This week has been a week of research, something I am unashamed to say I love doing. Over the past few days I have discovered some truly beautiful blogs. Recently I’ve been head over heels for nature writing, so have approached some of my favourite bloggers for their recommendations. The fruit of my labour has been the opportunity to enjoy some incredible work by nature bloggers I hadn’t previously known. Not only have I been inspired by their creativity, but I have learnt a great deal through reading what they have to say. Here are just a few of the nuggets I’ve discovered:

• Caterpillar derives from the early French word catepelose, meaning “hairy cat”
• Ammonites are named after their resemblance to the curved ram horns of the Libyan deity Ammon
• Orangutan means “man of the forest” in Malay

One of the reasons I think blogging is such a great form of technology is it allows us to find like-minded people and communicate with them. In the last few days alone I have discovered countless blogs with the same purpose and similar content to mine: rave about the natural world with boundless enthusiasm. I’ve read some fantastic prose, both fictional and non-fictional, and found inspiration in many different places. I believe leaving a nice comment on someone’s post makes that person’s day; I know for a fact if I log on and see someone has not only read what I’ve written, but enjoyed it so much as to tell me about it, I am overjoyed. Therefore, I made sure I told each talented writer or photographer that their work was awesome. Doing this makes me feel good as well as them, so there’s really no reason not to.

Of late, it has been the case that I have kept my blog trundling on with posts of my own, but I haven’t been reading other posts nearly enough. This week I made a real effort to mingle with the WordPress community and it’s been a fantastic experience. I’ve learnt new things, met new people and best of all, fallen in love with nature all over again.