30 DAYS WILD : 25 - TODAY I WALKED IN THE WOODS . . . WATER

Today I walked in the woods.

Cuckoo spit. Woods in Luddenden Valley. June 25th 2020

There was cuckoo-spit in the grass. (Cuckoo spit is a damp froth which conceals the nymph of an insect called a 'froghopper'. I once brushed the 'spit' away and found a little green monster inside. It was nothing like its adult form. It would seem cruel to repeat the experiment for the sake of a photograph so you will have to imagine what it looks like!)

I came to a gate.

The gate led to a grassy stone bridge.

At the far side of the bridge was a style into a field.

Luddenden Brook. West Yorkshire. June 25th 2020.

But I didn't go into the field, I went under the bridge.

And looked along the brook.

And into the water.

(This reads as if it's a story for very little children learning to read so perhaps I should finsish by saying

"THE END"!)

This post is part of the 30 Days Wild Challenge set annually by the Wildlife Trusts.

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30 DAYS WILD : 24 - I WENT WALKING AND I SAW . . .

This is where I went for a walk today.

It's hard, currently, not to be overwhelmed by heat. Today is sunny and clear. Before that the weather was heavy and oppressive. And before that the sky was dull and overcast. A letter arrived from the hospital with a list of nine series of vaccinations I will need to replace my immunities but my new GP practice seems to have shut up shop. I don't understand! There was a leaflet with the letter. I mustn't forget there's still time for me to get Graft Versus Host Disease and because of the transplant I am more at risk from a selection of cancers so I must use high factor suncream, wear sunglasses, get out of breath for thirty minutes a day to keep myself fit (this can be in ten minute chunks) and have ten minutes a day with my skin exposed to sunshine (for the sake of vitamin D).

Butterfly being observed by a fly. June 24th 2020

So when I go for a walk I feel like the invisible man - my woolly hat has been replaced with a flowery sunhat and I wear large dark glasses in between it and my flowery mask. The sunglasses change how I see the world. They enrich all colours. Butterflies, pretty at the best of times, become absolute stunners. The sky is bluer. Clouds more dramatic. Leaves greener. The earth is enriched and warm. Photos don't look the same when I get them home! This butterfly was bright orange when I saw it through my glasses!

It's National Insect Week. I spent an age before I set out, trying to photograph bees on local poppies. Bees never stop moving and when they ping off the poppy and on to the next one, its petals are left vibrating. It's easier to photograph bees on sturdy bramble flowers I have discovered. However fiercely the bee wriggles, the flower stays still. (I've used one of the blurry poppy photos for a temporary header in honour of National Insect Week.)

Today's walk was in the country, through some woods between the moors and a stream. There was bracken and there were ferns, This, I think, is bracken. Who knows the difference between bracken and ferns?

Wasp pollinating a wild rose. June 24th 2020

There were wild roses and brambles. 

Here, a rose is being pollinated by a wasp.

Moss in woods on dry stone wall. June 24th 2020

And in the woods, perhaps my favourite observation today, this little moss on an old dry stone wall.

30 DAYS WILD

Today's Random Act of

Wildness is to

go for a walk.

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Linked to 'Our World Tuesday'
And 'My Corner of the World'

30 DAYS WILD : DAY 12. SITTING IN THE RAIN AND LOOKING AT A VIEW

Luddenden Valley in the rain.

Yesterday afternoon, after one lot of rain had left and another was encroaching on the valley, I took a flask of coffee and sat and looked at the view.

In real life I could feel the wind. I could smell the air. I could see so much more than you can see with a brief glance at a photo.

The sheep here are fairly prominent but there are also lots of cows and some horses.

Oat's Royd Mill, Ludddenden.

And down in the dip there's a big old mill - Murgatroyd's at Oat's Royd. It was built in 1847 for manufacturing Worsted (a good quality yarn made from the long strands in a wool fleece) and was incredibly successful because it relied on steam for power instead of water. Over time it was expanded and a huge number of people worked there. It closed in 1982 and now houses apartments. What a place to live! *

30 DAYS WILD
Today's Random Act of
Wildness is to
sit and look at the view.

Today's random act of wildness was simply that, sitting and looking at the view and thinking how happy I am to be here.

*Calderdale Council Luddenden Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan, 

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