Back to school blues…garden therapy!

Hey everyone, on Friday I went back to school after a really phenomenal summer. It’s been such a fantastic experience, writing my blog, sharing my findings, connecting with other naturalists and most of all; spending hours outside, at one with nature. Naturally, going back to school was going to be hard. I really love school work, I’m a scholar and I love to learn things but the social interaction can be tough and very exhausting. I consider myself lucky though, because I have a garden where I can escape to and observe birds, mammals and insects. I wrote an article for Wildlife Watch, the youth branch of The Wildlife Trusts about how important nature is to me. The response I got from everyone was incredible! I was so shocked and surprised, you can read the article here. My blog is also twelve weeks old today and I’d like to thank everyone for all their support and encouragement. I am really bowled over by it all!! Thank you!

So, back to my therapy, nature and my garden! I really love my urban garden, it’s not huge but we get lots and lots of activity! Here are some of the cool things I have found today – in less than an hour – and it completely cheered me up, relaxed me and practically chased away all my anxieties. I took my camera out to the garden and waited, it wasn’t long until the visitors started to come!

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A male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) perched high in the trees.

 

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A beautiful young Robin flew in to perch and drink from the bird bath. I noticed it had a lot of ‘activity’ so I rinsed it out, scrubbed it and added new water. It’s really important to do this and rid the bath of any yucky bacteria!

 

 

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A female Greenfinch ( Chloris chloris) eating some seed. We’ve had a couple of chick deaths in our garden, one by a cat and one very sadly by our own dog! The only bird casualty in our time with us. I expect cat casualties are a heavier toll!

 

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A little Fieldmouse, cheekily eating the peanuts! It’s very cute though and fun to watch!

 

Blue Tit, Coal Tit and Great Tit. Beautiful birds and regular visitors to our garden.

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A gorgeous Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) amongst the pansies. Always a delight to see!

 

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A fabulous Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus) complete with lunch! As you can see, I’m a little better at taking photos of spiders, birds, not so much!!

 

Despite the grey skies and the drizzle, nature came to me once again and revived my spirit. Thank you nature!! It may seem a little boring to most but to me, it’s everything that is wondrous and pure.

I have lots more blogs in the pipeline but time is getting tricky with lots of schoolwork, I promise to post at least once a week though!

Thanks for reading

Dara

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8 Responses

  1. Data, thank you for teaching me so much about nature. Your enthusiasm is infectious and make me want to explore places in New ways now that I know what to look for (thanks to you!). Keep up the good work ,your blog is truly great.

  2. Great post, nature is very therapeutic. I often find myself heading to my patch after school or taking a quiet stroll though the park during my free periods to clear my head, there’s a lot to gain from nature. 🙂

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