourage others to do the same.

I quote a section of the nature themed poem “Who am I” by Zita Holbourne, “A volcano, an earthquake, a rainbow, moonlight, each scent, each sound, each taste, each sight. Who am I? The creator, simply, I am sweet Mother Earth”.

Stay safe and I trust you’ll keep it wild.