Noticing nature has sustained many of us throughout the experience of Lockdown.   As we cautiously emerge and society returns we must consider doing things differently if we want nature to be there for us in the future.   This tiny Chiff-Chaff wouldn’t normally be seen in the garden but it enjoyed the experience feasting on the blackfly while it was there…

 

As I look out of the newly created, man-made, sterile landscape at the front of the house I notice four social distancing Greylag Geese.  The pandemic pause in construction has allowed nature to take the lead and given us time to notice. Transforming farmland into housing estates may feel wrong but if we can allow nature to do what it does best and fill in some gaps on its own rather than expecting it to populate contrived plots designated by developers, life can be much improved and we may learn a thing or two.  In the last few weeks we have all noticed the bright blue skies, the sound of birdsong and the trees putting on their mantle of green as we take our daily walk.  Lets build on this now and give nature space to breathe so that we all can.

After the storm…

…the willow weeps for its severed bough

Leaves, like memories, pave the ground

The sun will return and wounds will heal

Respect Restore Revive Live on…

 

…avian arguments for a better world

at the Oxmarket Gallery,  Chichester  PO19 1YH

12th -24th February 2019

 

 

 

 

As I captured the image of the newly fledged peregrine cautiously stretching it’s wings and hesitantly launching itself from the top of Chichester Cathedral I believed that time would strengthen. Sadly, we are now mourning the demise of BL-80.

This Monotype was created at around the time she was euthanased due to a problem with the sheaths of her feathers.  Although I was unaware at the time, I believe it captures the ephemerality nature dictates.  The contrast of strength and delicacy in mark making, symbolising the power and fragility of the young falcon.

 

Select this link to view more images  https://ksswann.com/insight-a-glimpse-of-the-chichester-peregrines/

Using illustrations by R.A.Richardson from a 1952 copy of The Pocket Guide to British Birds this collage represents the 67 species on the Birds of Conservation Concern (Bocc 4) Red List.

Displayed in a box akin to a museum drawer the collage reminds us how close we are to losing what we have. In the words of the poet John Clare ‘…I love to see the nightingale in its hazel retreat & the cuckoo hiding in its solitudes of oaken foliage & not to examine their carcasses in glass cases…’

Red List II and other works will be on display at Chichester Library (PO19 1QJ) 12th-17th February 2018.