On holiday in Wales recently we stayed in a lovely converted milking parlour which had 15 acres of land surrounding it. We had the privilege of walking three Kune-kune pigs down the meadow with their owners. It was within the field that the owner said that he couldn’t mow the lowest part as it was very wet and he was considering throwing in a quantity of wildflower seed, then standing back to see what would happen! This piqued my interest to see what was present within the area around the brook. As I began to look there were a few flowering plants among the rushes. One lone Common Spotted Orchid (Illustrated below) stood out along with Common Valerian, Water Avens, Wild Angelica and Skullcap (Hopefully all correctly identified).
It was a real joy to find them. Finding them has stayed with me since then and it keeps popping up in my mind. Maybe for a reason I am not sure.
Now If I hadn’t been looking like I was, would I have seen these plants? The green of the grass and rushes was over and above any other colour on first look. Not until I spent some time looking did I discover these significant beauties. This is the kind of discovery where if you look you will find. This isn’t just true of the natural world.
The other kind of discovery we had was the serendipitous type!
Again in Wales we were on our way to The Centre for Alternative Technology and noticed the Dyfi Osprey Project on the way there. This hadn’t come up in our research for the holiday so we made a mental note of it – in fact we visited it on the way back from the Centre and were glad we did.
After a warm enthusiastic welcome from some Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust volunteers at the visitor centre they directed us to the observation tower which was to be reached along a boardwalk. The boardwalk was fun in and of itself. Along the path on either side were, Reed Mace stems and other long lush vegetation grazed upon by two Asian Water Buffalo which we saw on the way back. There were some Common lizards along the edges of the boardwalk which were basking in the warmth of the wood.
The observation tower was above the estuary and had windows on all sides. Inside were different activities, books and a small store. But the main feature were the telescopes which were directed at the platforms with Ospreys on them, in this case there were three young ones – all named. In the background was an adult which was not related to the three.
Those of you who may not be bird ‘literate’ will not be aware that these are large birds of prey that feed on fish and are usually more associated with Scotland where they breed. Ospreys have been seen in Wales for hundreds of years but no record of them breeding was made until 2004! They migrate considerable distances from Africa. Sometimes they have been persecuted by hunters.
To stumble upon this site was indeed serendipitous. Serendipity means finding something good or beautiful without looking for it. Both of these discoveries had the element of surprise and joy within them. The root of joy is about being glad and rejoicing. One thing we are asked to do in the Bible is to rejoice in the Lord always. This is a way that I have found that helps me to rejoice in Him! I hope that nature helps you to do that too.