The Glory of Morning Walks

August started swelteringly hot and is ending with a bang, as the rain thunders down outside and my road is beginning to flood. As a student, I find August to be the Sunday of the year; it's the month of in-betweens, when we wait for the days to shorten, autumn to dawn and the schools and universities to open again. It’s still the holidays and it’s nice, but you can’t avoid thinking about September rolling around. It's not my favourite month for this reason, but that's not to say that I haven't had a wonderful month in terms of nature spotting!

The month was welcomed with a heatwave spreading across England and particularly in my south-east patch of Kent, with temperatures reaching up to 30C. I spent many mornings down on the coast where I'd walk 20 minutes along the top of the cliffs and back, before taking an early morning dip in the sea. I’d spend some time watching the morning sun illuminate the rolling waves and wake up France, clearly visible across the skyline. On these walks I became acquainted with a young green woodpecker, speckled and dull, which would fly along the path in front of me before pausing, and then continuing when I got too close. It was as if she was guiding me and waiting for me to catch up. On one occasion as I was following the woodpecker, a raven coasted off the side of the cliff about 10 metres away, roughly at eye level and seemingly bidding me good morning with a hearty "cronk". August has been the month of ravens for me as I've seen 4 within a couple of weeks, which is a strange occurrence — the last raven I saw was at the top of Pen-y-fan in Wales last year. I began to wonder if I was being sent bad omens, but I am still here at the end of the month so it's all good. As well as the woodpecker and raven, I watched a local charm of goldfinches each morning, as they flitted and dipped between the tall grasses and teasels. The scene was fit for a postcard and words will fail to do it justice. The sun cast soft light on their crimson faces and caramel chests, as the goldfinches delicately picked at the flower heads and chirruped among themselves, not taking much notice of me as I revelled in the sight for a while. The birds weren't the only creatures awake however, and I felt a nostalgic joy in finding a young slow worm basking on the chalk path in front of me one morning. Finding slow worms was a quintessential part of my childhood, and I still adore feeling the silky body slip between my hands and admiring the beauty of their amber eyes. I didn't pester the poor creature for long though, and I carefully placed him on the grass after a minute, as I doubt many reptiles enjoy being man handled first thing in the morning.

It goes to show that something as simple as a morning walk, just a five minute drive from home, can be a meditative practice in which you can encounter a whole lot of nature without searching hard at all. I encourage everyone to find a patch a short distance away from you, and go sit or walk there as early in the morning as you can. We can all feel the contemplative effects of walking and how healing any exposure to the nature world is, so naturally, a morning walk is going to start your day in the absolute best way possible. What can be better than crisp air, watching the birds, being mindful in watching animals waking, and appreciating of how quiet and calm the world looks before the day truly begins?

If you've read my post 'Cliff Top Therapy' you'll remember my mention of the resident flock of house martins along the cliff side. Some birds remain, but the flock have thinned. I’ve stood in fields watching swallows cascade above me, but the swifts almost entirely disappeared overnight. Oddly, I did see a lone swift about a week and a half ago which slightly concerned me, and I do hope it's found its way now! I look forward to the return of the swifts next summer, and spending evenings watching the crescent silhouettes dance about the dusky haze.

Summer Insects

As I focused on in my last post (check it out if you haven't already!), August has been abundant with insects. Over the last couple of months I have learned so much about our butterflies, having identified at least four new species for the first time, and observed their mating rituals. That said, in the second half of the month moths have definitely taken the spotlight. I went on an evening walk around the local park a few evenings ago to clear my mind, and I came across a lavender bush absolutely teeming with moths. I failed to identify the species, I believed that they were hummingbird hawk moths at first, as they hovered in the air to feed and never rested on the plants — I could even feel the vibrations of the wing beats on my fingers. However, they weren't as big as I remember hummingbird hawk moths to be, and I couldn't pick up on any distinctive colouring; they seemed to be fully grey and looked like tiny ghosts. Granted, the sun was barely reaching through the houses at 20:00PM so I couldn't make a good judgement, but another discrepancy was that there were over half a dozen of these moths on the bush. It just seemed out of character of the hummingbird hawk moth which I've only seen flying solo. Maybe I'm wrong — if you have any suggestion on what my inch-long hovering friends may be, please drop a suggestion below! My second notable experience was a couple of nights ago. I left my window ajar as I went downstairs to lock up and came back five minutes later to my room invaded by at least four sizeable moths. I didn't get a chance to identify the species (I was more interested in removing the moths from my bedroom), but the point being, just two weeks ago I could leave my window open at night happily, without fear of a Lepidopteric inquisition. I’d really like to look into making DIY moth traps at some point over the next couple of weeks.

This year has forced everyone to slow down and look into the little things for entertainment, and for me, those little things are insects. During the first few months of the year I wasn’t able to go birdwatching, and while I enjoyed paying more attention to our common garden birds than usual, I had a strong desire to use the time to learn about something new. Through the 7 months I’ve been at home I’ve been photographing and researching the different insects and arachnids I’ve come across and it has definitely sparked a new interest inside me. You can check out some of my photos on my Instagram page @larking.up (https://www.instagram.com/larking.up/?hl=en).

Last week I found a new insect which I'd never seen before, and certainly didn't require my identification book to recognise: the hornet. I drove to Somerset for a couple of nights to stay with my cousin, who lives out in the sticks about twelve miles from Frome. One morning I went outside to follow the whining of a young buzzard coming from the trees around the house. I got distracted by a crab apple tree, which was positively humming by the amount of flies and wasps surrounding it. I stopped to look upon a large wasp feeding on an apple, when I heard *Jaws theme* a deep, almighty buzzing. I jolted backwards as a hornet landed on the fruit beside the 'large' wasp, dwarfing it and rendering it seemingly harmless in comparison. Keeping a respectful distance — I wouldn't want to breach the hornet's personal space — I admired the sheer size of the thorax, and the russet-brown 'waist' and mandibles. I was aware that hornets are big beasties, but seeing my first hornet next to what I would label a sizeable wasp really hit home that they are big big.

That's a wrap on August!I hope you enjoyed this run-down as much as I’ve enjoyed reflecting on the month. My next adventure will be to the New Forest on the 6th; I've never been and I'm staying in shepherd’s hut. I am so excited to be out in nature from dawn till dusk and I have my fingers crossed for seeing a goshawk, which is No.1 on my 'to-see' list. After that I'll be preparing to move back to Reading as university is opening again.

A Personal Note

On a personal note, I haven't shared this here yet, but for the last year I have deferred my studies to focus on getting my mental health to a more stable place. I'm not quite where I want to be, but I am looking forward to getting stuck back into studying again with a slightly revised course. Moreover, I am excited to go on daily walks around the gorgeous campus lake and the hidden gardens, which are home to a flock of cormorants, herons, egrets, Egyptian geese and many other species. I am also looking forward to creating more content on my blog. My focus in writing is to explore the ways in which exposure to nature can improve our mental health. I can honestly say that I owe a lot of my mental progress this year to my conscious and consistent effort to be outside as much as physically (and, at times, legally) possible.

I created Larking Up to document my journey in all regards, comprising my progress as a writer, my development as a naturalist, my ventures through university, and my mental health recovery — and I want to take you along with me. My aim for this blog is not only to gain experience in nature writing and develop my own voice, but also to share how I'm evolving mentally using the natural world as a crutch. I desire to spread my message to as many people as possible in the hope that it reaches those that may need to hear my story. If just one person is inspired to look into nature to supporting their mental health, then my blog has served its purpose.

I hope you enjoyed reading this monthly round-off and update! As always, if you have any thoughts, discussions or suggestions please leave a comment below and let me know what you think! Stay safe and I'll see you again in September.