Day 30 Go Pond Dipping

 

Day 30 and  the final day of the 30 Days Wild Challenge. What a month!  I've done some really great activities during June, some better than others.  The important thing is that I've spent time outdoors every day and I've spent some memorable times with my daughters carrying out my random acts of wildness.

Somethings I did were a success and other things not quite as successful.  I'd wanted to look for Water Voles, spot Kingfishers and see Lizards at Ainsdale but this month it wasn't too be.

Looking back over the thirty days I've managed to get to some great places and do some great activities such as walking up a mountain, visiting a wetland centre to see Avocets and Otters and managing to do a walk in my favourite place, a U-shaped glaciated valley outside Dufton in Westmorland.

Tonight I'd planned to finish off by going pond dipping with my youngest daughter.  We drove out to Ashurst Beacon Country Park to visit a couple of ponds there but one was dried up and the other covered in duckweed. Sadly we didn't get to catch much with our small fishing net apart from tadpoles, snails and a couple of minnows.  

A bit of a disappointment really as I was hoping for diving beetles and more.  It didn't ruin the evening though as at least we'd managed to get out for an hour, stretch our legs with a nice walk and take in some fresh air.

Weed covered pond

Minnow

covered in lumps

Daughter having a go
at Pond Dipping

Grey Squirrels playing

Adorable pests

Playing

Hanging about on a tree

Walk through a shaded woods

Looks like our Pebble Bugs

have been breeding

So I've reached the end of this 30 Days Wild Challenge Blog now and all that remains for me to say is a big thank you to everyone who has stopped by and left comments.  I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed putting it all together.  It's been hard at times having to come home and sift through hundreds of photos before resizing them and putting them on the blog.  It's been a real labour of love but it's all been worth it. 

Finally, I must say a big thank you to my lovely daughters who have accompanied me on most of my activities during June and I only hope we can continue doing lovely things for many more years to come!

My daughters enjoying the mud 

at the Beacon Country Park back in April 2006

PS
Did you manage to have a look back at Day 28?

I managed to upload the photos
 from the walk late Monday night as promised.