Frog routes, polka dot newts...

We recently had the pleasure of meeting the wonderful Anja Murray at the Environment Ireland Conference. Anja chaired the biodiversity session in which we spoke about Irish nature education. Our Collaborations Manager, Katherina Di Cristina, takes a look at Anja's new book Frog Routes, Polka-Dot Newts and Other Treasures of Irish Nature.

Ireland has beautiful seasons. There are seasons everywhere, whether they’re the traditional SEASONS™ of the temperate world (Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer), or they’re the hot season, dry season, monsoon season, or the 72 microseasons of Japan, with names such as “fish emerge from the ice”, or “hibernating insects surface”. Where I live in Ireland may have different seasons to where you live in Ireland, but it would take a keen eye to notice. We may just have different dates for the same occurrences. When did all the flying ants swarm near you? It took me by surprise, as I checked the laundry drying on the line and found complete mayhem! The seasons here demand you take notice, whether it’s the winds, rains, flowers, skies, temperature hikes and drops, or even the back to school traffic. 

I had big plans to document the year, ‘72 seasons’ style, for the first year of my son’s life. Seasoned parents can stop laughing now, life definitely took over and I documented absolutely nothing, beyond the mental note of ‘oh, beautiful Summer we’re having!’. My son is 8 months old now and I finally feel like I’m a bit above water and can take stock of things outside of his immediate needs. Something I’ve enjoyed sharing with him is reading. He’ll read his little cardboard books, turning pages, taking bites, and I’ll quietly read my books next to him.

Frog Routes, Polka-Dot Newts published just this September by Anja Murray has been a favourite, and was a big part of what inspired me to take notice of the seasons happening right outside my door. Anja Murray’s love of Irish wildlife reminds me of what it feels like to be truly rooted to a place. I spent my twenties rooting myself somewhere, only to leave in my thirties to try and root somewhere else. At 34 I landed in Ireland and have been trying to set some roots ever since. While I genuinely think it’s best to make these observations yourself, to really truly be a part of the environment in which you live, having guides like Frog Routes, Polka-Dot Newts helps. Anja Murray has penned a chronological love letter to seasons, wildlife, and all things Irish nature. She has a gorgeous way of seeing the world, with dreamy lines like, “it is thanks to the culmination of cooperation between the tiniest of beings and all the good things we cannot see that spring unfurls again each year” - doesn’t that make you want to dive into the world of these tiny beings we cannot see? I immediately ran to read about September, when I received the book, and again October, when I’m writing this post. In October, for example, Murray waxes poetic about Spindle tree, and their “riot of colour”, and importance in their entire range since Neolithic times for creating spinning spindles. She gave me a new depth of appreciation for the little Spindle I have growing in a pot, and the odd Spindle seen in the hedges. 

The few bits of seasonal documentation I had this past year: colourful Beech leaves in October, being snowed in in November, the delicious Wild Garlic season in March, and May, when the robin came to visit my son and I having a picnic. 

At the end of each month, Murray has graciously provided a nature checklist. It doesn’t cover everything she’s written about in the month, just some key highlights. For example the checklist for December covers both pigeons and ivy, both underappreciated and easy to find for the lay nature lover. Murray has a way of writing about the mundane (pigeons, for example) in a way that makes the uninteresting suddenly interesting - it’s one of my favourite traits in people. I’m not at all interested in certain topics, but get a knowledgeable and excitable person talking about something they’re an expert in, and suddenly I’m all ears. She exemplifies this in June’s “For the love of soggy corners and hidden hollows” - a soggy corner not being a very appealing image if I’m being completely honest. The passage is an ode to the yellow flag iris and its required habitat. Behold! Suddenly I care about soggy corners!

I appreciate this book for the guide that it is, and hope that it helps me in my quest to observe and name the microseasons as they occur and get to know and love the place where I live. Frog Routes, Polka-Dot Newts and Other Treasures of Irish Nature is the type of book I was looking for, Murray has truly done a beautiful job. If, as she writes, ‘soil is the source of all of spring’s potential’, then let this book be the source of my potential to root in my new home.

This is part of our series exploring Nature Tables of which natural science books play an important role. Our copy will be passed on to a school as part of our nature table competition.