Today is National Meadows Day, an annual event which takes place on the first Saturday of July each year to celebrate our magnificent meadows.
National Meadows Day is a chance to visit meadows at their midsummer best, to have fun and to raise awareness of this vanishing habitat.
Wildlife Groundswell are hosting a wildflower meadow safari today, and we are lucky enough to have tickets 🌼🌸🏵 it is a community-led group working to help nature thrive across the Lizard and beyond. We woke up to 🌈 and we now have blue sky, we are excited to explore and see what we find!
Wildflower meadows are one of the rarest habitats in the UK and we have lost 97% of our wild flower meadows since the 1930s.
Nearly 1,400 species of pollinators and other insects rely on meadow plants for their survival 🐝🦋🪲
Today is day 30 of #30dayswild, the final day 💚
The suggestion was 'To mark the last day of 30 Days Wild, we’d love to know what you’ve enjoyed most about your adventure?'
Let us know in the comments what you have enjoyed the most❓️
We have loved taking part in 30 Days Wild! We have enjoyed sharing our local wildlife with you all and sharing Little Gwendreath's sustainability initiatives. It also helped us put together an A-Z of Lizard wildlife, reminded us to check out the Wildlife Trust webcams and confirmed that we love anything to do with rainbows 🌈
Our top highlight was the video of our resident owl. She has been busy this month as she has 3 chicks and has been out hunting for food for them. We have seen her most nights and she is beautiful, majestic and very special 🦉
Until next year 30 Days Wild!
Today is day 29 of #30dayswild.
The suggestion was to 'Give forest bathing a go: being calm and quiet amongst the trees can help boost health and well-being in a natural way'.
Forest bathing is the practice of slowing down and immersing yourself in the forest atmosphere. It is no more complicated than simply going for a wander in your local woods or park. The only difference is that rather than walking for exercise, you take the time to really focus on the natural world around you, from the rays of sunlight catching the leaves to birdsong echoing from the canopy.
We are very fortunate to have woodland right on our doorstep. The sunlight streams through the gaps in the trees and it houses a wonderful variety of wildlife🪶🌲🦉🌳🦌💚🐿
Today is day 13 of #30dayswild.
The suggestion was 'Game of rounders anyone? Whatever your sport, arrange an outdoor game with your colleagues – it can be lots of fun and allows you to
take in the fresh air'.
How has the weather been where you are? It has been a bit of a wash out here in Cornwall today ☔️🌧💦 Sarah managed to get out for a run this morning before the rain started 🏃♀️ the forecast didn't show any let up, so we thought 'if you can't beat the weather join the storm' and so we choose to go swimming.
There are lots of places nearby to go swimming:
🏊♀️ you could swim in the sea down at Kennack Sands, Kynance Cove, Mullion Cove or Poldhu Cove
🏊♂️ you could swim at Trevassack Lake just 10 minutes away
🏊♀️ you could swim at a lido such as Jubilee Pool or Hayle Swimming Pool
🏊♂️ you could swim in an indoor pool, the closest being at Helston Sports Centre
Today is day 6 of #30dayswild.
The suggestion was to 'Go on an alphabet letter hunt – choose a letter and hold a competition to see how many things in nature you can find starting with it'.
We couldn't pick just 1 letter, so we decided to try and do an A-Z of Lizard Wildlife that we have spotted and/or heard (hence the lack of aquatic species). The letter 'S' was the outright winner for us. Letter X and Z are very tenuous and we didn't spot them (sorry!) and we did cheekily use a few species of moth spotted by our awesome guests 💚
This is by no means an exhaustive list, we are located in an Area of Outstanding Beauty which is wild in nature which means we only spot a very small selection of the wildlife that lives here. Long may that be the case!
Adder
Badger, bat, bee, beetle, blackbird, blue tit, butterfly, buzzard
Caterpillar, centipede, chaffinch, chough (the Cornish national bird), collared dove, cormorant, cow, cricket, crow, cuckoo (we have heard it every year but we saw it for the first time this year in the lane and flying over the cottages), curlew
Damselfly, deer, dragonfly (all found down in the valley)
Egret (usually spotted around the Helford River)
Firecrest, fox, frog
Geese, goldfinch, grasshopper, great tit, green finch, gulls
Hoopoe (once!), horse, house sparrow
Inchworms (we think that is what we found today, check-out the video)
Jackdaw, jay
Kestrel, kingfisher (fleeting glimpse in the valley), kite (for the first time a couple of weeks ago)
Ladybird, lizard (often found basking in the sun on the coast path)
Magpie, millipede, moorhen (at the end of our lane), moth
Newt, nightjar
Owl (the barn owl has 3 chicks this year which she has been feeding, we love watching her hunt), oystercatcher
Pallid harrier, peregrine falcon, pheasant, pied wagtail, pigeon
Queen bee
Rabbit, redwing, robin, rook, raven
Seals, sheep, shetland ponies (resident at Kennack Sands every winter), shield bug, shrew, skylark, slow worm, slug, snail (it seems 7am in
Today is day 5 of #30dayswild.
As today is Environment Day the suggestion was to 'Celebrate by pledging to recycle and reuse more".
Here at Little Gwendreath, we reduce waste by buying less and only what we need, avoiding single-use items, and using refillable containers.
Reusing items is also important and can be done by donating good but used items or finding creative ways to repurpose them.
Finally, recycling can help reduce waste by separating materials into categories that can be reused or repurposed. By practicing the 3Rs — reduce, reuse, and recycle — we can all help make the world a healthier and greener place.
For handy tips see: wildlifetrusts.org/
actions/recycle-and-reuse
#GenerationRestoration
And we’re off!
We thoroughly recommend the #30DaysWild challenge with The Wildlife Trusts. It is a great focus (and fun) thing to do.
They have Packs for home, work, home schooling and even care homes to take part.
We are following the suggested 30 Wild Ideas, today was "go on a sensory adventure this weekend: look out for bees buzzing past and listen out for the melodic tunes of the birds around you".
Around this time of year we are visited by many bees and types of birds, so we didn't have to go far to find any, here is our resident house sparrows who return every year and have been very busy feeding their chicks.
Today is #EarthDay2024 🌍
Earth Day is a reminder of the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability, encouraging us to come together and take action for a healthier planet and brighter future.
This year's theme is Planet vs. Plastics, which calls on all individuals, businesses and governments to unite in combating plastic pollution.
If you are interested in learning more about how you can take action, have a look at the Green Skills for Small Business Programme on the Small Business Britain website: https://smallbusinessbritain.uk/green-skills-for-small-business
The programme is delivered by Oxford Brookes Business School in partnership with Small Business Britain, and supported by a grant from the American Express Foundation.
🌍 Find out more about EarthDay.org and join the movement: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2024/
What a beautiful day to kick off half term, we have just finished final checks for an arrival and are enjoying listening to the birds, we can hear a Buzzard off in the distance 💚🐦☀️
Kennack Sands after Storm Isha 💨🌊
Christmas Kernow style 🎄🚜✨️
Last night was the Helston and St Keverne Young Farmers Club Festive Charity Tractor Run. Well done to all who took part to raise money for the Children’s Ward at Treliske Hospital 👏
Today Sarah completed her challenge to virtually run from Land's End to John o'Groats 🙌
The distance is 838 miles, who thinks Sarah can make it to 900 by the end of 2023? 🏃♀️
The hoopoe has decided to extend its stay at Little Gwendreath Holiday Cottages - the wrens and robins have been checking it out 🐦
#rspb #erccis #hoopoe #hoopoebird
Rare sighting of a hoopoe at Little Gwendreath Holiday Cottages today!
The hoopoe is an exotic looking bird, it has a pinkish-brown body, striking black and white wings, a long black downcurved bill, and a long pinkish-brown crest which it raises when excited.
It does not breed in the UK, but as many as 100 birds can turn up in spring (mostly seen as single birds) as birds migrating north to Europe from Africa overshoot and land on the south coast of England. Most hoopoes turn up in late April and May, although they can be spotted annually in the south-west in March. You can also see them in autumn between August and October, as we have done today! It has been hanging around all day today so might be using us as a pit stop 🏁🪶
#rspb #erccis #hoopoe #hoopoebird
An early morning coast path run, the goal was to make it to our little one's swimming lesson in time, mission accomplished 💪🏃♀️🏊♀️
15 mile run along the South West Coast Path from Little Gwendreath Holiday Cottages to Poldhu Cove.
Places of interest along the route: Kennack Sands, Poltesco, Cadgwith, Devils Frying Pan, Church Cove, Lizard Lifeboat Station, Bass Point, Housel Bay, Lizard Point, Kynance Cove, Soapy Cove, Mullion Cove, Polurrian Beach, Marconi Station and Poldhu Cove
#swcp #coastpathrunning #wildlife
We headed down to Porthleven Food Festival for a spot of lunch, we can recommend the loaded fries and a stracciatella ice-cream from Gwella Dairy in the farm food tent 🍟🍦
🎉 we are absolutely delighted that our business Little Gwendreath Holiday Cottages has been shortlisted and recognised for the Industry Champion: Hospitality & Leisure award as part of the inaugural Good Small Business Awards 🎉
The purpose of the awards is to promote the good that businesses do for a better world, focusing on small businesses with a common goal to be a force for good whilst developing a strong stable economy. Our category celebrates businesses that have achieved excellent sustainability impact in the Hospitality & Leisure industry.
Congratulations to all the other shortlisted businesses and in particular to the 2 other businesses in our category, Stroud Brewery who not only brew sustainably but holiday sustainably as they stayed with us in 2021! And also to The Wellbeing Farm Wedding and Events Venue who joined us in being a #SmallBiz100 this year!
https://goodsmallbusinessawards.co.uk/2023-shortlist/
#tgsba2023
Arc of Attrition Poldu/Church Cove MudCrew
