Email: info@bramwell-int.com
We are the UK and Ireland Distributors for Meindl, Source & Gregory
Nature Adventures
Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom have written and illustrated over 60 books together. They have won many awards. Mick Manning grew up in Haworth, Yorkshire where they fell in love with nature from an early age. Brita Granstrom grew up close to nature on a Swedish farm. They are married with 4 children and spend their time between England and Sweden.
Photo by Tom Bland www.tombland.co.uk
Their latest book Nature Adventures draws upon their personal experience of exploring the natural world with their own young children. It is a treasure trove of practical information, observation, pictures and poetry, featuring habitats from town and city, woodland and hedgerow to ponds and rivers, moorlands and seside.
SPRING NATURE ADVENTURES by Mick Manning & Brita Granstrom
A nature adventure can happen anywhere, anytime.
After the long days of winter when spring finally arrives it feels as if nature has suddenly woken up and is late for school. Everything is in a rush. Wherever you are, rambling in the hills or walking the kids to school there are lots of special things to look out for and listen to. From early February onwards listen for the song thrush and the blackbird. The song thrush’s romantic song repeats almost everything:
Listen to me! Listen to me!
I’m up! I’m up!
Rouse the dogs!
I’m whistling! I’m whistling!
The blackbird’s song is very different, mellow, warbling, rich and melodic. Tennyson described a singing blackbird as: ‘The mellow ousel fluting in the elm’. Look for them both in parks, gardens, hedgerow and woodland. You will easily recognise an adult male blackbird from his orange beak and coal black plumage while the female is a rich brown. All song thrushes have a beige-brown back and spotted breast. You may also find evidence of their feeding activity in the form of smashed snail shells. For this reason avoid using garden insecticide or slug pellets as thrushes are already in decline for a variety of reasons. You might also notice the great tit singing in woods, gardens and parks: “teacher-teacher-teacher”
Swallows, swifts and house martins arrive in spring so look out for them – can you tell one from another? Just as important in the spring scheme of things are the first bluebottles, slugs, snails and one of my favourite spring sights, newly awoken bumblebee queens, revving about like a noisy trials bikers.
Look for sycamore buds and early spring flowers such as snowdrops and daffodils.
Listen for lapwings flapping over rough pasture calling ‘peewit-peewit’ and displaying snipe making tissue-and-comb quavering sound as the slipstream rushes through their tail-feathers.
What could be nicer than to open your picnic and listen to such sounds as the wind whispers through a dry-stone wall? Remember – a nature adventure can happen anywhere, anytime.
These seasonal nature tips are based on Nature Adventures an inspirational family nature book written and illustrated by Mick Manning and Brita Granström and published by Frances Lincoln. Specialising in lyrical non-fiction picture books Mick and Brita have developed their unique award-winning approach together over 20 years and have based this book on their own nature walks with their family of four young sons. Find out more about their books at www.mickandbrita.com