Wildedges

27/10/2026

In the garden today, the spindle is looking stunning although the leaves are yet to turn. Often overlooked, the spindle – Euonymus europaeus, delivers one of the most striking autumn displays in the garden or hedgerows. I have both free standing shrubs and a number that are planted in the native hedgerows around the garden. Its pink fruit capsules split open to reveal vivid orange seeds, creating a dramatic visual effect, even before the leaves change to their autumn finery. It's not just for show - the seeds feed birds like bullfinches and thrushes, and the spring flowers attract early pollinators.

Traditional folklore viewed the spindle as a symbol of life’s woven threads, reflecting its historic use in wool-spinning as the dense wood was carved into small spindles that was used to twist unspun fibres into yarn before the spinning or weaving began.

It was also known, in traditional medicine, as louse-berry, with the berries and bark ground into powder and used to treat fleas and lice in children and farm animals – but note: all parts of the spindle tree are toxic.

27/10/2026

In this morning's sunshine after days of wind and rain, the rooks gather for breakfast; there's always a pair that sit together on a low branch.

The Rook -Corvus frugilegus, is a familiar garden bird, nesting locally in large colonies in the tree tops called rookeries and often foraging in the company of other crow species, especially Jackdaws. Both male and female birds share nest-building, though it is the male which finds and brings the nest materials to the nest site whilst the female decides where they are placed. Rooks are known to form long-lasting pair bonds and are socially monogamous for life, they both bring up the chicks but in the first few days after the eggs hatch, the female stays on the nest to keep the vulnerable, featherless chicks warm. During this time, the male is the sole provider for both chicks and his mate.

Historically Elm and Ash trees were the rook's choice for nesting but, with the decimation of both those species to disease, oak, horse chestnut, alder and sycamore are being chosen instead or Scots pine, the rook’s favourite evergreen. 🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🌳

26/10/2026

October's full moon - 04.11 - has long been linked to preparation for nature’s slow down; bare trees, frozen ground, storing food for the lean times. The symbolic side is more about taking stock of your mindset, it’s about balancing, protecting and enhancing the parts of your life that answer your needs and curtailing those that don't. It is also a good time to do spiritual and physical house cleaning, getting rid of what doesn't serve you in the coming year.

This time of year is marked by a shift in the air as the year brushes right up against Samhain, a time when the veil to the spiritual world is lowered, and communication with ancestors and spirits is enhanced.

Artwork by Japanese artist Ohara Koson

25/10/2026

25/10/2026

Snails are associated with the virtue of infinite patience. Their slow and deliberate nature led people to appreciate their ability to persevere and navigate through life at their own pace. The snail's resilience became an inspiration for individuals, reminding them to appreciate a slower, more mindful approach to the world.

25/10/2026

Snail Appreciation Day
In the 1850s, scientists started to explore and document the incredible diversity of snails around the world. This marked the beginning of a fascination with these small, slow-moving molluscs. As researchers studied their habitats, behaviours, and unique qualities, people began to appreciate the beauty and complexity of snails. This interest and study became the world of Conchology.

There are around 35,000 to 40,000 known species of land snails globally, ranging from the smallest - Angustopila psammion (no common name but psammion from the Greek means grain of sand) at 0.48 mm to the Giant African Land Snail - Lissachatina fulica where their shells can reach 20 cm.
For the love of snails:- https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/snails-and-slugs.html

Photo: via Magnific

24/10/2026

Prints of autumn nature. More of her work here:- https://www.nikibowers.co.uk/

24/10/2026

The final week of Bat Appreciation Month is Bat Week – Although we may not always see them, bats are hard at work all around the world each night - eating tons of insects, pollinating flowers, and spreading seeds that grow new plants and trees.

As Halloween approaches however, as part of the spooky decorations, along with the ghosts and ghouls, witches and spiders and of course pumpkins, there are always a few bats..... but why:- https://www.batcon.org/bats-in-the-night-unraveling-the-ancient-connection-to-halloween/

23/10/2026

Continuing Bat Appreciation Month.....

🦇31 Days of Bats🦇

Day 22: Bat Calendar 📆

Ever wonder what bats are up to during each season?

🌱Irish bats typically becomes active in late spring. As the days and nights warm up they flies out to forage for insects for progressively longer periods at night.

☀️In early summer a number of female bats get together in a suitable maternity roost. The group is known as a colony. A maternity roost is usually warm, undisturbed and situated close to suitable insect-providing habitat. Numbers of bats in a nursery roost may build gradually until the time that the mothers give birth, around late June or early July. They each give birth to a single baby (pup) that they can identify by its smell and sound.

🦟The females usually leave the maternity roost in August and avail of late summer’s insects to build up a store of body fat to help them survive the winter.

❤Females then seek out males who have set up mating territories by mid-August. Mating takes place from August onwards. Mating may take place in a swarming site – which may be a cave or large underground site, or may take place in a roost protected by a single male (a harem). The female won't become pregnant until spring, after hibernation.

❄As temperatures drop further during the approach of winter and insect numbers decline, males and females move into hibernation roosts (hibernacula). Hibernation takes place from October/November onwards during which time a hibernating bat uses very little energy and its body temperature drops to 8-9°C.
Very little is currently known about where Irish bats hibernate. Individuals may wake up occasionally during mild spells to eat and to drink water.

🌱By spring bats gradually wake up to begin the yearly cycle again.



📸 Marie Louise Fitzpatrick