Sometimes I wish time would stand still, but no, it accelerates by margins every year! June 2024 is nearly upon us! It’s 30 Days Wild, the annual Wildlife Trust challenge to do a random or deliberate act to engage with nature every day in June. For me, this is making time every day to notice nature. 

I’m sitting in my garden right now, I’m surrounded by birdsong, goldfinches calling to each other across several gardens, sparrows on the seed feeder chucking it all over the place. A bedraggled blackbird I’ve named Tom (same name, different bird every year), pokes around picking up the spilled grain, a temporary respite before resuming the live food hunt for his babies.  

This has gone on for days, he’s exhausted, his tail feathers are beginning to fall out. Tom and his partner Sophie’s nest is in the hedge at the end of the garden. Sophie has done her time and moved on, leaving Tom to take on feeding duties, I can hardly bear the daily trauma of will they or won’t they make it.  

Four feet to the right of the blackbird's nest, a wren emerges from the thick ivy, she too has babies. The babies shrill desperately when she returns with a stuffed beak of squirming creatures. She is, of course, called Jenny.

My attention turns to a shieldbug that has landed on the table, iridescent green, crikey, it’s perfect in every way.  

Spring is rapidly turning to summer, with evenings that fade to dusk then dark only temporarily. Nature rests little. Insects dance on the warm evening thermals, bats swoop along hedgerows while wafts of wild honeysuckle hang in the air - this is heaven or what I think heaven should be at least. But will my blackbird and wren babies make it through to another morning? 

The sun is high, plants turn to triffids in the blink of an eye. I’m fixated on the giant cardoon ‘plant slash creature’ as it sunbathes before drawing in its multiple arms before bed. Its head is growing at least 1cm a day, in my mind anyway, sitting smugly on its 6ft giant body!

My neighbour suggests eating its head in late summer, they’re tasty apparently, to me that’s unthinkable, cannibalism; I’ve nurtured this creature from a seed. Its head will remain intact for the goldfinches to devour its seeds this autumn!

My top tips to enjoy 30 Days Wild:

Sit, walk, run, lay on the grass, look up, look down, fix on something natural, don’t be afraid to touch or smell it. Smile at the sun, throw your arms out in the rain, get wet, walk barefoot on grass and bare earth, have a cuddle with a tree - be in the moment.

Sign up today and receive your free pack to inspire you. There are packs for individuals and families, schools and groups, care homes and special digital ones for businesses. Everyone can get involved. See if spending a little time noticing what's around you everyday makes a difference to how you feel.

Enjoy!