Daily Nature Log
    I set off on my daily walk through Colney near Norwich, with a 10 mph northerly breeze in the air. My route took me along the turnings around Spire Hospital and down Old Watton Road, where I passed a lady walking a rare Pudelpointer.

    A patch of overgrown roadside land was bursting with wild life — ragwort, thistles, seeding docks, fluttering butterflies, and hundreds of grasshoppers leaping through the weeds. Turning towards St Andrew’s Church, I spotted a striking Red Admiral resting on the stone wall.

   Intrigued by a couple of “Keep Out — No Access to River” signs, I followed a public footpath sign down a grassy, bramble-choked track, feasting on ripe blackberries along the way. The path brought me to the River Yare. Although the riverbank was fenced off, I took a few photos of woodpigeons flying among the yellow riverside flowers before retracing my steps to a bridge.

A flight of steps led down to the water’s edge, where I met a woman holding two Hungarian hunting dogs tightly. When I asked about their breed, she grinned and said, “Naughty!” before identifying them as Vizslas. After snapping photos of tansy flowers, willowherb, and a stately swan gliding past four grazing Shetland-style ponies, I headed home.
Stats
Distance: 2.63 miles
Time: 56 minutes
Heart Points: 22 Heart Points

Copyright ©️ Text, photographs and videos Written by John Yeo – All rights reserved

Daily Nature Log
    The air stood at 17°C today, though a fresh northerly wind gusting to 20 mph dragged the feel down to a brisk 13°C.
    On the wing, painted ladies and commas dominated the route, dancing over purple buddleia and pink field-bindweed. A dunnock darted for cover as I entered the recreation ground, while four defiant corvids foraged on the cricket pitch, entirely unbothered by the nearby groundsman.
   Passing the familiar garden, the ‘friendly’ Pitbull Terrier offered his usual quiet greeting. No barks these days—my regular appearances have finally earned me insider status.

  The cemetery pathways and allotment borders were alive with wood pigeons, another dunnock slipping into the hawthorn, and resilient poppies holding their own alongside yellow bird’s-foot trefoil. Heading past the leisure centre, white greater-stitchwort thrived amidst the seed heads, patrolled by a small white butterfly.
    Feral pigeons and a lone lookout gull claimed the rooftops, while sparrows bustled back and forth from the care home hedge. After a quick chat with a couple walking a handsome Boxer-Labrador cross, a final comma butterfly rounded off the day’s sightings at the corner shrub.

Daily Stats
Distance: 2.13 miles
Time: 43 minutes
Google Fit: 21 Heart Points.

Copyright ©️ Text, photographs and videos Written by John Yeo – All rights reserved.

The Log
   I tackled a brand-new route today, tailing a young couple and their lively Cocker Spaniel. Overhead, a noisy colony of gulls swarmed their favourite factory rooftop, while a mix of wood and feral pigeons cruised past the leisure centre. Along the way, I snapped photos of a mahonia nestled with silver ragwort in a hedgerow, and some evening primroses claiming the ground by an abandoned cricket pitch roller.

   The local celebrity, a small, thin tabby known as Dolly Parton, was spotted performing rolling acrobatics outside the leisure centre, and a solitary pied wagtail was busy pecking around the recreation ground.

The Stats
Distance: 1.52 miles
Duration: 52 minutes
Google Fit: 23 Heart Points

Copyright ©️ Text, photographs and videos Written by John Yeo – All rights reserved.

Daily Nature Log: Norwich Walk
   An afternoon wander through a beautiful Norwich wildflower meadow felt a bit fresher than the 21°C thermometer claimed, thanks to a brisk northeasterly breeze. Amongst the yellow ragwort, buddleia, and thistles, Google Lens helped identify some lovely blue viper’s-bugloss.

The undisputed highlight of the day was a majestic sparrowhawk posing on a fence post before making a leisurely exit. Nearby, an ancient oak strangled by ivy had me wondering if there was actually any tree left under its thick green coat. Meanwhile, a local magpie made a rapid dash for cover, and the air ambulance chopper buzzed overhead, landing at the hospital.

   By 6:30 PM, the wind had picked up, making 19°C feel like a rather chilly 15°C. The local gull colony was in full, screaming voice. Over at the leisure centre, a bossy corvid was busy bullying two feral pigeons (one smartly beat a hasty retreat), while a wood pigeon crashed the sparrows’ usual hawthorn shrub hangout. Despite the evening chill, small cabbage whites were still fluttering, and the evening primrose flowers were thriving on the waste ground.

Clean Stats
Distance: 2.88 miles
Duration: 54 minutes
Google Fit Heart Points: 29
Afternoon Weather: 21°C (felt like 18°C – 20°C), northeasterly breeze
Evening Weather: 19°C (felt like 15°C – 16°C), northeasterly wind (12–14 mph)

Copyright ©️ Text, photographs and videos Written by John Yeo – All rights reserved.

The sun was out at 1:30 pm, making a brisk 19°C afternoon feel like a much warmer 25°C, despite a 16 mph northeast wind.
   The walk kicked off with cabbage whites fluttering on the verges and a pair of wood pigeons watching from the rooftops. Down by the recreation ground, a man was walking his small brown mongrel under the pines, while six black-headed gulls took over the cricket pitch just to sun themselves.
   The cemetery was a hive of activity: six wood pigeons cruised between the trees, a comma and two large whites claimed the wildflower bank, and small whites danced everywhere. Nearby, a lone magpie pecked at the sun-scorched grass.
   Heading past the leisure centre, a painted lady zipped along the roadside verges, a feral pigeon kept watch from a rooftop edge, and a red admiral darted into a hedge just as the loop took me home.

Stats:
Distance: 2.21 miles
Duration: 48 minutes
Fitness: 27 Google Fit Heart Points

Copyright ©️ Text, photographs and videos Written by John Yeo – All rights reserved.

The Narrative
   A 32-minute evening stroll dodging the heat! With temperatures hovering around 18°C to 20°C, a brisk 11 mph easterly breeze thankfully took the edge off. The local wildlife was out in full force: a sentinel wood pigeon keeping watch, the gull colony raising a ruckus, and feral pigeons jostling for prime real estate on the leisure centre roof. Amidst the parched, brown grass—a casualty of our recent heatwave—a single purple milk thistle and a whitebeam tree provided a burst of botanical colour. The neighbourhood regulars were out too, including my ‘friendly’ loud-barking Pitbull, a passing mongrel, and a muzzled white poodle.
The Stats
Distance: 1.52 miles
Duration: 32 minutes
Heart Points: 23 (Google Fit)
Weather: 18°C to 20°C (felt like 16°C to 17°C) with a 10–11 mph easterly breeze.
Flora & Fauna: Wood pigeons, noisy gulls, feral pigeons, sparrows in hawthorn, a solitary purple milk thistle, and a whitebeam tree.

Copyright ©️ Text, photographs and videos Written by John Yeo – All rights reserved.

The Narrative
    Beating the building heat, I headed out early into a blustery 24°C breeze that made things feel a touch cooler. Along the way, I met a young man with a friendly,  purebred chocolate-brown spaniel, a refreshing sight indeed. Nearby, cabbage whites drifted along the verges, while the factory rooftop gulls held their usual loud, raucous convention.

   On the playing field, a flock of about twenty rooks and jackdaws held the ground, framed by a vibrant spread of pink field bindweed along the borders. Moving on to the cemetery road, the goji berry hedge was positively alive with darting sparrows and small brown butterflies.

The cemetery’s central path offered a grand turnout: wood pigeons, a magpie, sparrows, and a blackbird all feeding on the verges, surrounded by a flurry of cabbage whites and small brown commas. I paused to photograph a silver birch heavy with catkins and a rowan tree laden with ripening red berries, before cutting through the wildflower garden where small white butterflies zoomed amongst the plants. Finally, I reached the leisure centre, where a lone feral pigeon stood sentinel on the roof.
The Stats
Distance: 1.82 miles
Time: 39 minutes
Google Fit: 22 heart points

Copyright ©️ Text, photographs and videos Written by John Yeo – All rights reserved.

Daily Wild Walk Log
   Two wood pigeons stood sentinel on two rooftops as I set off into the balmy 24°C evening air.
A sparrow darted into the shrubs by the football pitch, while white butterflies danced across private gardens. Heading towards the leisure centre, a group of corvids passed overhead, instantly upstaged by a vibrant Red Admiral swooping toward a patch of weeds.

   Further along, the heavy, sweet scent of the care home’s privet hedge filled the air—though it’s losing the battle to invasive bindweed and brambles and cries out for a gardener’s shears.
    I reached the cemetery gates, turned back, and wandered through the wildflower garden, where seed heads now stood where blooms once were, guarded by a few fluttering brown butterflies. By the time I turned back past the leisure centre, the rooftop was crowded with a lineup of feral pigeons and corvids. The local gulls were executing their usual noisy aerial shouting match, and a lady with a small Terrier offered a pleasant greeting.

The Stats
Distance: 1.97 miles
Time: 42 minutes
Effort: 27 Google Fit heart points

Copyright ©️ Text, photographs and videos Written by John Yeo – All rights reserved.