It was the 26th day of Wild June and I was running out of days to be wild on. But there I was, catching a train to London even though it was promising to be lovely weather. Even the Stour estuary seemed short on wildness that morning: just a cloud or crowd of gull and… [Read More]
Archives for June 2019
Rolling along on a carpet of gold…
Wild June is best enjoyed from the back of a horse. Like most other months. We had walked down the shallow slope to the flood-plain and as we reached the grassy path we rolled into a canter without discussing the matter, for Miakoda, my American Paint mare, knows both the place and the routine as… [Read More]
Eddie’s blog 22nd of July
22nd of July
Flying towards the light…
f you sit out in a wild place with a birder, birds will be noted, no matter how big the subject you are discussing. You could even be talking about England’s chances in the women’s World Cup or England’s defeat in the cricket World Cup — but if a nice bird appears, it will be… [Read More]
The ladies that show us the way to the stars
A butterfly mind. To us, that means silly, inconstant, flighty, unable to concentrate on one thing for more than a second, always flying off to look at something more interesting – and then going back to the first thing, or maybe another even newer thing. I seem to have spent most of this Wild June… [Read More]
Wild June in Bloom with a dash of egret…
Once again Wild June had me racing towards London with a book to promote. I was reading Ulysses as the train rattled south and west from Norfolk: the following day was June 16: Bloomsday: the day on which the fictional action of Ulysses takes place, and on which those who love the book will raise… [Read More]
Words and birds, words and birds…
First, apologies. Fallen behind with the blog. Book promotions, lots of running around, little time to look or listen, and even less time to write. So it goes. Yesterday I was in Cromer, for a Jarrolds literary lunch, and in the middle of it I had to take a long call to interview, well, a… [Read More]
For this relief much thanks
Swifts have become the birds of relief. They excite a sigh of gratitude: phew, look, a party of swifts, must be at least a dozen of them flying over the common, well, that’s OK then, things might be very much worse, we haven’t buggered it all up quite yet. I had just such moment, sitting… [Read More]
Of reeds, reed warblers and waterproof trousers
June 5 Eddie and I were seated on the ground. It was soaking, but who cares? We had our waterproof trousers, which of course are, the next best thing to a super-power: nothing that life could throw at us could cause us grief. So we sat and we drank – beer for me, apple juice… [Read More]
How to set eyes on a living sound
Eddie and I were sitting out on the marsh an hour or so before dusk when we heard the cuckoo again. Good. He – only a male cuckoo says cuckoo – has been hard at it for six weeks now. Cuckoos love this spot, one that we in Norfolk, without a trace of irony, call… [Read More]
Eddie’s Blogs
Here are the first 34 of Eddie’s blogs. Wild June 2019:2-1 Wild June 2019:2 Wild June:3 Wild June:4
Ashanti golden treasure in the nettlebed…
June 3 I was stepping out of my hut – the hut I work in at the bottom of the garden, in front of the marsh – when I found a piece of gold. Pure, shining, 24-carat gold, reflecting the generous sun of the day with such enthusiasm it could almost count as a rival. … [Read More]
Blackcap
June 2 There are a few bits of essential equipment for wildlifers recommended in my book Rewild Yourself, including the all-essential supermarket carrier bag, and of course a copy of Basho’s haikus. But I forgot the hammock. The keen pursuer of wildlife can’t afford to be without on. I took to my hammock on the… [Read More]
Wild June and a sky filled with passion
The boat is called the Golden Mean, but there was little moderation that day: the first day of June, the first of 30 Days Wild that the family, as encouraged by the Wildlife Trusts, will try and follow: at least one wild moment every single day of a wild month. It is the start of… [Read More]