''What have the last 30 days taught me? - that there is wildlife everywhere if I have the eyes to see, from the spider in the stair-well, to pavements weeds, garden lawns and out into the countryside. In the words of the poet, all we need is ‘time to stand and stare’; that time has been thrust upon me by way of furlough, a disturbing necessity in troubled times. The last month has been one of heightened awareness of the wonder and fragility of life, of which we are all but a small part.

There is a hollow ring to the oft made claim that wildlife is good for your wellbeing. It is undeniably true but so too is the opposite in that witnessing the abuse of nature is painfully corrosive. There are so many places I could have enjoyed over the last month but chose not to; my world has contracted as our local beauty spots have been loved to death.

The joy of having some knowledge of nature is that you can see the world in a grain of sand. No matter where you are, there is an immeasurable number of other lives being lived-out beside you, mostly indifferent to human presence, always on the lookout for a chance to thrive. Now it is time to return to the fray – it is time to find a better way to live in our wonderful world.''

Clive wrote a weekly blog for us on his #30DaysWild experiences. Read about Clive's first week here, second here, third here, and fourth here.

"Just ~335 wild days to go until 30 Days Wild 2021. It has been the oddest of months, despite a relaxation in lockdown, most people have not been venturing far, although this has been a limitation, it has also opened the eyes of many to what they have within walking distance of home. Perhaps more significant it has highlighted the importance of local informal spaces, we cannot rely on travelling to a greenspace far from home, we need it close at hand. Our wildlife needs this too, a few highly protected nature reserves just will not do we need space for wildlife everywhere. When I say “We” I mean everybody, not just wildlife enthusiasts, all of us feel better and live healthier lives with access to greenspace and especially diverse informal greenspace. Luckily for wildlife this is also exactly what it wants too, far from the needs of wildlife being at odds with the needs of people they are actually aligned, particularly when it comes to mental heath and well being."

"What a great month it’s been. I’ve tried new things, and have learned to appreciate nature even more through connecting with it every day. I love that my job gives me plenty of time to spend in nature."

Bea has really enjoyed #30DaysWild. She says, ''I'm lucky enough to connect with nature physically most days in my job. So I kicked off my 30 days with getting a bit crafty.
I finally got around to re-using some beads from old bracelets to make a necklace - and its bird themed! I wore it during June for 30 days wild. My most random act of wildness was definitely using a grass blade as a musical instrument!''

''I've taken part in 30 days wild since it started a few years ago and often share a mix of wild experiences from work and my home-life on my social media. Sometimes with being so busy at this time of year it can be a challenge to log on everyday or make the effort to go outside on an office-bound day, but this year while being on furlough with a 3 year old since March, it has felt like we've both done 90 days wild, naturally without putting in much effort at all! I think that the best thing about 30 days wild is that some days you might be on an adventure and do something really wild like climb a tree or pond dip and another day your wildtime could be a chance encounter with a creature such as spotting stagbeetles in the garden whilst looking for the ISS! On other days, particularly over the lockdown I found, simple green pleasures in our garden and on our local walks have been amazingly therapeutic- such as planting and watering our vegetables, litter picking and hugging trees!  My next challenge is #365dayswild!''

''This year was my first year taking part in #30DaysWild challenge. I have always felt connected to nature, but taking part in the challenge made me think more about what I could personally do to notice more of nature's beauty and how to provide for wildlife. I spent a lot more time on my walks looking for things I had never seen before, I relaxed a lot more by making some arts and crafts and I even made bird feeders for the first time. Forcing myself to think more about how I interact with nature also made me connect to it in different ways. I'll definitely be doing more random acts of wildness in the future.''

''I have really enjoyed discovering the variety of bees we have at one of our nature reserves, Blashford, and trying to learn a few more by name, in particular the solitary bees which are very photogenic! 

I have really enjoyed rearing the Emperor moth caterpillars, I've been feeding them willow gathered at Blashford or local to me in Salisbury and half of them have now spun their ginger haired cocoons. They spun the cocoons amongst the willow I had been feeding them and their construction allows the emerging moth to leave whilst preventing parasitic insects from entering. The female cocoons are noticeably larger than the males so once they have all finished making them I may have to compare them for size! The pupae will overwinter with the adults emerging between April and May, so I will have to put them somewhere cool and safe and wait. 

I feel as close to nature as I did before but I feel I have perhaps learnt more this time round and have hopefully managed to share some of that knowledge via either the blog or Instagram.''