Day 12 #30DaysWild: Butterfly Watching

The 'say no to the mow' personal-pledge we made at the inspirational Suffolk Wildlife Trust Summit last year is beginning to pay off. We now have Meadow Brown butterflies in our micro-meadow. I had not seen a single butterfly for some days, and then today in a rare bright moment, I went outside and was greeted by a welcome flutter of wings. I saw six (or possibly seven) of these insects in total. What a joy to have them right outside our french window. 

Back in 2012, soon after we returned to East Anglia, I remember finding a large grassy area almost awash with Meadow Browns at Burgh Castle, one of the Saxon Shore forts. Since then I have seen a fair few, but I'm not sure I have ever seen six at once in our garden before. I do hope there will be many more. I shall log this morning's sighting on the Garden Butterfly Survey I am doing this year with Butterfly Conservation. So far this June I have seen one Small Copper, one Holly Blue and one Small White, so today's sighting boosts my month's total considerably.   

...And if you haven't seen them already, do take a look here at ten 5-line puffin poems I posted earlier this week on my lockdown blog, The Glow of Emerald Light. The poets whose work is represented are from England, Scotland and the USA.

Day 11 #30DaysWild: Puffin Poems posted over at 'The Glow of Emerald Light'

My 'Puffin' Photo Challenge yielded a bumper crop of 5-line poems. I have posted ten on The Glow of Emerald Light, my lockdown blog, and you can read and enjoy them here. Do leave the poets a comment if you would like to do so.

The poems are by the following...

Kieron P. Baird (Scotland, UK)
Michaela Burns (Scotland, UK)
Peter Donnelly (England, UK)
Jeffrey Kemp
Neil Leadbeater (Scotland, UK)
Liz Sankey (England, UK)
Marion Walker (England, UK)
Kay D. Weeks (USA)   
Juliet Wilson (UK)
Lynn Woollacott (England, UK)

#30DaysWild, Day 4 - The Glow of Emerald Light Photo Challenges

Where have the weeks and months gone since the start of lockdown? I am finding it hard to get my head around the fact that we are already a few days into June. The longest day is less than three weeks away.

Unfortunately the threat of Covid-19 is still at hand, but we are becoming accustomed to the rigours of extra hand-washing and the need for social distance.

Back in early April the lie of the land was rather different, and I recognised my need for natural beauty amid the bleakness of the situation. That was where The Glow of Emerald Light came in. In response to local requests for some kind of poetry activity or competition, I decided to run a fortnightly Photo Challenge, inviting anyone of eighteen years or over to submit a 5-line poem, written in response to a 'natural world' photo prompt.

I very much hoped that those who write poetry would join in and that those who would not normally sit down to pen a poem would take an extended coffee break and have a go. The Photo Challenges have submission windows: they are not, in fact, competitions.

I am enjoying the task of selecting pictures from my photo library on Light Room. I have been delighted with the submissions I have received to date, and it has been good to see poets offering a mix of free verse and traditional five-line forms like the Tanka or Limerick.

Challenge 1 came with a photograph of two Peacock Butterflies. You can find the poems here.

Challenge 2, on the theme of 'wash', was accompanied by a picture of waves on Loch Scavaig: the poems written in response to this are here.

Challenge 3 with my favourite bird can be found here.

Challenge 4 has just been posted (here), and is perhaps the picture most open to interpretation.

I am so grateful to all those who have engaged with an aspect of the natural world by responding to these challenges so far. The Photo Challenge email is glowofemeraldlight@gmail.com. It gives me great pleasure when I click open the inbox and find a new submission with a five-line poem that will add its own unique glimmer of light to the landscape of these unprecedented days.
 
 

Small Copper Butterfly

I just missed the chance of trying to identify a blue damselfly in the garden on Saturday. David saw it on the Ceanothus and called me. Sadly it flew over the fence as I drew near. But it was an unusual first-damselfly-sighting of the year for me as my first garden ones have almost always been red.

I went back inside, and seconds later noticed a vibrant orange speck against the rusty colour of a dead dock plant. By the time I had my camera to hand, the 'speck' had moved. I caught up with it and was thrilled to find it was a Small Copper, and my earliest homepatch sighting of one of these little amber gems to date. I shall add it to my Butterfly Conservation Garden Survey list.

And please don't forget, it would be terrific if some of you would have a go at my (butterfly) Picture Challenge for a 5-line poem here on my lockdown blog, The Glow of Emerald Light. Challenge 1 closes later this coming week...