Tuesday 19 May 2020

To the Woods and Beyond!

Lockdown rules have been relaxed slightly and we can now take 'unlimited' exercise - not quite sure about this as people still struggle with the social distancing part! Anyway myself and my daughter were up early on Sunday morning to walk down to the woods, it's a 6 mile round trip, it was warm but a little cloudy so just right for the walk. Going so early would hopefully mean it should still be quiet as some of the paths are a bit narrow and lots of local people have discovered the woods during the lockdown and it has been busy.

As it happened it was fairly quiet, just a handful of dog walkers, all cheery and happy to keep their distance, phew!

It's a lot greener since I was last there, you can barely see out of the tree canopies at times and that was wonderful!






There is Wild Garlic and Cow Parsley everywhere, there are Bluebells though I think we just missed them at their best.




We saw a few bees going in and out of this tree


A Wren was singing right by our heads at one point and a pair of Blackcaps were flying around the trees. I have noticed the Nuthatches seem to have disappeared, I haven't seen one at all in the woods this year. 
Wren


Distant Blackcaps



The entrance to the next part of the woods had been yarn bombed with rainbows and flowers. We saw a young Woodpigeon by the bird feeders and on the dipping pond a female Mallard, I know a pair have been seen on the pond during lockdown but I don't think they've nested. Long-tailed Tits were in the trees and just behind a Whitethroat was singing. There is already talk of closing the dipping pond due to the lack of rain, things are starting to dry up somewhat, we haven't had any decent rain in weeks.


Woodpigeon


Long-tailed Tits



Mallard




We walked down the Pit Hill fields for a little way, a singing Dunnock was at the start of the path. We counted 4 separate Chiffchaff calling, Greenfinch, Song Thrush, Chaffinch amongst others. The Hawthorn along the field is in full bloom and quite beautiful.

Dunnock



Greenfinch


Chiffchaff



Song Thrush



Under the motorway to have a walk along the fields - off the official patch for the patchwork challenge but that doesn't really count at the moment. The Lapwings are in their usual spot and Skylarks were singing high over the fields, what a joy this was, I was beginning to wonder if i'd hear them at all this year. We saw more Greenfinch, a House Sparrow with white wing feathers, there is a Sparrow that visits my garden that has white tail feathers, it's odd to see the white flashes when they fly. 


Lapwing


Greenfinch


House Sparrow






I saw Swallows, House Martins and Swifts, a Cormorant, a hovering Kestrel and back at the top part of the woods on another small pond a pair of Mallards.


It was a much needed walk and I was so pleased to be back in the woods again!

12 comments:

  1. Lovely walk Pam and a wonderful amount of birds seen, it's so great to be able to go a little further. I'm lucky enough the park was on my daily walk, but so happy I can get out on the moors or in the forest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Amanda :) It is so good to get out!

      Delete
  2. Hi Pam: I think you did very well to tackle a six mile walk for your first time out and about in a while. I am sure that the freedom felt good. Your bird sightings were varied enough to make for an interesting total and I have little doubt that you returned home well satisfied. Keep on doing it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks David, it was definitely good to be out for a decent walk. A joy to see the woods and the birds!

      Delete
  3. Oh gosh Pam what a gorgeous walk. A lovely set of photos and so many sightings :) It must have been so good to get out and I am glad it was quiet for you as you say so many people don't seem to under the social distancing rule!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you :) It was great, i've been again since and it was just as quiet and just a lovely to be out!

      Delete
  4. That does look like a lovely walk :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a super walk with lots of things to see. It's good to get up and out early before others get out and about. The social distancing thing seems to fox some people doesn't it? When we are out on the fields nearby we are always watching where other people are and where we can tuck in away from them as we know that they probably aren't going to stand aside for anyone else:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's it you really do have pay attention when there are people about...because they don't! Still getting out early is working so far and it is great to get out :)

      Delete
  6. So happy you are allowed out again, we were not told we could not leave our home, but we were to not mingle with others...AND you saw some really great birds and the trees are lovely. Hope you get some rain soon. I did find that people who were normally out shopping started to come to the outdoor areas, now they are going back to the stores as the restrictions are eased.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes as long as we social distance we can go out, so we have to be careful as not everyone pays attention! It is good to get out though!

      Delete