explore – Forage France

28 April 202027 February 2022

The Peacock Butterfly

One of the most common and prettiest of the garden butterflies, the peacock butterfly is found throughout England and Wales but less so in Scotland.

They lay their eggs in sets of up to 500. When the caterpillars hatch they weave or spin a communal web, where they stay living together and feeding together. Gradually as they grow the caterpillars move more and more into the open.

They pupate alone and emerge in July to spend a frenzied time in the search for food ready for a winter hibernation. Emerging again in spring they’re ready to mate and continue that circle.

The caterpillars feed on those lovely plants called nettles. More information about nettles can be found here…

As you can see in the video, the peacock butterfly is brightly coloured. It’s name refers to the big peacock feather like black spot it has on each wing. Those spots are trying to mimic the eyes of a bigger predator so it is not predated itself.

It’s underside is almost black and when the wings are closed this makes for extremely good camouflage.

I hope you enjoy looking at these beautiful butterflies as much as I do.

26 March 202027 February 2022

Poetry of Nature

Writing a poem is another way to become more aware of nature. choose a favorite place to sit for a few minutes watching and enjoying. Notice how each sound, movement, texture and colour is different. Feel the special quality that each thing expresses. if you see a darting swift-moving flock of birds feel in your heart the joy of their flight. if you see a tree swaying in a light breeze, feel it’s strength and gracefulness. Try one of the following forms of poetry, or any other style you like

Verticle Poem

Choose a word that captures the feeling of the place you’ve chosen. Then use each letter of the word to begin a line of your poem. While walking on Mount Subasio near Assisi, Italy, I wrote a poem to the word ‘Spring’ the flower covered hillsides expressed a feeling of excitement as the shadows of the clouds raced over them.

S un-made cloud shadows

P laced on the earth

R unning across its surface

I n and out of the sun i sit

N ot long does the cloud’s twin stay

G oing, going on its way.

Haiku

Japanese Haiku is a form of poetry with only three lines. The first line contains five syllables the second has seven and the third has five again. Look for the syllables in the Haiku poem below.

In the sudden burst

Of summer rain… wind-blown birds

Clutching at grasses

Also, in Haiku poetry, the first two lines describe the scene and the third line expresses surprise or discovery. The two poems below are by Basho, A famous master of Haiku.

An old silent pond
Into the pond a frog jumps,
Splash! silence again.
Basho

My eyes following
Until a bird was lost at sea,
Found a small island.
Basho

Check out one of my favorite modern poets John Cooper Clarke and have fun writing poetry. feel free to share some you have created!

25 March 202027 February 2022

Postcards Home

Postcards home is a Victorian way of sending home the plants and items that Victorians would find when on holiday around the country. It is quite simply a collage of your journey or adventure through the countryside, park or remote Amazonian rainforest showcasing the latest ‘finds’.

Take a piece of scrap cardboard about the size of a postcard and stick a line of double sided tape (or sticky tape rolled over) down the middle of the cardboard.

Then go on your adventure, around the house, garden, street or park. collecting and sticking your found items to the tape. Please remember to respect the environment and try to only stick things that are abundant or already fallen from plants or trees. Certainly don’t stick anything live to the tape, like insects etc. It might be worth taking a ‘sample’ pot with you just in case you little ones want to stick a worm to it. use the sample pot instead (egg boxes work well).

once you have collected your specimens, you can go home and look up the types of plants (leaf snap and plant ID are good ones). Or post to a friend or family member with a letter all about your adventure.

Have fun!

Don’t forget to check out some of the other articles that might keep you occupied.

24 March 202027 February 2022

Minibeast Discovery

It’s that time of year when all the insects and the like start emerging from hibernation or their warm place of safety in search of a good bit of wood to munch, reproduce or emerge as a flying insect. So, It is also a great time to go looking for them.

Here are a few links to really useful websites for ID sheets that you can print or use on an iPad etc. Just click on the pictures.

When you are collecting your minibeasts please remember to replace moved logs or detritus and gently place the minibeasts back to their homes gently, i mean, imagine someone 1000000 times bigger than you dropping you from a great height. Also a key tip is some insects are predators, try not to mis predators with prey, or little Jimmy will wonder what happened to Francis the Fly…

Look under logs, leaves, stones (if you have stepping stones in your garden, lift one of them), under flower pots, in corners of sheds, under mats, and in bushes.

Most of all… have fun!