Nature In November

“All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey”…… Well November is here is all its craziness and confusion. So lets bring the focus back just for a moment to consider how we can increase our connection with nature this month.

This November, try to take the time before the busyness that December brings to find and connect with the natural world on your doorstop.

• If you are planning an at home Bonfire night, please consider wildlife before you begin your celebrations. Bonfires are very attractive to wildlife such as hedgehogs to cuddle down in, so if you are planning on having a Bonfire, please check it carefully for wildlife living within and if possible move the Bonfire to another site before lighting so that any wildlife within the pile has time and space to move away. Alternatively, this year could be the time to use your garden waste in a more natural way. Instead of burning any branches and leaves you’ve accumulated from the autumn, why not build a habitat area in the corner of your garden? Just arrange natural materials such as dried leaves, logs and twigs in a pile and you could have a new wildlife neighbour using your garden as a winter base or spring eatery!
• With many of us spending most of our time at home, a nice idea is to undertake a bioblitz of your immediate area. Whether you have a garden, window box or window you can sit and look out from, take some time to make note of all the organisms that share the space with you. It might surprise you that so much life is so near to you! Identifying organisms is easier than ever with ID apps such as Seek where you can use your phone or device to identify plants and animals. Maybe you didn’t appreciate those tiny flowers on your driveway, or perhaps you have a regular visitor you simply overlooked. Have fun being an explorer in your own home!
• Use your outdoor exercise time to take some time out in nature. Tap into your child-like curiosity – splash in puddles, take an autumnal walk through a woodland or just appreciate the change in season in your local park or patch of green space. Nature is all around when we take time to notice it, so try grounding yourself in the present by noticing the small joys the natural world provides us with.

This month will no doubt will a tough one, so to carry on with our sustainable journey through these uncertain times its important to just focus on what we can do individually and what is going on near to us and appreciate the little things that brighten up our day, be it the falling leaves or a visit from your garden robin. Enjoy nature and stay safe 😊