Red Admiral on Michaelmas daisies at the side of the green lane Photo Chris Gomersall
Nurtured By Nature
With only one in four children playing outdoors, an entire generation is becoming increasingly disconnected from nature – a serious threat to the landscape and its birds and wildlife. The RSPB’s Sarah Woods shares her own lasting passion for the natural world and its wildlife, which was nurtured in the saddle in her earliest years.
You don’t need to be an adventurous equitrekker to encounter many of the UK’s most resplendent wildlife on a horse. Indeed, one of the most rewarding aspects of riding, for me, is that I can travel, almost entirely unobtrusively through nature – an unrivalled privilege for anyone with a passion for spotting birds and wildlife in their natural habitat. We weren’t ‘country folk’ but my parents always made time for family forays into rural England, in fact I was taken on woodland walks at just a few weeks old strapped to my father in a papoose. As soon as I could support my head, I was sat on a Shetland pony. By four I begged to be outside at every opportunity – I would mimic the fluting notes of the song thrush and play hide and seek with the wriggling worms and grubs in the compost heap. By the time I could ride, at seven, I realised that, on horseback, I had an unparalleled reach into the hidden leafy nooks and crannies of my local area – a great adventure. Wild animals seemed less afraid of me in the saddle than when I dismounted and approached on foot. Older and wiser, I stopped shrieking and giggling and learned how to talk in a hushed whisper. I was immediately rewarded by encountering a hare in a sit-upand-beg stance – a rare moment of still respite for Britain’s fastest mammal. As I grew into my teens I enjoyed learning more about the birds, beasts, bugs and blooms that I encountered on every hack. My parents bought me a book to help me ??FV?F?g?V6?F?ffW&V?B7V6?W2?B?&Vv?G&v??rv??Ff??vW'2f?"?'B&??V7B??WfV?7F'FVBvF6???rv??F?fR&?w&??W2??Eb?'?F?RF??R???BF??W66V?6R????WrF?R??W2?b??7B?bF?Rf???r?f?WGFW&??r?'W????r?B6?Vff??r7&VGW&W2?B&?&G2F?B7F???'&?Vv?B?R6??V6?????&??2???W6?2?B??v?B6?V'2F?BF?V?"fW'?&W7BF?6VGV6R?Rf?"v???R?'WB??WfW"???vVB??F???rF?vWB??F?Rv??b?V&???&???r?6??gFW"&?FF??rv??B??&???rF?F?R&?&??W&6?VBF????F?R??B'WF?W"6???'?F?RF??F?R?&B??( ?BV????F?R6?V?G2?bF?R6?V?G'?6?FRv???rW??v??f?6V?Bf?f&R6?W'FW7??b6??Rf??R?f??6VB&?6?&?&G2v?V?B?W&?B?Bv2F??RF?''W6??BF6?W?&?W???^( ?B6??'B266??????bFVfV???r7'&?rG&???2V?FW&VBF?Rg&??6????VF?'WGFW&f???6???&W2f??W?%5"&W6W'fR7Ffg0?? ??wwr?WVW7G&???fV?v???R?6??V???T??T?2?3???FB ??#?b?#2s??????