21/06/2026
☀️ This year, to celebrate the Summer Solstice, we decided to do something different and head out with the wonderful Devon Birds, in hopes of witnessing the elusive Nightjar…
🐦⬛Still very much at the stage of amateur birders, we weren’t immediately convinced at the wisdom of waiting pensively for sundown and the sight or sound of these crepuscular long distance travellers, whilst getting savagely attacked by midges! But rewarded we were with an enthusiastic array of flights, song and territory calls from these truly enigmatic, pseudo-mythical visitors…
🩴 Aptly named, on account of the ‘jarring’ or ‘churring’ sound they make, Silas has since affectionately termed them ‘the wet flip-flop bird’! Hands up who knew that every bird has three distinct voices - their song (territory call), contact call and alarm call?! In this case, the Nightjar’s contact ‘gwik’ is reminiscent of squeaky feet on rubber, and now we can’t unthink it!
🪲 But don’t take our word for it! Go out and listen for yourselves! Restoration of Nightjar heathland, grassland and woodland habitat - in some cases, with the aid of grazing cattle, donkeys, ponies and pigs - has apparently begun to prompt a gradual increase in numbers again. And the same goes for their African homeland where, we’re told, education also underpins this hawk-like bird’s survival. A shift from red to amber on the IUCN’s Threatened Species list is surely a good thing?
🌊 Needless to say, we didn’t see the sunrise this morning! We did, however, bake sun bread this weekend, forage for Elderflower, Meadowsweet and Dog Rose tisane (while practising our bird call ID!) and have a gloriously refreshing dip in the vast blue ocean of which we are a part - to satiate my selkie soul - only to be greeted by a stunning Hummingbird Hawkmoth on the path back home!
🌳 And as if all this wasn’t enough, by way of a precursor, the focus of Friday’s Litha Hedgewitchery gathering was a field trip to a specially designated, privately owned meadow; a reflection of the rewilding work that continues on this formerly organic pasture. Usually enjoyed as a sprawling lunchtime affair, we inadvertently managed to make this gathering last all day! Curated deliberately as a safe, free space, with the intention of sharing both accrued and re-membered wisdom and experiences, this group - born of zoopharma foragers and interspecies communicators - has excelled all my expectations. More than ever, the conversation was as rich as the meadow was with species - and the table was with nourishment!
♥️ My top two expressions this week have to be “deeply human” and “interspecies conference.”; you know who you are! When we lean into the dissolution of imaginary and imposed boundaries between ourselves and the more-than-human world, a series of magickal shifts begins to happen…
🙏 We’re so incredibly grateful to live as we do, to find unparalleled joy in the simplest of pursuits, and to welcome visitors from sun-drenched to frozen shores alike, to delight us with their wonder and mystery…
Stay awestruck always!
Bright blessings, One and All 🫶
