An Enchanted Place

the keys to lessons of

yesteryear hang illuminated

in the light of a youthful

sun that grows in strength

with each day’s passing,

embracing discovery with

the eager inquisition of

generations advancing into

fresh avenues of growth:

for old ways yet cling on,

shining beacons of both the

wisdom of age and the

fragility of persistence;

stark reminders that the

debris of the past fertilises

all future endeavours

On day 272 of 365 Days Wild I walked down to the meadow in the morning. I didn’t quite make it out for dawn, which was a shame as there was a bit more mist first thing than there had been on day 271, and that always adds an interesting atmospheric quality to pictures. By the time I left the house it was another blue sky morning. As well as taking my usual photographs I thought I’d also try recording a few little videos of the wildlife that was about, which are included later on in the post. They’re all handheld, so are a bit shaky, I’m afraid.

I spent a while sitting on the bench at the back of the meadow, underneath the young alder tree which is currently covered in catkins. These are much longer catkins than those on the hazel tree at the opposite end of the meadow.

My time in the meadow was characterised by the cawing of a group of what I think are probably jackdaws but could be crows or rooks. They barely stopped for the entire time that I was out. There were at least eighteen of them perched in the branches of one of the trees.

They were making a bit of a racket.

There were lots of ladybirds in the leaf litter at the meadow’s edge. There were also lots of spiders.

The ladybird below was, I think, newly metamorphosised from pupae to adult, and still in the process of drying out. Ladybirds are most at risk from predators whilst they wait for their exoskeleton / cuticles to harden, so it’s possible that the nearby spiders were looking to have it for their breakfast.

I also spotted my first two butterflies of the year – a peacock and a red admiral. Unfortunately, they didn’t want to settle long enough for me to get any particularly decent photographs. I did manage to snap one from a bit of a distance of the peacock butterfly before it flew away, and I managed to film a brief, very shaky, snippit of the red admiral butterfly.

My final little video was made as I walked home. A robin began singing from a branch right over my head and I just had to stop to record the beautiful noise.

Have you been out and about in nature recently? Let me know in the comments below.