Today is June 4th! Which means it is also nearing
the end of Day 4 of the #30DaysWild challenge. For today’s Act of Wildness I
went along to an open day held by a local conservation group who work along a
short stretch of the River Rea in South Birmingham. This stretch of river is of
archaeological importance as it once fed a water wheel at a nearby mill (now in
ruins, and destroyed ruins at that due to Western Power Distribution going over
it with Big Machinery). There is also some cool geology in the river here too!
This area is usually closed off to the public, but the River Rea Conservation Group meet twice a month to keep the vegetation cut back, to
remove dumped waste (of which there is a lot), and they also do FIN surveys of
the water. Near to the road they have set aside an area to become a wildflower
meadow, and it is absolutely FULL of flowers! I had a look around (the only
person allowed..!) and saw yellow rattle, ox-eye daisy, birds foot trefoil,
mint, lemon balm, fennel, red campion, white campion, herb robert, forget me
not, green alkanet, red clover, and loads more I couldn’t identify. There is
also some very nice clumps of pendulous sedge.
I enjoyed my brief visit to this area; I went along to one
of their conservation sessions last summer with a view to joining the team and
the work they have done since then is incredible and has made such a huge
difference. They have created lots of open glade areas and made several dead wood
habitat piles.
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| Dead wood habitat |
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| Pendulous sedge |
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| Wildflower meadow |
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| A pretty bug on an ox-eye daisy |
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| A blurry bee on a buttercup |
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| Wildflower meadow |
This area is very close to Northfield Railway Station and has been used as an informal rubbish tip. It's slowly becoming a haven for wildlife and really good for bees!
Every June the Wildlife Trusts run a campaign called 30 Days Wild. This year I shall be taking part! It is my first time doing the challenge, and I’ve been planning lots of things to do over the month. The idea is to encourage wildness, exploration and an involvement with the natural world. The daily things can be anything, from walking barefoot, to doing outdoor yoga, or growing veg to hunting out woodlice under a stone. Little things that help you reconnect with nature!
