30 Days Wild in lockdown

Sussex Wildlife Trust member David Phillips writes about 30 Days Wild in lockdown

This year’s 30 Days Wild, under lockdown conditions, was always going to be different. A challenging mix of helping wildlife in the garden coupled with initial "one hour" walks from home, followed by short journeys to local wildlife hotspots as things opened up.  

Helping wildlife through feeding, putting up nest boxes and - in our very hot spring - ensuring a plentiful water supply is a must-do activity. And what benefits it brings.  

The other must-do for me is observing, enjoying and photographing the treasures that the natural world freely provides those who get out and look.  

30 Days Wild was, as always, immensely rewarding, perhaps even more so in this lockdown year. Nightly garden feeding gave regular sightings of up to three hedgehogs at one time, fox cubs playing in the garden and a myriad of successful fledglings. Contemplative time spent sitting in the early morning, blue haze of bluebells, watching newly-arrived swifts and swallows, or a hobby hawking for insects over the Levels was a delight.

Quiet woodland evenings listening to the sounds of the scolding of jays or the alarm calls of roe deer genuinely enlivened the spirit and compelled me to want to do and experience more.  

Early morning starts and evening visits to Trust Reserves at Rye Harbour, Malling Down and Old Lodge afforded wonderful sightings whilst visits to my local Pevensey Levels and ancient woodlands yielded yet more treasured insights into the natural world. 

Thirty days of bliss - with benefits to my overall wellbeing and indelible memories including cuckoo, peregrine, a vixen returning with a rabbit for her cubs, jewel-like damselflies and early summer butterflies in addition to a very close encounter with "His Imperial Majesty"- the much sought after purple emperor.