LEARN A LITTLE
Getting to know the natural world we live in enables us to understand and connect with it a little better.
Knowing that it’s not just birdsong, but a robin’s song you can hear or that it’s not just a butterfly you’ve seen but a comma, begins to build a bond between you and the wildlife you encounter. The more you learn the deeper that bond becomes.
Learning the names of some of the wildlife you regularly see can be just the beginning of a passion for the natural world. Here’s where I would begin…
Name the wildflowers in your garden. You might call them weeds, but once you discover that you have hairy bittercress, common toadflax or naval wort growing on your walls you’ll begin to notice them when you are out and about and want to learn more. Imagine how interested you would be to know which plants could be used in a salad, which can be used as remedies or perhaps might help with a hangover.
Learn a few birdsongs. If you don’t already know it, try to learn the song of the robin. Robins sing year round and are happy in our company so you will often see them as they sing which really helps. Once you have this song in your knowledge you can relate it to other birdsong and begin to learn a few more. Some distinctive bird calls to listen out for are the buzzy call of the greenfinch, the melodic postman’s whistle of the blackbird, the changing phrases of the song thrush, the “teacher, teacher” call of the great tit and the chip chip of the greater spotted woodpecker.
I like to remember some of the calls by giving them a description, for example; the blackcap sounds to me like a loud warbly robin, the wren sounds like a robin with a machine gun, gold crests have a spiralling tinkle, ravens cronk and a dunnocks song is like a short phrase of skylark.
Identify a few butterflies. I’ll be honest, l was never particularly interested in butterflies. I’d always thought them too difficult to see properly. Always flitting about and disappearing over hedges, you can never get a decent photograph to help you. Identifying them just seemed to be too much like hard work, until I discovered something…
There are only about 50 or so main butterfly species in the UK. You probably already know a few; admiral, peacock, large white, tortoiseshell, that sort of thing. If you look in the back of a butterfly identification book or online you’ll see them divided into groups; the skippers, the blue ones, the white ones, fritillaries, the brown ones etc. So when you see an orange butterfly, for example, it can only be one of a few. If it appears to have large eyes on its wings it’s a peacock, if its wings are scalloped its a comma.
Now take your knowledge further. Once you’ve found the name for the comma butterfly you can find out why you’ve unexpectedly seen one sunning itself on a rock in January. A little research will tell you how it overwinters as an adult and that you will find paler ones in early summer. Now you won’t just notice butterflies, but you’ll actively look for the comma and maybe you’ll be inspired to look for the brimstone too. Perhaps you’ll discover why it replaces the water in its body with glycerin or why the painted lady migrates.
Now that you’ve opened the door to your curiosity, you’ll want to find out about things that pique your interest, like the name of the strange looking bug you found or the medicinal uses for the wildflowers growing in the woods. The more you learn the deeper your bond with nature becomes.
There are a number of apps that can help you with birdsong and species identification. They are great to give you a nudge in the right direction, but it is often good to research further when you get home.
Here are some apps and identification books that I have found useful…
BOOKS
RSPB Complete Birds of Britain and Europe
Published by DK
The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
Published by Warne
Pocket Guide to the Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland
Published by Bloomsbury
Britain’s Insects (WILDGuides): A Field Guide to the Insects of Great Britain and Ireland
Published by Princeton University Press
Tracks and Signs of the Birds of Britain and Europe
Published by Bloomsbury Wildlife
Mushrooms by Roger Phillips
Published by Macmillan
Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of Britain and Northern Europe – Collins Pocket Guide.
Published by Collins
APPS
Seek
Use the power of image recognition technology to identify the plants and animals all around you. Earn badges for seeing different types of plants, birds, fungi and more!
Chirpomatic
When you hear a bird, quickly hold up your phone and start recording. After 12 seconds, the app analyses the sound, and shows you the top matches.
Chirp
Great for birder beginners or just for fun with the family, Chirp! is an app designed to help you learn and identify bird sounds in the most relaxed way.