The call of the Wild came from the East

The call of the Wild came from the East

Channel wagtail by Dave Steel

Rain fails to dampen the enthusiasm of our 30 Days Wild adventurer Dave Steel and the people he meets on his mosslands wander.

The wild that resides in the eastern section of the moss demanded my attention today, casting its disapproval of my recent neglect by inviting rain sodden clouds to greet me.

Hey-ho, it was, nonetheless, very generous in the gifts of the wild that it showered on me and, in truth, it tried to stall my progress as I met up with someone who is so positive about the wild in this area that I feared they might explode! They told of their bird-table gaining treecreeper, whilst around us rang the life of a good number of swallow and house martin.

I moved on but positive person number two stopped me to happily tell of the two pairs of house martin he has attracted to nest on the eaves of his home because he made and installed house martin nest copies. This drew them to set up their summer home here.

Yellow wagtail grabbed insects off his garden lawn whilst a stock dove flew from the nest box, he also made for them. It’s hard to break away from such wild appreciating people.

I broke away and into the steady rain that set itself up to accompany me on my wander which started when I looked across a field of wheat over which at least 40 house martin and swallow skimmed for insects, whilst nesting within were at least two pairs of yellow wagtails. One was the uncommon Channel wagtail. Two of these are found on west of our moss. What a wild-attracting place our area is.

A sedge warbler sang out its disjointed song whilst a reed bunting chipped away at its uncomplicated verses. The rain didn’t dampen all of this but my thoughts did as I realise that all this wild may be swallowed up by development.

Yet who knows what the future may bring as I grabbed my life raft of hope and thought of all the positivity I find out here for wildlife. Perhaps this will conserve the wild for future generations. A nice warm glow finishing my wandering as the rain trickled down my neck and it was time to retreat from today’s wild.

30 Days Wild