100 Birds - Protest and the Small Acts of Noticing Nature
Plus book a place on January's Weekend Write Along event with guest speaker Polly Atkin
Yesterday I took my first walk without my lovely old dog, who died over the Christmas period. I’d spent the week before getting used to a new, dog-free routine and talking myself around the guilt I felt at even thinking about going on his favourite walks without him. But then social media showed me a photo album of all the walks we’d been on, and all my own solitary walks; the ones I’d taken while writing The Ghost Lake, the ones that he could no longer keep up with, the ones in which I had felt myself connected again, as an animal myself, feeling the push and pull of my own body navigating paths and hills and crags, and I realised if I didn’t get out soon then I was going to lose that connection and that love of the environment which has always felt like belonging, for me.
Yesterday was the day. This week I’ve been up and leading my Dawn Chorus writing group, running the What to Look for in Winter course and I’ve been working on copy edits for The Ghost Lake. All editing is accompanied by imposter syndrome for me - a fire which I am constantly putting out in my head. Walking is a way of extinguishing that fire. It felt good to get up, put my wet weather gear on, my fleece lined trousers, my walking boots, my hat. It felt good to be in the routine of locking the door behind me, turning and exiting the interior and entering the exterior. Even the cheek numbing sleet felt good.
The thing about having a dog is that they give you purpose - you have to walk them in all weathers, so you end up experiencing all weathers and the changes in the world around you. These small experiences are important, or rather, noticing these small changes is important, it builds connection to environment to see how a tree branch changes throughout the year, to see the leucitic blackbird in the same spot daily, the crow who hobbles, the barn owl, so that you recognise the territories of the animals you share the world with, the life that is around you.
The world feels like it is on fire, heading towards floods and decimation of wildlife and the barren horror story that continued extinctions herald. Nicola Chester, in her brilliant book ‘On Gallows Down’ (our book club choice for December) makes this noticing, learning, understanding of the nature an act of push back, an act of protest against the destruction of that environment. I’d never thought of it as that. But I can see that to notice is to be aware of what is at stake, to find yourself connected and to know the other animals in your environment is to know that you too are a part of that environment.
I grew up rural, nature is the back drop of everything I do and have done my whole life, and yet, there is an element of passivity in my nature knowledge. It is so familiar that I know many plants and animals and where they grow and when, where they exist, where they live, where they hunt, without knowing their names. My new year’s resolution is to learn to identify.
At the beginning of the year I set myself a target of seeing and identifying 100 different birds by the end of 2024. So now, instead of the dog, I have my binoculars and yesterday I set out down to the river to see if I could see the kingfisher that hunts there, and I met the dog walkers, the community I was so recently a part of, and I cried about Toby and they did too, and I carried on walking, in the sleet, and the rain and the mist that had settled down the valley. It was wonderful.
Bird Count so Far:
Wood pigeon
Jackdaw
Carrion crow
Herring gull
Blackbird (M)
Blue Tit
Magpie
Dunnock
Great tit
Common Kestrel
Heron
Alas, no kingfisher yet.
Book Your Place on the Weekend Write Alongs
Introducing The Weekend Write Alongs
A day to put your own writing first, with guest speakers, Q&A sessions, writing prompts and space to write, all through the convenience of zoom, all facilitated by me, Wendy Pratt.
Following on from the success of my facilitated morning writing group, The Dawn Chorus, I have decided to launch a series of day long write along events with a focus on inspiration, community and accountability.
I have three sessions open for bookings now:
Saturday 27th January 2024 10am - 3pm UK Time - Guest Speaker author and poet Polly Atkin.
Book your place here:
Saturday 17th February 2024 10am-3pm UK Time - Guest Speaker founder of Valley Press publishing Jamie McGarry.
Saturday 30th March 2024 10am - 3pm UK Time - Guest Speaker judge of the Nan Shepherd prize, agent and founder of Portobello Literary Agency, Caro Clarke.
The day begins with a meet and greet, followed by a talk by the guest speaker, then a chance for yo to ask your own questions. After this we'll have some optional writing prompts and you will have space and time to write before we meet again to talk about how we've gotten on.
This is a pressure free environment for your to work in. You do not have to share anything, you don't even have to have your camera on if you'd prefer not to.
You can work to the optional prompts or you can bring a longer term project along to work on, it's really up to you.
If you're looking for regular events where you can be a part of a writing community, working at your own pace in a nurturing environment, this may be for you.
January 27th is our first event with guest speaker Polly Atkin.
