Wildlife through the year: December

A male blackbird (Turdus merula) on bare ash twigs in early December...

Well, at last I come to the end of my nature journey through 2010. I have been revisiting the little green wildlife book that accompanied my childhood and trying to tick off the plants and animals featured in its monthly sketchbook pages.

The book is “Wild Life Through the Year” by Richard Morse and it was published in 1942. You can read about earlier months here.

Well, it has given me a focus and made me open my eyes to the nature around me again after all these years…

December 2010 in South Wales has been very cold, with snow that is not usually expected this early in the winter. This has made it

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Wildlife through the year: November

Whitebeam berries on a frosty morning in November 2010

Throughout 2010 I am revisiting the little green nature book that accompanied my childhood and trying to tick off the plants and animals featured in its monthly sketchbook pages. I’m enjoying the journey – only one month to go now…

The book is “Wild Life Through the Year” by Richard Morse and it was published in 1942. You can read about earlier months here.

November 2010 in South Wales has felt very much like a bridge between autumn and winter. There have been clear, sunny days starting with a frost, heavy rain, strong winds and at the end of the month we are in the middle of an Arctic snap with below-freezing temperatures – we even had snow on November 27 (see my pictures here).

Nearly all the autumn leaves have fallen by the end of the month, with

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Wildlife through the year: October

October is a time of spider webs in the garden

Throughout 2010 I am revisiting the little green nature book that accompanied my childhood and trying to track down the plants and animals featured in its monthly sketchbook pages. I’m learning a lot as I go along.

The book is “Wild Life Through the Year” by Richard Morse and it was published in 1942. You can read about earlier months here.

October 2010 in South Wales has been typically autumnal, with some very nippy, dry, clear days and some wet and blustery, depending on the wind direction, cold North/East or warm South/West. There was also sometimes

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Wildlife through the year: September

September is a time of fallen fruit - here's a selection from the pavement, clockwise from top left, crab apples, lime seed, pine cone and hazelnut...

Throughout 2010 I am revisiting the little green nature book that accompanied my childhood and seeing if the plants and animals featured in its monthly sketchbook pages are still around.

The book is “Wild Life Through the Year” by Richard Morse and it was published in 1942. You can read about earlier months here.

September 2010 in South Wales has been a mixed month with much rain but also some clear blue-sky days. Autumn is definitely

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Wildlife through the year: August

Peacock butterfly (Inachis io) on Verbena bonariensis at Aberglasney Gardens, August 2010

Throughout 2010 I am revisiting the little green nature book that accompanied my childhood and seeing if the plants and animals featured in its monthly sketchbook pages are still around.

The book is “Wild Life Through the Year” by Richard Morse and it was published in 1942. You can read about earlier months here.

It’s all a bit annoying, as I keep on spotting things in the “wrong” month. I know the book isn’t supposed to be that prescriptive, but

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Wildlife through the year: July

A game of cat and fox one morning in July in a neighbour's garden...

Throughout 2010 I am revisiting the little green nature book that accompanied my childhood and seeing if I can still spot the plants and animals featured in its monthly sketchbook pages.

The book is “Wild Life Through the Year” by Richard Morse and it was published in 1942. You can read about earlier months here.

While June was a very dry month, July has seen a

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Wildlife through the year: June

A baby great tit (Parus major) in the garden in June 2010...

Throughout 2010 I am revisiting the little green nature book that accompanied my childhood and seeing if I can still spot the plants and animals featured in its monthly sketchbook pages.

The book is “Wild Life Through the Year” by Richard Morse and it was published in 1942. You can read about earlier months here.

I have to admit it now seems rather bizarre trying to

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Wildlife through the year: May

Flowers of hawthorn - also known as may - in my garden...

Throughout 2010 I am revisiting the little green nature book that accompanied my childhood and seeing if I can still spot the plants and animals featured in its monthly sketchbook pages.

The book is “Wild Life Through the Year” by Richard Morse and it was published in 1942. You can read about earlier months here.

Trying to tick off some of the 12 items a month featured in the sketchbook is giving me a certain focus as I look

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Wildlife through the year: April

This year everyone is commenting on the abundance of wild violets in gardens...

The little green book that accompanied my childhood was “Wild Life Through the Year” by Richard Morse. It was published in 1942 and I particularly like the sketchbook page for every month.

So every month I am showing these pages on my blog and making my own observations, based largely on my 2010 city garden. I don’t get out much! Read earlier months here.

Traditionally April is

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Wildlife through the year: March

The lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) covers a bank in the garden and finds its way into cracks in walls and steps

The little green book that accompanied my childhood was “Wild Life Through the Year” by Richard Morse. It was published in 1942 and I particularly like the sketchbook page for every month. So every month I am showing these pages on my blog and making my own observations, based largely on my 2010 city garden. I don’t get out much! Read earlier months here.

Daffodils for St David's Day on March 1 - although these are a cultivated variety, Golden Ducat, not the wild daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus)

So far this year has been great – I have always

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