Would you like to identify the birds, butterflies and other wildlife you see out and about or in your garden? Have you ever wondered which wild plants and fungi are edible? Are you interested in making a deeper connection with nature? Maybe I can help. I’m Ben West, a Molesey resident, lover of landscapes, wildlife and the outdoors and a lifelong ‘student of nature’. Molesey Heath is a local nature reserve and one of my favourite places to make contact with the sights and sounds of the natural world. I’m delighted to announce that we are once again able to conduct our monthly walks around the reserve taking in the changing scenes of the passing seasons and glimpsing in to the lives of the local wildlife. However, at the time of writing our walks are restricted to a group of six so please don’t hesitate to get in touch to secure your place. If there’s as much interest as last month we will consider putting on a second day in order to accommodate everyone. And so to the wildlife; what might we see in October? Birdlife is changing as summer migrants head south to be replaced by visitors from the north in the form of Redwing and Fieldfare; handsome thrush species that come here to escape the harsh Scandinavian winter. These birds will be gorging on mass crops of hedgerow berries and we’ll look at how these fruits can be just as useful to humans through the winter months. Leaf colour can be breathtaking at this time of year, particularly if the sun comes out to light up the reds of Cherry and Field Maple, the yellows of Ash, Willow, Birch and Hazel and the browns of Sycamore and Horse Chestnut. A bit of sunshine on Ivy also brings out nectaring bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other insects to stock up on the last bit of fuel before the cold weather starts to bite. If luck is on our side we might find Fly Agaric, Field Blewit and Waxcap mushrooms amongst the open grassland and woodland edge. There is a possibility of stumbling across the mysterious Robin’s Pincushion or catching a glimpse of the rare Yellow Browed Warbler which turned up at the site a couple of winters ago. Anything can happen at this time of year! During lockdown I set up social media pages on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and I post regularly on the subjects of plants, wild food, medicinal recipes, birds, butterflies and all things wildlife related. You can find me here: Twitter: @WildBenWest Instagram: wearewherethewildthingsare Facebook: Ben West If you have any wildlife related questions, would like something identifying or just want to make contact feel free to message me or drop me a line at ben@wherethewildthingsare.co.uk Whether you want to spend time outdoors in good company, discover new ways of getting your kids outside or simply improve your nature ID skills I would love to have you join me.
Where the Wild Things Are
