Dippers, Swans and re-cycling
I saw an adult dipper on the Allander this morning, diving to catch something underwater then flitting to a rock where it bobbed up and down like dippers do. This characteristic movement and their white chest make them easy to identify. It was just up from the iron bridge by Cloberfield industrial estate. There was one last winter around that point, but it has been absent over the summer, presumably it was upstream breeding. Then in the afternoonon, the three cygnets that usually are to be found by the library, and now not so little at all, were returning down the West Highland Way - waddling in a surprisingly inelegant and not exactly light-footed way - back towards the duck pond. Mum and dad were not around. I stood still with my daughter by the side of the path and they all just walked past in a line - slap slap slap - completely unphased by our presence.
In between these two nature experiences, I built a shelving unit to put in the porch and house our mountain of shoes and boots. Rather than buy brackets, bracket mounts and new shelves, I used some old wood that I've kept in the garage from our renovation project; a renovation project that has not yet involved a skip because things get re-used for drainage material, firewood, shelving units, wood sheds, rubble piles for toads and insects, compost bins, nest boxes, hedgehog houses and so on. So, we have a shelving unit with some character and added beauty because it has come into existance without the need to produce materials to make new shelves, without a trip to buy shelves, and if we go back further in time, without a skip to hold the wood and all the other 'rubbish' from the renovation, and without a lorry driving to the landfill, and without damaging the environment by adding to the landfill.
There is a metaphysical boundary around our homes, and it is worth thinking about what crosses the line, be it old materials thrown out and new products brought in, compostable garden and kitchen waste going out and peat-based compost coming in. Go on, be a Womble. Make good use of the things that we find. That way we keep our environment that little bit healthier and enable our streams and waterways to better support the aquatic life that the dipper and other water birds absolutely need.