Last updated at 15:26, Tuesday, 20 October 2009

What I “enjoy!” doing is being out of doors – rain or shine. It is still more interesting than looking at four walls.

I have enjoyed watching animals as long as I can remember, so maybe that is how the enjoyment of being outside started. In my childhood garden I used to look for ants’ nests and for the green woodpecker that jumped around the lawn.

My need for open spaces turned into walking for miles in the mountains as a student and I became a spotter of wildlife. Plants came rather later, along the sea cliffs on family holidays. Looking for something new or rare became a reason for walking, a hobby nearly brought to an end when I broke both legs and my neck in a car accident.

At home in the Midlands, my open spaces are my garden but up here in the north we are spoilt for choice. Within an hour’s drive of Corbridge we can explore moorland, hills, lakes, valleys, forest and the coast and most times we see some unusual animal or plant. We send records to the EYE project for Northumberland and Tullie House for Cumberland.

Armed with binoculars, field guides, a picnic and walking poles – and more importantly, a map, compass, water, waterproofs and mobile phone – I always see or hear something new.

Ruth Moffatt

First published at 12:00, Friday, 21 August 2009
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk