Making your own wild times
IT’S strange looking back to when times were “normal” and we took a lot of things for granted.
For example, I look back on the Manchester Festival of Nature in 2019 when I thought we were at the start of something really special for nature lovers in the region.
Those who were there will remember that MFoN was held on the hottest day of the year in Heaton Park and some 7,000 visitors were invited to take part in wild activities by our 100-plus team from across the conservation sector.
It was lovely watching whole families getting involved in creating artistic crafts and, at the same time, learning about the wildlife in Manchester.
And it was great to hear the voices of passionate young people talking about their hopes and fears for the future of the environment.
The good news is that we held a virtual festival last year and we are holding another this week – there are events today (Wednesday) and on Sunday, if you go into @ MancNature on Twitter.
Also those young people haven’t lost that enthusiasm to make the world a better place and a safer place for our plants and creatures.
The MFoN Youth Panel has been really active during the lockdown.
The message of the festival is always protecting nature and natural places, but over the past year we have all realised the benefits that wildlife has given us back.
My spirits have been raised by my early morning encounters with our garden robin, finding a frog in the undergrowth was another high point and made me very careful when I am mowing the lawn.
I laugh out loud at the starling mosh pit on my bird table every day and the cheeky blackbirds demanding food.
The bluebells in our local woods over the last couple of months have been astonishing and have added so much colour to my dog walks.
They are slipping back now but there were literally carpets of blue in my local woods.
Over the sunny weekend, it was great to see so many bees buzzing around the flowers in our garden.
I love going out on summer days and hearing that wonderful hum that our pollinators are making, so we must be doing the right thing with our insect-friendly flowers.
And let’s not forget that birdsong which is going on all day now, dominated by blackbirds in our village and song thrush repetitions in woodland.
Listen out in the woods and if you hear a song being repeated three times in a row that is almost certain to be a song thrush.
If I see a deer, a hare, a fox or a weasel it still takes my breath away and it stays with me for days, probably because I have to tell everyone about it.
Springwatch has ended on TV so it’s time to make your own nature moments, we have 6,500 people taking part in 30 Days Wild during June, just doing something wild every day.
It’s not too late to join in.
Or you can tune into this week’s Manchester Festival of Nature to find out the amazing things our wild partners are doing for your natural world.