Day 30 #30DaysWild summing up

Well that is that - the end of our 30th Day, but not the end of wild days, long may they continue!

The day started with some sunshine and full of promise and it didn't disappoint with the arrival of our first Ringlet butterfly of the year in our garden, alas no camera to hand! we also had a warbler in our hedge, I am thinking it was a chiffchaff, although it could have been a willow warbler.
Then I found this 7-spot ladybird

 good news with a few aphids about, the ants seemed to be appreciating these black aphids.

and what about the lawn patches we left to grow wild 30 days ago?
Well this is what we have now....

self-heal

At dinnertime a male sparrowhawk flew down onto our feeders, he was unsuccessful so he then just sat there for a minute or so, if I had known he would loiter I might have grabbed my camera, instead we all just sat there watching him!
...and just now we had a buzzard perch on one of the fence posts, with its prey on the other side of our track, just two or three metres from our garden too dark now for a photo, but we have plenty still happening and the promise of more still to come - I am very much looking forward to the butterflies and dragonflies still to visit us this year and all this borage busting into flower

A big Thank you to The Wildlife Trusts for coming up with the idea of 30 Days Wild, I did see a tweet earlier asking if anyone is up to 365 days wild - well yes I am although I won't be posting any of the next 335 days on here or numbering the days on instagram, but please do keep visiting my instagram account as I will still be sharing nature and wildlife pics on there, hopefully something new everyday.

Day29 - #30DaysWild - smelling the roses in the rain

I do so hope that the sun shines tomorrow and I can end this blog on a high note, but we have had non stop rain all morning here in Staffordshire and everything is just looking so damp and miserable, even the bees are in hiding!
So today I ventured out to smell the roses, a beautiful fragrance! We have a Rambling Rector rose in our garden, which provides shelter for the smaller garden birds and usually looks fabulous during June with speckled wood butterflies and bees enjoying the nectar, but there was very little activity around it today!
So today my wild act was to smell the roses in the rain, even if it is a garden flower it was planted for the wildlife to utilise as well as for us to enjoy!

Day28 #30DaysWild - Buzzard

Today didn't quite go according to plan, and as a result I had to spend the whole of the morning inside, I consoled myself with the thought that I would get out this afternoon, but alas as I walked back to my car the rain started and it just did not stop, so by 5pm I was starting to worry that today might be the day that I have nothing to post, then to my delight a buzzard decided to perch on our telegraph pole. We have several buzzards around and I often watch them soar over our garden but as far as I am aware this is the first time a buzzard has actually landed in our garden, even if it was several feet up. The photo was taken through a very wet window with my phone If I had opened the door it would have flown off!

day 27 #30DaysWild - with birds in mind

This morning I popped over to Staffordshire Wildlife Trust at Wolseley Bridge for more sunflower hearts for our feeders. While I was there I went to look for the kingfishers, unfortunately they didn't make an appearance, but I did spot a beautiful demoiselle flutter up into one of the willows on the bank of the River Trent.

There were also a good number of ducks, geese and this family of Mute Swans.

While I was there I also visited the sensory garden, maybe one of my favourite areas at the centre, there always seems to be something new to look at, as was the case again today with several new herbs planted in the raised beds.
The living walkway looked fantastic today, maybe this could be a project idea for next year, not on quite the scale of this one though!

day 26 #30DaysWild - A damp squib

I think it is safe to say that June has turned out to be something of a damp squib, definitely failing to meet several expectations. There have been a few better days including our Cumbria holiday and yesterdays family gathering, but one of the two biggest frustrations has been the weather, so much for 'flaming June'!!! Today didn't start off too bad, out in the garden doing some more tidying up for a couple of hours, then the rain started again, and after a couple of hours of constant rain the garden is very much looking like this,

There is very little in the garden you can do in the rain except maybe collect up a few of the slugs and snails that make an appearance and remove them to a different location,

saying that,  with all this the other side of the track, I do feel as though I am fighting a losing battle!!!

day 25 #30dayswild butterfly spot and rainbows

I spotted our first Meadow Brown butterflies in our garden yesterday morning before setting off to Gloucestershire for a family garden party.

We spent the afternoon and evening outside in a beautiful garden enjoying not only the company of family but also for a good half an hour a spectacular thunderstorm around 3pm while sat under gazebo, the squall was the first of many other showers or heavier periods of rain, during the rest of the afternoon and early evening so the gazebo was abandoned and most of us took shelter in the garage where the refreshments were. We did however also see some sunshine and as a consequence the obligatory rainbows

The day ended with fire pits and sparklers, several moths at this time were also flying around,  A fabulous finale to a brilliant day and one that will be talked about for a long time to come!

day 24 #30DaysWild in search of yellow

Today I looked for yellow to cheer up an otherwise bleak day, and happily found a hoverfly flying around our hypericum, despite the light drizzle! my #30DaysWild instagram phone photo today.