Hello I'm Jan. I have been a member of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust for many years, but have only recently decided to volunteer for the Trust as well. Having retired to Colwell Bay on the Isle of Wight, I have found time to appreciate the nature here and wish to share its beauty with more people. I spend my days walking and observing the flora and fauna in my area - very different to that which I was used to seeing back in Four Marks, which is a village off of the A31 outside Alton.

You might think that our proximity to such a main road back there would have left us devoid of any significant wild animals, but far from it. Our back garden (not too far from Chawton Woods) attracted badgers, foxes, deer, rabbits, pheasants and a variety of other birds native and non. We believe a muntjac baby was actually born in our garden during lockdown.  Here is Mum before the birth.  I have a video of her with the baby if anyone would like to see it!

And Badgers - this is a still from our night-time wildlife video camera.

Here on the Island, I was expecting very little fauna to be present here in a brand-new house on a brand-new estate.  So imagine my surprise to discover, on moving to our new home in Colwell last May that our badgers appear to have come with us! I don’t remember packing them, but sure enough there is a wildlife corridor at the side and end of our garden and there the badgers roam! There are some big setts around here so we expect to see more of our Brocks as the evenings get lighter.

To contribute to the wildlife around our garden, we've also transformed our garden for wildlife. What was once a completely blank back garden has now been planted with bee and butterfly friendly bushes and I am hoping to persuade my husband to build a pond!  
In this garden I have already seen a woodpecker, a sparrowhawk and several species of common garden birds. We have 2 bat boxes (no bats yet although they have been seen elsewhere on our estate) and hopefully we can find a spot for eave nesting birds too. 

Since moving here, I have noticed many plant species thriving that were distinctly absent on our part of the mainland. I will need to start identifying those that I have never seen before. I love to walk through the graveyard at All Saints Freshwater (our church) which overlooks the river Yar and is a wild meadow by default. The causeway nearby is a wonderful place to spot water birds and the whole Yar walk creates a joyful view of woods, meadows, water and the occasional red squirrel. (I have yet to manage a photo of one!)

On a walk to Yarmouth today I spotted what I think is a Turnstone – but please correct me if I am wrong! 

So – now that I am here with some time to spare, I have volunteered to help the Trust’s Team Wilder project on the island – looking out for ways we can bring our environment and its needs to public attention. 

If you are a keen supporter of the environment and live nearby, do get in touch and we can see what can be done in the immediate vicinity.

Meanwhile, on my walks to the beach, I will be looking out for (and removing) anything that doesn’t belong on our beautiful local piece of coastline at Colwell. And I will keep you informed of developments all round! 

Jan Evans

Jan is a wilder communications champion with Team Wilder. She's passionate about going out into nature sharing the wonders of our world with others.

If you or your community group are taking action for nature and you would like to share your story, with us so we can inspire more people to take action,  please get in touch with us at wilder@hiwwt.org.uk.