2nd June – We’re in that funny in-between time, where the blossom is falling but the fruit is only budding. Nevertheless, the land is alive with insect activity. In the hedgerows, our small birds are nesting.
5th June – A torrent of rain dampens the land, the thirsty desiccated ground absorbing a much-needed drink. A fox slinks away, carrying a small mammal in its mouth, her gaze not leaving me until she’s out of sight.
6th June – Another calf joins the herd, the other calves welcoming him with curiosity. Young hares dart out of the undergrowth, camouflaged until the last second.
7th June – A grey heron bobs on the lake, diving for fish. He emerges victorious, a flash of silver in his beak. The great oak tree that shades the jetty rustles in the breeze, bursting as it is with healthy leaves.
8th June – Lapwing chicks have hatched! The babies stumble through the margins of the scrapes trying to keep their balance on their bandy new legs.
10th June – Walking through the long grass, butterflies flutter between plants as they are disturbed. Birdsong is youthful as fledgelings find their voices.
11th June – One has become so attuned to the call of Elmore’s cuckoos that it’s easy to forget they are there, until a newcomer is amazed by the sound: a reminder not to take them for granted.
13th June – Comfrey lines every margin of the footpaths leading down to the scrapes. Traditionally called knitbone, comfrey makes for an excellent salve for joint and bone issues.
16th June – Disturbed by our cow hunting, multiple lithe, agile hares dart out of the long grass. Did you know, the hare is Britain’s fastest land mammal? In mythology hares are associated with the feminine: intuition, the moon, fertility and love.
17th June – The scrapes have dried in the hot weather, however a little egret is spotted gobbling up a hearty meal of very muddy eel.
18th June – Around 40 herring culls circle over an individual field, for a purpose unknown. The heat, smell of drying grass and sound of grasshoppers gives a Provençale feel to the land.
19th June – At the lake ducklings and moorhen chicks potter about harmoniously, with dragon and damsel flies hovering just above the surface of the water. Two little egrets loiter solemnly over the dried up scrape.
24th June – One prevailing theme today: butterflies. Large painted ladies and marbled whites and smaller skippers pepper the air at ground level. Two cows languish in a ditch, like old maids in a mudbath.
27th June – Electric blue damselflies dance through the reeds on the margins of the lake, whose waters are barely cooler than the air yet refreshing nonetheless. A dragonfly ponders the best reed upon which to sunbathe, her dual set of wings beating alternately, the sun reflecting off her glossy thorax.
By Briony Cobb, Nature, Ecology and Wellness Manager at Rewild Things