7 Days not very Wild - Day 3 - 3 July 2015

7 Days not very Wild - Trying to do something wild each day

My idea is that sometimes even if we look for that great wild thing in nature, it can be hard to find because of all sorts of reasons mainly to do with humans destroying the world.

Having celebrated the nature we can find for 30 days, I wanted to highlight the nature I couldn't find for 7 days, sort of as a warning that things aren't just hunky dory.

Day 3 - A dead Common Toad

A dead Common Toad, Compton Martin, Bristol
Photograph taken by Young birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

During my 30 Days Wild, I wrote about a dead toad I had found in the road outside my house.  Although it is wildlife, the issues go much deeper than that.

It is really important that we all do what we can to help frogs and toads survive.  It is estimated that only 5 in every 1000 frog eggs survive to adulthood.  It is a terrible statistic.

As amphibians live in the water and land, they are a good indicator of the health of both habitats.  Their decline has raised concerns about habitats around the world.

All we have to do is make some changes to our gardens to encourage them back.  We need to add ponds and compost heaps to create a dragon garden.

Ponds need to be in a sunny position away from overhanging trees, include a shallow area, a section at least 60 cm deep,  no paving slabs around it, use water from a water butt to fill and use only native plants which are floating, submerges and marginals.

Introduce a wild rockery, a log pile and vegetation of differing heights and weight for the amphibians to come to you. Check long grass before you cut it.

Join the Amphibian and Reptiles Groups of the UK (ARG UK) www.arguk.org, take part in recording and maybe even a Toad on the Roads scheme, like the one at Chew Valley Lake every spring.

About the Writer

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly

Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig 

Mya-Rose Craig is a 13 year old young birder, conservationist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She is looking forward to going Mountain Gorilla Trekking in East Africa in the summer and watching Penguins in Antarctica in December 2015, which will be her 7th continent. She has recently been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter

30 Days Wild - Day 15 - 15 June 2015

30 Days Wild - Doing something wild everyday

Day 15 - The thing I have been enjoying about taking part in 30 Days Wild is the spontaneity and unpredictability of what my wild thing of the day is going to be.  These are all things that would have happened to me anyway, but I wouldn't have been taking too much notice and certainly not writing about them.

Today I was on my way to the airport for a school trip to Barcelona.  I was running late and I wasn't sure if I was going to see anything wild before I left.

As I opened my front gate, there was the most perfect looking toad in the road.  The poor little thing had clearly just been run over, but not squashed.  I had to look carefully to check if it was dead.  The tiny drops of blood on his back were the give away signs of his demise.  I couldn't resist stopping to have a poke around!

Common Toad, Compton Martin, Somerset
Photograph taken by Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

In about March or April time, we have a frog patrol by Chew Valley Lake.  The kind frog people are out all night, picking up frogs into buckets, before they head out onto the road. The frogs are then taken across the road and released to the lake.  This is a sign to slow down and be careful.  It is on these nights that if there is rain, huge numbers of the frogs hop along the back lane into our village.  Mum and Dad have to drive at 5 miles an hour and sometimes I have to walk ahead to try and move the frogs out of the way.  Our lane isn't as full but we do still lots of frogs moving along to get to places like our pond, so do get quite a few poor little dead frogs and toads.

About the writer

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly

Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 12 year old young birder, conservationist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She is looking forward to going Mountain Gorilla Trekking in East Africa in the summer and watching Penguins in Antarctica in December 2015, which will be her 7th continent. She has recently been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter