Saturday 4 June 2016

Day 04; #30DaysWild - River Rea Open Day


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. 

Dead wood habitat

Pendulous sedge

Wildflower meadow

A pretty bug on an ox-eye daisy

A blurry bee on a buttercup

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!