From late July a magical transformation is taking place in the wild Highland woods. Matured ground flora foliage bow in commemoration of their bright flowers long gone Bracken fronds reach for new heights. The tree canopy has increased in density, a dancing swathe of green perforated with bright white of overcast sky. The understorey is damp; springy on high ground, boggy on low. Sheltered. Shrouded in a sense of secrecy, with gentle whispers from leaves above. All is peacefu

I can hardly believe it’s the final day of 30 Days Wild (and June!) already. Today I made the effort to get out to a wildflower meadow, as it has been something on my list that I was determined to fit into my wild day activity. I’m grateful that Edinburgh Botanic Gardens is a short cycle ride away from the office, and to my boss for alerting me to the fabulous display of beautiful wildflowers currently on offer there. I made a flying visit on my lunch break, and it felt great

Another week passed already with lots more wild activity happening. I’ve had many cycling moments throughout and turned them into opportunities to connect with the nature surrounding me when travelling from A to B. I’ve raced against rainclouds, mentally listed the birds singing around me (lots of wrens, dunnocks and chaffinches, sprinklings of blackbirds and song thrushes and the odd greenfinch and chiffchaff, to name a few) and high-fived leaves and flowers as I’ve passed.

It’s been an incredibly busy time since I last wrote, but I have been enjoying taking time out for some wild moments each day. I’ve been back to see the swans on a couple of occasions. I visited them very early in the morning the day after they hatched and was rewarded with the beautiful sight of their first swim. It was great to see their personalities come out – two stayed in for about 10 minutes before retreating back to the nest with mum, while the third decided he was ha

I’ve had such an exciting evening attending a foraging walk. I never knew how many of the plants out there are edible, and to find such a variety and abundance in an urban area was amazing. Obviously with the population of dogs, one thing to watch is the location when foraging. We tended to browse from slopes! I decided to take home a bunch of this (below), known as cleavers, goosegrass or sticky willy (which conjures fond childhood memories of trying to stick the stuff to th