Hazel catkins braving the snows #12DaysWild #wildflowerhour

Day 10 #12dayswild and I couldn't not wrap up warm and go for a wander around in the newly fallen snow❄️ Nature was in her element- everything was elegantly dressed in white, from the trees to a dried-out hogweed flower. The sun and blue sky lit everything up - gorgeous!

“When it snows, children take over the city: they sleigh, throw snowballs, make snowmen and are more visible than ever. But what a city needs for its children has to be more durable than snow.” (Aldo van Eyck)

Miss Havisham’s veil the rain that never reached us falling on far fields

Northern light.

Sleigh your winter days with nature! ✨ Wish upon frosty stars 🧶 Craft something nature-inspired 🥾 Take a crisp winter wander 🦊 Spot wildlife in their wintery homes These are just a few ways to make the most of #12DaysWild Sign up here 👉 durhamwt.com/12-days-wild-2025

The RSPB invited the British public to vote on this year’s Bird of the Year. Guess which bird won with 81% of the vote? A bird who needs the prize to be swift bricks! Oh yes, the swift won. Email your MP now about swifts. We need to pull together for Britain’s most popular bird

… the kingdom of the prickly poets …

Not really a flower but the first time I’ve seen mistletoe in the wild #wildflowerhour #Gibside

Exploring the traditional #apples in the walled garden #Gibside

Admiring the autumn leaves #Gibside

Hellllllloooo? Are you there? Please help birds by sharing this if you also want to ensure swifts & other urban birds have homes alongside us. People power works but only if we work together. SAVE OUR SWIFTS.

#DailyHaikuPrompt #drizzle day-long drizzle cannot douse the fire of October leaves

Bird of the place-name 93: RAMSDEAN (WSsx). OE hramn + denu. ‘The raven’s valley.’ Close to where I grew up, just outside Worthing. Near a Roman site and Iron Age Cissbury. Mentioned in a 10th charter. #birdsandplace #naturewriting

An actual North Tyneside back lane with glorious skies -

Swans heading south

Teasel seedheads #seedheads #wildflowerhour #Yorkshire #sunset

The trees in Northumberland are already hinting at changing colours- to rust, ochre, orange. Even the most familiar places seem, mysterious and magical when transformed by Nature's "paintbrush"... See "autumn" in my online shop for more examples - crownstudiogallery.myshopify.com

Dandelion seedhead in the setting sun. It’s feeling quite Autumnal. #wildflowerhour #sunset #dandelionClock

An Ecology of Love & Ruin; a long goodbye & an acknowledgement that, what we feared for so long, never came to pass. More of this in my first book #OnGallowsDown #BookSky nicolachester.com/2025/08/20/a...

A visitor … not sure who yet … #teammoth

The skies are suddenly silent … I think the #swifts may have flown south already #Northumberland

It’s almost #WorldKidLitMonth - a time to explore the world through children’s literature! Read all about how to get involved here 📚 🌍 #kidlit #readtheworld worldkidlit.org/2025/08/01/i...

Also discovered these tiny butterflies - Small Skippers I think but I’m not sure … #BigButterflyCount #teambutterfly

Lovely butterfly walk this morning … warm sunshine, grasshoppers chirping in the grass and these beauties … #BigButterflyCount

This Red Admiral has fluttered onto your feed to let you know that the #BigButterflyCount is just 1 week away! Get ready to count 👉 bigbutterflycount.org 📷: Michael Preston

Poppies and ox-eye daises push through the stony ground and rewild the edges of the building site #wildflowerhour #urbanplants

Day 29 - this morning’s #butterfly count revealed lots of Meadow Browns for the first time this year. The thistles were full of soldier beetles and even a grasshopper bounced by #30DaysWild

Day 28 - discovered a pollinator paradise is the Sweet Chestnut flowers #30DaysWild

Day 26 - making maps of our site and where all our wildlife lives …. great fun #30DaysWild #forestschool

Day 25 - the early morning check of the wall revealed a beautiful female Ghost Moth … meeting moths has been a wonderful bonus to this year’s #30DaysWild #teammoth

Day 24 - welcoming In Midsummers Day #30DaysWild

And this morning the Shed is a hidden inside a tangle of mock orange, where butterflies dance in the shadows, and bees sing in the sunlight...

Day 23 pm - spotted a little group of house martins skimming low around the community orchard this evening. A reassuring sight - I’ve seen so few in town these last few summers, not many swallows either #30DaysWild

Day 23 - tried to use the strong gusts to do some wind painting and had great fun using the herbs to make potions and perfumes - lemon balm is the current favourite #30DaysWild #forestschool #playwork

Day 22 - the strip of wasteland at the edge of the soon to be carpark revealed a wealth of vetches, campions and fumitory #wildflowerhour home to bees and a beautiful green-vein butterfly. The hedge beyond echoing with the songs of an unseen blackcap and chiffchaff #30DaysWild

Water on Nasturtium Leaves © 2019 William Koechling

‘My mother, who hates thunder storms, Holds up each summer day and shakes It out suspiciously, lest swarms Of grape-dark clouds are lurking there.’ ~ Larkin And @racheldeering.bsky.social here for all the summer sunshine of #BookWormSat 🌞 🖼️ Frederic Edwin Church, 1868.

Arches and architecture. Views through the windows #Warkworth

Spent a lovely afternoon exploring the #sculptures at #Warkworth castle - all so effective but my favourite was the #moth

Day 21 - exploring the ruins of #Warkworth castle with the local birds and flowers #30DaysWild

Day 20 - another early morning walk through whirling, swirling #swifts - we are so privileged to share our streets with these amazing birds

Day 19 - More #moths. This time a Large Yellow Underwing and a Silver Y #30DaysWild

Day 18 - spent the day under the trees in a beech wood exploring a local #forestschool. Children had a great time in the fresh air and I came away with lots of new ideas for outdoor learning and sensory provision #30DaysWild

Day 17 - new teasels bursting through amongst the remnants of last autumn’s seed heads #30DaysWild #urbanplants

21st June 2025 05.36

A sound I can never get tired of. Nightjar on Alnwick Moor #NEBirding #birds

Day 16 - playing sensory bingo under a blue sky - we had lots of fun making bark rubbings and creating our names out of twigs. And we saw long tailed tits and a deer #30DaysWild #playwork #forestschool

Day 15 pm - in a car park I found the #butterflies. Don’t know what this bush is but it was covered - at least six Red Admirals and two Painted Ladies #30DaysWild