Get out and meet some wildlife

It has been a glorious summer with lots of opportunities to get out and about and have wild adventures, says Alan Wright .

The hot days of May and June meant early mornings as I took the dog out before it became too warm for the fur coat brigade.

Getting out before 6am means there are fewer people around, so fewer disturbances for wildlife. I saw inquisitive roe deer every day as I wandered along the Goit in Brinscall. Sometimes, I wonder if deer meet up and say: “I spotted two humans today.”

Then I spotted a fledgling magpie for the first time in my life, it was quickly joined by two others. Then there was the huge bee-type fly, which turned out to be a great pied hoverfly, resting on a nettle leaf.

One morning the path was filled with froglets and toadlets wandering from the lodge inland, where they will be fending for themselves in the long, now wet, grass in the woods. I had to tread carefully.

We always get bluebells late because the village is quite high up and they hung around until the last week in May. Heading back to my garden, I fed the birds, with a blackbird almost sitting on my shoulder demanding raisins and more than a dozen young starlings squawking for food. They were joined this year, by jackdaws, nesting in a nearby chimney, blue tits, great tits and the usual house sparrows and dunnocks.

In spring, I also saw a goldcrest in our tree for the first time since we moved in. I was delighted. I went to our nature reserves, up to Middleton near Heysham, where I was greeted by a family of swans, including eight cygnets.

We also found a bee orchid, which was a thrill. At Heysham Nature Reserve there were more happy damselflies than I have ever seen on the dipping pond.

Brockholes has been stunning but I missed the otter. It was out there in Number One Pit, but decided not to surface for me. I had to make do with one of my favourite birds, a great crested grebe, nesting in full view of all the diners in the Kestrel Kitchen.

This year 30 Days Wild was fantastic and it was wonderful to hear about all the sightings of the 7,000 people that took part in Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside.

We are hoping that the people taking part in 30 Days Wild will continue to try to have a wild moment every day of the year. While you can watch the spiders running along your floor and the birds from your kitchen window, getting outdoors is the best way to see wild things. If you plant a wild garden or have a window box you are likely to attract dozens of different kinds of insects, which will interest bees and bats.

Or get a bird feeder or bird table, the money you spend on feed will be paid back by cheeky sparrows, tits and blackbirds having a wild party.

Wildlife is out there just waiting to show off to us, so we should get outdoors and, even better, look at ways we can help nature to flourish.