about the blog

Firstly, thank you for visiting my blog, I hope you find it interesting and/or useful, hopefully both.

BLOG POSTS

The blog, as its name is meant to suggest, takes a look at the nature that is present alongside us every day. There is so much that may be taken for granted or overlooked when we’re out and about whether that’s in a garden, a park, walking down a street, in the countryside or in a designated nature reserve. And if we don’t see it and appreciate it now, we may well lose it forever without us even being aware it was there in the first place.

The posts are a nature journal of sorts, and a record of the things I see during the course of my day and on walks around a small corner of Northeast Wales. I have lived here for almost two years now since returning from ten years of living in Southern Spain and have hardly scratched the surface of what there is to see and  learn about here. My understanding of the nature of the place is growing though and I am beginning to see patterns emerging through my blog posts in respect of what I am seeing and sometimes, missing.

I have always found the best way to learn about the places I’ve lived is to walk around them and see what’s there. That might sound like a strange thing to say, but so many people go out for walks and simply don’t notice what is actually there. I am (I have been told on many occasions) a very frustrating person to go out with when someone else’s objective is simply to enjoy a good long walk. I invariably seem to notice things that others are oblivious to and I find so many things interesting. That means taking a walk with me may turn into more of a meander with lots of stops to take photographs and I usually get left behind to catch up if I can. That is why most of my really productive outings have been those when I have been out on my own, free to meander at will.

ADDITIONAL PAGES

SPECIES LISTS

I have begun to put together records of my sightings of some of the fauna & flora I have seen and identified personally, to date and listed them under ‘Species Lists’. This is for my own benefit as much as anything as I get fed up having to repeat my searches for identification of things I know I’ve looked up before.

NATURE RESERVES

There are far more Nature Reserves throughout Wales than I can ever hope to get to see. I’ve put up a list of the ones recommended by First Nature as being ‘best for’ wildflowers, insects or birds. I have also written descriptions of some of the places I go to walk on a fairly regular basis and that feature in my blog posts. Most are already familiar sites within the area and are easy to find – you can’t miss either the Great or the Little Orme, but I’ve given directions to those I had more difficulty working out should anyone wish to go and see them in real time.