I’m excited at the prospect of focussing even more than usual on nature over the course of this month and have got off to a great start. Here at NWT HQ it is easy to have a sneaky look at what birds are turning up on feeders and I’m pleased to say bullfinch and great spotted woodpecker are regular visitors in the last few days. It can be a bit distracting when you are in meetings, but it’s the sort of distraction I reckon is good for you, it raises my game I’d say.

Talking about immersion in the natural world, I was lucky to start the month of June in Finland in the Boreal Forest there on a special wildlife trip to see bears among other things. I saw loads of them, from hides but also in the landscape walking about from a distance. I was keen to experience the feelings George Monbiot articulates so well in his book Feral, the sense of danger knowing there are real dangerous animals out there, something impossible in the UK since we have eradicated our megafauna like bears and wolves and lynx years ago. It worked! I was scared once or twice, in the early hours walking through the woods looking for capercaillie but thinking every sound was bear on the prowl. Perhaps bears are a bit big for our humble woodlands, but someday I reckon the less dangerous and much more discreet potential deer controller, the lynx might be reintroduced and even the wolf in Scotland. We have proposed beaver reintroduction in Northumberland and are making a modest start later this year with bringing water voles back to Kielder with the Forestry Commission Back In England the woods suddenly seem a bit tame.

Obviously the hedgehog I picked up off the road the other evening knew it was the start of the 30 days wild campaign and wanted to be featured( frustrated no doubt he couldn’t get on Springwatch!). A lovely middle sized hog he was but clearly very sleepy and inviting a roadkill incident. He didn’t seem to want to move, but looked OK. I managed to give him a drink of water, after which he seemed to pep up a bit. Apparently if you see a hedgehog in the day looking a bit slow, they might be dehydrated, so always be prepared to share your liquid refreshment.

June is going to be an exceptional month this year from a wildlife point of view for me, not only have I been to Finland I am off to Iceland as a volunteer of an arctic fox research project as well, I will be watching the beautiful and unique blue arctic foxes( actually dark brown) for days in arrow as well as seeing other Icelandic specialities. It’s part of a some research travel I’m doing for a book I’m writing on North Lands, contrasting farther northern places with our wild experiences in northern England. All very exciting but I know now that my favourite way to enjoy wildlife is here in the North East, on the cliffs near my home and in the wider Northumbrian countryside. Barn owls, Little owls, cuckoo, seabird colonies, badgers, roe deer and a plethora of plants and butterflies are the norm and I feel that ultimately there’s nowhere better than your home patch which you know very well and can still be surprised when you see something new and up close. It’s a case of familiarity breeding content, for me when it comes to wildlife. But is nice to j mix it up a bit now and then and see new things and places. One isn’t a substitute for the other though.