Noticing Nature - Just One Hour
31 August
“We're not just losing the wild world. We're forgetting it. We're no longer noticing it. We've lost the habit of looking and seeing and listening and hearing.”
- from “Rewild Yourself” by Simon Barnes
Here’s a question - what wildlife species, which interesting plants, are followers of this newsletter noticing when they leave their front doors and go out for a walk, or to work in their gardens?
The underlying theme here is to help people notice how much interesting wildlife there is close to where we live - our gardens, nearby parks, and trails. Travelling to the back end of beyond to see something is fun, lots of fun, but not always necessary.
There are now over a thousand subscribers and followers to this newsletter - walkers all, I assume. More than enough to suggest that now it’s your turn - if you wish to engage. Today I am inviting as many of you as may be interested to take Just One Hour during which you consciously note your observations.
This is NOT competitive, it is not compulsory, and it is not restricted to birds even though the original idea derives, in part, from the concept of the Birding Big Day. It would be fun to know what you are seeing on your outings - or even looking out at your gardens from a window.
This is how it works. Take just one hour out of a day. Any day, any time. Sit in your garden, look out of your window, walk down the road, wander in a park or. bit of wasteland. Make notes of what you see - that’s the key thing. Birds, mammals, the plants you pass while walking or cycling, whatever you take an interest in. No need to list everything you see unless you want to. Perhaps do nothing more than note a single stand-out butterfly or a flower that catches your attention. The thing is to take notice and then tell us about it - tell a story. You can be as anonymous as you like. It’s your hour, do it your way.
That’s all it takes. Use one of the methods below to share your notes. I will, in turn, edit and share highlights with readers and subscribers. I don’t want or need your home address, but please say which town you’re in, and which country, to help put observations in context. Be as brief or as wordy as your personal style permits.
I am ending this post with some of my recent examples … you’ll get the idea.
Please join in and send your observations via one of these channels ….
By email (this address is hyper-secure - I am using Proton email) to : justonehour.negate613@passinbox.com … or
I have set up a “chat” alongside this Substack newsletter which anyone who is a subscriber (FREE) can join in with and there we can discuss what we see. Here is the link:
Or add a comment at the end of this post.
Here’s one example of an easy way to spend an hour. I already do at least one daily Nature Hour with my wife. We look at, or walk around in, our garden between the hours of seven and eight every morning of the year with a mug of tea and we count the birds that we see. That’s it. It’s a calm and interesting and a civilized way to start our days. All our bird observations are posted to eBird … but I am not suggesting that you need to do likewise. Other times we walk to the shops or the library and note wayside plants as we go. Just a single hour on a day and at a time and a place of your choosing is all it takes to contribute.
Who will be first?
Caterpillar of Black Swallowtail butterfly
This caterpillar, here on wild carrot, absorbs substances from the host plants, making them taste poor to bird predators. The black swallowtail caterpillar has an orange "forked gland", called the osmeterium. When in danger, the osmeterium, which looks like a snake's tongue, everts and releases a foul smell to repel predators.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
You only see the ruby throat when viewed at just the right angle. Hummingbirds are usually seen in summer nearby in small numbers but they have been surprisingly numerous this year - at least two or three every day. It will be only a few days before they depart southwards - at the moment they are getting all the food they can find and visibly fattening for the exceptionally long journey ahead of them
Banded Garden Spider
The Banded Garden Spider (Argiope trifasciata) has been around since early summer but it’s not until now that we usually notice when they are large enough to make their big webs, of up to 60 cm (24 in) in diameter, among stems and bushes. This probably a female - and big, up to 14mm length. Males are a third of the size. A very similar-looking species in Europe is known as a Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi) for obvious reasons.
Great Egret
Seen right across the river, so this is an “improved” photograph - note the black legs and its large size. Hunt fish from the shallow waters along rivers and lakes. Birds like this stand out, and hard not to notice, even if your mind is elsewhere whilst out walking.
“Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are...an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence, and nothing too much.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Great idea! We go for a nature walk every Saturday and I try to notice nature as much as possible whatever I'm doing. During the summer i do butterfly surveys and all year round I do patrols along a local river, noting wildlife and collecting rubbish.
Thank you for inviting us to the conversation. I love this idea. I am lucky to live on a beautiful and sparsely populated lake in southwest Nova Scotia. Last night's paddle had me mesmorized by the activity of a belted kingfisher dipping and diving along the shore, perching on outstretched branches, and chirping all the while. Also, an adult and an immature bald eagle shared a shoreline dinner of some sort. A common loon's call echoed every few minutes. And the beaver slapped her tail in frustration of my presence, yet never strayed far nor fled in fright, staying oddly close by my side for some time. An hour on the water is always an hour of reward.