Nature Diary

June 3rd

Overgrown woodland teeming with life, stagnant ponds, hot and humid air (24 degrees celsius), partially dried up lake, baby frogs making their journey from water to grass land, dragonflies mating - a fluttering routine in mid air and pausing on a reed to catch sun rays, water boatman, bubbles appearing on the water’s surface, damselflies, gloomy swamp with flies and gnats, a wasp snacking on pollen, newborn animals everywhere - ducklings, cygnets, chicks, seagull fledglings, wagtail and magpie young...

A waterfall at the end of the stream where we once saw a white crane, the green lands, luscious meadow bathed in balmy light, the river at Devoran, boats bobbing on the tide, an island with a moored boat, swan feathers washed ashore and the sound of oars hitting the water.
 
 
June 6th
Stumbled upon two mute swans with their six juvenile cygnets. They were wandering on land, between sand and sea. The pen and cob acted as protective guardians, snapping at neighbouring ducks and jackdaws scouring the ground for food. My love fed the small but healthy bundles of feather and down, while I captured their charm on camera.
It was such an incredible, heart-warming sight... I felt blessed to witness such a beautiful ritual of swans tending to their young.



The Magpie Nest

At the end of March I put down a deposit and one month’s rent on a small but quaint art studio room situated in a three story building. The building itself is called The Old Bakery Studios, and there is a large eerie basement that will eventually be transformed into a gallery space and café.

I’ve come to think of the studio as my magpie nest or faerie hollow, a place for muse and reverie. I am collecting natural curiosities for the walls; roe deer antlers presented in a shadowbox, bird skulls and corvid feathers, butterflies, taxidermy and pressed flowers. It feels awe-inspiring to finally have somewhere to create and claim as my own.

♥