Day One - A blackbird offers a fanfare to my wild month

Day one of #30DW wild wafted into my slumbers at 4am carried on the song of a blackbird. It was clearly the time for this bird to declare another day of its precious breeding season out there in the wild. As for me, so gently awoken from my slumbers by this rich and welcome song, I drifted back to sleep for a couple more hours knowing that the wild was ready to greet me when I headed off out and into the first of June.

Day Two - Mesmerised by Moths 

Today’s encounter with the wild fell into the ‘how charming’ category for me as I wandered along a track which was sheltered from the breeze. There I was halted in my stride by a small flight of yellow banded longhorn moths. This was obviously a male courtship display, in which it seemed that the sheer energy of those performing was enough to mesmerise any passing female moths. Their energy expired they then alighted on nearby vegetation allowing me to grab a photo or two before they whirled off into the air again.

Day Three - Skipping Through the Heather - LWT Cadishead Moss

The Cadishead Moss section of the Little Woolden Moss LWT Nature Reserve wasn’t quite as damaged by peat extraction as the rest of the reserve although it still needed lots of work to help it help nature to recover. Today I noted a large skipper butterfly flitting from one stand of cross-leaved heath and heather effortlessly moving through this recovering landscape. Such a contrast to me as I trundled on ancient legs, moving as ungainly as it can get, whilst I was carrying out one of my surveys of the wildlife for the LWT. It seemed to me that the Wild today was trying to average out our progress making for a harmonious balance....

Day Four - A breeze driven encounter

Plaintive calls carried on a lively westerly wind drew me into that wonder filled world of the wild out on Little Woolden Moss LWTNR. Eyes watering – it was this due to the wind playing havoc with my rheumy eyes. Or was it those three new bundles of life that paused at their parents’ alarm call but soon resumed their search for food once said parents stood close? The wild had presented me with another heartstring-tweaking treasure in these three young lapwings and I gratefully moved on.

Day Five - The dark (wings) lit up my (rainy) day

Not the best of days to wander not that the rain really bothers me…apart from reminding me that the waterproof trousers I wear are past their best. Me and my soggy knees (truly past their best!) plodded on into not-too-rich a wildlife world in the area I chose to walk today yet it did give family parties of long-tailed tit, whitethroat, great tit and a lapwing calling to hidden young. Leaving these birds to their frenetic day I moved into an area of rough grassland which ‘gleefully’ added to my soggy leg woes but it was here that a flash of dark wings dispelled the gloom of this grey skied day. My first meadow brown butterfly of the year lit up my day.

Day Six - The Wild was kept on track...

Manchester beckoned, laser eye treatment required, therefore the moss had to manage without my scrutiny today. Yet the wild was not to be ignored at the railway station with a family party of bullfinch calling from deep within tree cover whilst a party of goldfinch were much more showy as they twittered by.

Lesser black-backed gulls rode the westerly breeze to the sound of a chiffchaff, ringing  out its familiar song.

The walk to the clinic in Manchester also offered the wild as magpie, blackbird and Canada goose made use of the habit offered by the Bridgewater Canal.

Day Seven - Dull no nay never, said the sedge warbler

Today the wild offered another of its ‘let’s keep the sky grey and, as a bonus, chuck a regular supply of rain from the heavens. Well that’s fine by me I was wearing waterproofs and I was once more looking out over Little Woolden Moss Nature Reserve. Whenever I move through this landscape it evokes a sense of peace knowing that it is owned and cared for by the LWT and that their continued aim is to bring back the wild to this and their other reserves.

The wild today was perhaps a lot less showy but willow warbler still kept up their sweet song of summer with a few now uttering their ‘hu-weet’ alarm call to their young safely tucked away in their nests. Then to counterbalance this chorus of harmonious song a sedge warbler uttered its wild and eclectic notes with an enthusiasm that denied the skies attempt to dampen down this Saturday morn. 

Day Eight - Rain stopped play, not quite

To greet me this morning there was yet another late spring sky of grey clouds which promised rain and duly delivered it. Was this a day to be a ‘match cancelled affair’? Hardly, for although perhaps a tad dampened down, activity within the wild would be out there - just getting on with the job of survival.

Swallow moved from the open into the lee of trees where insects were taking cover. Four oystercatchers chased about the air whilst meadow pipit defied the grey and flew high to deliver their song. To our 365 day Wild it was just another day of existence.

Day Nine - That withering look of disdain

A wander through farmland north of Little Woolden Moss LWT Nature Reserve with the specific aim of counting yellow wagtail. These beautiful summer visitors have crashed in number on Chat Moss in recent years. Barley crop high was giving those birds plenty of scope to hide from me,  who to them is just another predator.

A time to introduce my one and only ‘skill’ an ability to whistle their contact call and up popped a female yellow wagtail. On seeing me, this six foot-plus lolloping pied piper, disturbing its barley-clad world, turned and gave me a yellow wagtail withering look of disdain and flew off to continue with its day.

The Wild today seemed to be ‘not amused’....

Day 10 - I walked along without dilly dallying

I would guess that anyone other than this ‘Old Man’ wouldn’t know of the Music Hall song---My Old Man said Follow the Van* in which the wife offered the refrain “I walked along ‘wiv’ me old cock linnet”. Well know it or not this old man in carrying out a Breeding Bird Survey for the LWT flushed a female linnet off her cosy nest which was tucked away within a stand of heather.

A very quick photo taken and off I happily wandered hoping that the Wild be kind to this bird and that she raises all of her young. These birds are now on the Red Data List, meaning of most conservation concern.

*Also known as ‘Don’t dilly dally on the way’ written in 1919...

Day 11 - Beatrix Potter revisited

“Tap tappit tap tappit she’s heard it before,” but this time it wasn’t ‘who is that knocking on Cottontail’s Door - bedtime reading for my children many years ago. For this “tap tappit” I’ve heard before but not here on Little Wooden Moss LWTNR. Then easily seen atop a small birch tree sat an agitated female stonechat, soon joined by her partner issuing their ‘stone tapping’ sounding alarm call.

This sound telling of another ‘Wild’ success for the LWT for this alarm indicated that they had raised young here. In my memory none have bred here before and at that after a quick couple of photos taken I chalked up another LWT Wild milestone.

Day 12- Droning on and on...

Little Woolden Moss Nature Reserve had the modern world at its western edge today with the presence of two drone pilots who are working alongside the LWT in harnessing the latest technology with the aim of restoring the wild. The plan is to seed large areas of the wild from the drone, this already proving successful on other areas of the UK.

Off took this mini ‘copter (it was quite some size) over the reserve where most of the birds were quite indifferent to its presence, apart from a pair of curlew which took to the air in protest but this concern soon abated and they settled back on the ground - I suspect their young to attend to).

Test flight OK and drone safely down giving hope to this ‘droning on about conservation old timer’ about wildlife and habitat loss may be mitigated by such initiatives...

This LWT never know when to stop in their efforts to conserve the wild.

Day 13 - Slumber no more, an encounter with a wren

Another breeze blessed amble into the Wild my route taking me along a ‘nicely overgrown’ path which runs along a similarly overgrown ditch. Such ‘messy’ features leading me to appreciate how much these areas are valued by pollinators such as bees, hoverflies and butterflies, offering them food and shelter in such wild profusion of undergrowth. This habitat giving balance in a world where ‘tidy’ often means wildlife destruction.

My pace today was as ever these days being almost at slumbering pace until an explosion of song brought me to wide awake mode. A check of the tangle of bramble that lined the ditch and there singing at a decibel level far exceeding his size (10cm long), a wren perched...my wild alarm clock had done his trick!

Day 14 - Blue-Blue my World is Blue

The lyrics of this song go on ‘Blue is my world now I’m without you’. I apologise for my eclectic taste in music and books but today this song was relevant as I wandered through what should be the wild.

My wild wander today took in ‘modern farmland. Which, sadly, as we expect our farmers to produce more and more food, leaves very little for the wild to survive within.

Corn bunting, yellow wagtail and yellowhammer are no longer to be found on these fields hence why the song with the sad refrain entered my thoughts. There was hope in my blues being lifted on my return to Little Woolden Moss Nature Reserve where a female common blue butterfly flitted from wildflower to wildflower...

The wild holds on and always gives hope.

Day 15 - Potato crop angst

In the distance a tractor methodically trundled East to West in total concentration. This being a twofold approach to banking up the rows of a potato crop these being:

1. The crop must be carefully negotiated to prevent damage to this emerging crop.
2. This farmer was acutely aware both curlew and lapwing were in alarm, their young being hidden in the crop with their survival depended on his care

Today I had witnessed the wild being nurtured for by a caring farmer.

NB, curlew young not observed but I did see two very recently hatched lapwing safely moving from a furrow already completed.

Day 16 - A Carpet of wild

A field planted by Natural England in order to feed overwintering birds drew me into its life with several seed-bearing plants that could offer hope to birds this winter being present.

Small tortoiseshell, meadow brown and large white butterflies fed on the now flowering plants as I passed through this crop whilst ladybirds and moth caterpillars occupied these plants. Rough grassland peppered with wildflowers at the field edges proved equally happy to host the wild where stands of nettle gave food to nurseries of peacock butterfly caterpillars which will hopefully give late summer these wings of the wild flight.

Day 17 - The Wild wouldn’t wait

An easy (lazy!) start to the day. Two cups of tea to get through and a quiet garden to enjoy them in. Quiet? Not really. First an oystercatcher rattled out its far-reaching call as it sped overhead (heading towards the ManchestervShip Canal). A magpie decided to search for its breakfast by clearing out the gutter throwing moss at my feet.

Then a blackbird broke off from its soporific song to noisily chase off the magpie whilst a couple of bumble bees buzzed by, heading over to a stand of pollinator flowers. Then a family party of blue tit energetically called to one another  as they moved through nearby trees. A couple of woodpigeon then decided this was the time to have a territorial fight their wings bashing causing a right ruckus.

It looked as if this bright, easy-going morning with its gentle southeast breeze had failed to keep me having an easy morn instead it carried a message which insisted on waking me up to the fact that the Wild was out on the Moss awaiting my presence.

Day 18 - Dandelion tells no lies

The tracks on the Little Woolden Moss farmland are left a tad overgrown and today contained a beautiful flush of dandelions. Advertisements on the TV portray these bright sun-reflecting flowers as weeds, which should be gleefully poisoned. 

If only, I mused, as I paused at almost every other step, that these could be valued by we humans as much as the bees and hoverflies and much more of our valuable (nay necessary for our survival) pollinators which feed upon these larders of life, then  I believe wildlife would be in a less parlous state than it is at present.

A simple truth and that is to value the commonplace for it has real worth.

Day 19 - Along came the leaves

The mosslands’ leaf-laden trees offer so much in their beauty and, with temperatures in the 20s at present. give welcome shade. With this comes the new challenge set by the Wild - gaining a photo or two of the birds heard from within this cover in order I might illustrate this note. OK I know most of their songs and calls but that’s not good enough for telling my story.

Help is offered by our human contribution to the landscape, overhead power and telephone wires offering a really handy perch for many species of birds

Linnet, pied wagtail and woodpigeon could all be clearly seen as they surveyed their wild home. Photos taken, note complete.

Day 20 - A promise or a threat?

With the promise of 27C plus I was wary of today’s wander out on Little Woolden Moss LWT Nature reserve where the heat threatened to dehydrate my every step…

On arrival a southerly breeze lifted dragonfly about the air whilst two marsh harriers drifted by on breeze-confident wings - my walk provisioned by two bottles of water began. Birdsong brought reed bunting, whitethroat, willow warbler and more to my ears. Energy was saved in not having to lift my binoculars to find these with any energetic action left to four spotted chaser dragonflies which whizzed about pools which still held water…

Having drunk my two half litres but still ‘melting’ I felt it was time to leave the Wild to its heat saturated day.

Day 21 - I stood and watched a bee

A few paces along a wildlife friendly (overgrown) looking farm track and the wild gave halt at a patch of thistle which was hosting a couple of buff-tailed bumble bee. It was as if the wild was telling me to take my ease on this sultry mid-summer morn which was already at 26C. Grateful to rest, I simply stood and watched these bees feeding energetically on the thistle.

My own energy level already low I then let the wild perform upon its stage. Later on my slow retreat home this one member of the audience recalled some of today’s stars -  a kestrel hovering so supremely, skylark rising from the orchestra pit to fill the air with song and yellow wagtail carrying food to their hidden young.

The wild once more had offered a full programme to entertain. 

Day 22 - Hosting the wild

This farmstead offered so much to the Wild which is in massive decline in the UK. A place to nest and this can be a messy affair for the owners’ property yet these owners simply say “well the wild was here before us so let it come”

House martin nests lining one of the buildings numbered 15 and to these parent birds were constantly delivering insect food to their hungry young. These insects gleaned from adjacent grade one agricultural land, a perfect balance in our Wild’s biodiversity.

Now comes the catch that grade one agricultural land has been deemed (doomed perhaps) an area to be obliterated by warehouses and when this occurs the house martin and many more declining species of birds that rely on this area will be gone.

Once more the Wild in the UK diminishes further.

Day 24 – Sheltering from the winds

Butterfly numbers in the UK are in freefall. It’s a fact and my chance of noting some today seemed very slim. In fact, I didn’t expect to see any in today’s powerful westerly wind. Swallow skimmed in and out of trees chasing insects taking shelter whilst a flock of lesser black-backed gulls decided sit this one out and rest up on nearby fields.

I admit that the refreshing breeze was a relief after last week’s high temperatures and I was at least having an invigorating walk if not seeing much as the wild took cover. A curlew called but remained unseen. Then came a sheltered spot and with it the delight of seeing comma, red admiral and speckled wood butterflies catching today’s sun in their natural windbreak. The wild finding ways to get by whatever the weather.

Day 25 - A songster in the Ringing Singing Tree

A check of an area not particularly nature friendly farmland -silage, turf and paddocks.

Ok some wildlife gets by in such places, but gone are the less intensive farming of my youth when the song I could hear was almost to be ignored in its heyday of wildlife harmonious landscapes.

The once familiar song rang out from a small tree but remained firmly out of sight as if the tree was simply recalling this once familiar song of farmland. A change of viewpoint some careful scrutiny of the tree and this Ringing Singing Tree revealed a yellowhammer.

The secret was out telling that the wild still holds on...JUST!