This post first appeared in my free monthly Substack newsletter on some of nature’s most amazing weather, wildlife, space and coastal/tidal phenomena and provides a quick summary of highlights from the first year or so of posts. If you’d like to keep up to date with the latest issues, just subscribe at the following link and you’ll receive it once each month by email (and of course can unsubscribe at any time):
Highlights from Nature’s tidings
It’s difficult to believe that it has been more than a year since I started Nature’s tidings so perhaps now is a good time to look back at some of the most interesting sightings and describe a few changes to how it will appear in future.
The first change you’ll see is the move to a slightly longer format posted monthly, which I’ll aim to do in the first week of every month. This will also help with the second main change, which is to give ideas for natural phenomena to look out for in the next few weeks, which will hopefully be useful if you’re planning to make any sightings yourself.
The main themes will continue the same though, with scientific and personal insights into some of nature’s most impressive weather, wildlife, space and coast/tidal phenomena. I’ve reorganised the home page of the site to reflect that so feel free to browse through past posts for inspiration and read on for more ideas under each heading.
Weather
As sometimes happens, my first weather-related post Surfing the mountain waves combined two interests in one – tidal bores and atmospheric waves – and was inspired by an earlier glider flight into mountain wave. Rivers in the Sky then talked about how atmospheric rivers had caused recent record rainfall in California and how they can affect other parts of the world too, including the UK.
A glider landing at Midland Gliding Club
Taking a break from recent sightings, Spectacular weather forecasts considered useful websites and apps for checking the weather when going out stargazing or weather or wildlife watching while Exploring mountain waves returned to the topic of mountain waves following another exhilarating glider flight.
Other posts considered opportunistic weather sensing, naming of storms and what a red storm warning means. However, the most popular of all was Pink-footed weather forecasters which looked into how pink-footed geese somehow know when and where to fly on their annual migration south, with bird migration being truly one of the natural wonders of the world.
Wildlife
In fact the theme of bird migration began earlier than that, with Quantum Robins describing how quantum physics may provide birds with head-up displays to help navigate the world. Tyne Kittiwakes then described one of the world’s most inland colonies of seabirds, which has somehow decided that the buildings and bridges of Newcastle city centre are a great place to nest in spring and summer.
A humpback whale dives off the northwest coast of Scotland
Later in the year, A grey seal rookery described a fascinating boat trip to see fluffy grey seal pups, but the standout highlight of the year was a close up view of a humpback whale, described in A whale watching adventure.
The remarkable gannets of Bass Rock in Scotland also got more than one mention and are often described as another wildlife wonder of the world as are the seabird murmurations described in Dance of the Dunlins. I also included a brief look into wildlife apps to help with bird and plant recognition in Bird song and plant-recognition apps.
Space
Here, the first post of the year The Quadrantids meteor shower actually began with a failed attempt to see a meteor shower and a look back at a previous attempt that turned into a comedy of errors, which we still laugh about today.
The elusive Northern Lights then lamented how difficult the lights are to spot with The extraordinary Northern Lights a few weeks later changing all that by describing one of the strongest displays in years, just going to show that you should never give up trying for a sighting. Indeed, if it had been clear last weekend we would have had some good displays.
A supermoon rising on the distant horizon
Supermoons though are rather easier to spot and if the weather is fine you should get at least one chance this summer, although Super Harvest Moon Eclipse described the rather more unusual combination of a supermoon and a lunar eclipse. Go to see a meteor shower also described another unusual combination, with an unexpected sighting of the Northern Lights during the Perseids meteor shower, while in Interplanetary Snowdrops the interplanetary part described the planetary alignment that recently passed its peak. This week will also see a lunar eclipse which weather permitting will be easiest to see in the USA, although (very) early risers in the UK may get the chance just before the moon sets before dawn.
Coast & tides
On the topic of coasts and tides, King Tides and tidal bores began with a look into the remarkable way that the tides vary around the coast and an attempt to see one of the UK’s most elusive tidal bores – the Lune Tidal Bore in Lancaster. Perhaps less obviously, The wildflowers are here! included a postscript that described a recent sighting of the UK’s largest tidal bore: the Severn Bore.
Three watersports experts enjoying the Severn Bore
If you too are interested in tidal bores, this month will see some of the highest tides of the year so some good sightings may be on the cards too. At the other end of the tidal range, A low tide walk on Morecambe Bay proved to be another popular post and described the wonder at crossing the sands before the tide rushes in, with some other examples worldwide too.
On a more personal note, The occasional wild swimmer described my slow journey from being The reluctant wild swimmer to taking more frequent dips in the sea, all year round. However, I’m going to wait for temperatures to warm up a bit more before starting again this year.
Next steps
So, that’s a lightning tour of previous posts and I’ll give more details of forthcoming natural spectacles in future posts. I’d also like to expand on the topics that appear under Writing and Photography, including giving tips on some of the trickier aspects of photography such as taking photos of meteors, the Northern Lights and birds in flight.
Topics so far include Photographing snowdrops, describing how it’s more difficult than it looks, Writing a scientific book, to celebrate publication of Hydrometeorology: Forecasting and Applications, and two Always take your camera posts, as taking any type of camera with you is better than having none!
