Bolton Abbey

Last Saturday we were up early to go to Bolton Abbey for a long walk, the weather was a long way from the sun and warmth of Easter the week before. Raincoats and boots were in order instead! We parked up by Barden bridge and walked through the little woods, over the aqueduct, through Strid woods to the pavillion and back up the other side of the river to Barden, we walked about 6 miles I think.

A Little Owl was our first exciting spot as we drove along the country roads, I just love seeing Owls, it doesn't happen often, which probably makes it more of a joy?!

Straight away the birds were everywhere, Song and Mistle Thrush, a GS Woodpecker flying overhead, a Kingfisher flew down the river and two Common Sandpipers were on the rocks. A Willow Warbler was singing too and we saw the first of many Mallard chicks.

Common Sandpiper

Mallard 

Song Thrush

More Mallard chicks on their way in the not too distant future!

The smell of wild garlic followed us through the woods, it's such a strong smell and seems much nicer than the garlic we buy. A Curlew was just heading over the hill in the field next to the woods and a little further along an Oystercatcher was heading the same way. Three Oystercatchers were flying about making a lot of noise. Lots of Sand Martins and a few Swallows were skimming the water by the banks the Sand Martins nest in.  A couple of Red-legged Partridge were in the field over the river.

Distant Curlew

Oystercatcher

Into the Strid woods and it was raining quite heavily by now though there was some shelter from the trees, The woods were full of Bluebells. I think the rain must have put off the Pied Flycatchers as although they are back in the woods we didn't see a single one and we looked hard! A pause for a snack in the hut at the top of the woods, seed is put out regularly around the hut, I think just by people who visit often, we had brought a little with us so we sat and watched the birds for a while.

Bluebells

Chiffchaff (I think, it refused to sing!)

 

Treecreeper

Nuthatch

Pheasant

Blackcap and Chiffchaff were singing as we walked down towards the Pavilion, having a bit of a drama on the way when my daughters boots laces somehow got tangled and she went flying onto the floor! Thank goodness I carry plenty of wipes and tissues, she was a little muddy and bruised but soon back on her feet. We stopped for a cuppa at the Pavilion to warm us up a little.

A male Goosander was on the river here and further along we found a female asleep on a rock. Grey and Pied Wagtails were all along the river, we did only spot two Dippers today, unusual for here. The Common Sandpipers though lived up to their name, i've never seen so many here, they were often flying, chasing each other around,  their loud call an instant giveaway. We also saw several Mandarin ducks, only one female though, who had already paired up. Other birds spotted include Greylag Geese, Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gull, Heron and a single Moorhen.

Heron

Male Goosander

Mandarin

Pied Wagtail

Mallard

Common Sandpiper

Female Goosander

Mandarin, male and female

We stopped again to have a little lunch at the hut overlooking the Strid, again the birds were hopping around right in front.

Coal Tit

Blackbird

Chaffinch

Blue Tit

Back near Barden bridge and the car, a Sandpiper was stood on a tree branch, not something i've seen them do before!

A few other photos from the walk

Not bad for a wet miserable day really!

Bolton Abbey

On Monday we made our yearly visit to Bolton Abbey (we always plan on going again but there's so many places we want to visit elsewhere!). We got up there before 9, hoping to avoid a lot of the bank holiday crowds. By Barden Bridge we saw Greylag Geese with their young, Grey Wagtails on the river and Blue Tits in the trees.

Walking through the woods by the Bridge was lovely and peaceful.....peaceful as in barely a peep out of any birds bar a Great Tit! The river though had more Geese, our first Dipper of the day and several Mallard with their young. A few Sand Martins were flying over the banks. A little further along I heard a soft bird call and saw a Willow Warbler right above our heads, mostly preening but occasionally singing quietly.

Dipper

Mallard

Willow Warbler

We crossed over the bridge so we could walk up through the Strid Woods, stopping to watch a couple of Dippers fly backwards and forwards up the river.

Dipper

As we went into the woods we spoke to a gentleman there taking photos, he pointed out a Redstart and mentioned he'd seen a few Pied Flycatchers, a couple were flying around the nearby trees. They were showing well and we stopped a while to watch them flying around,  my daughter spotted a Mandarin asleep on a rock down in the river. Another was perched in a tree a little further in the woods.

Redstart

Pied Flycatcher

Mandarin

Redstart

Pied Flycatcher

Mandarin

A Pied Flycatcher was singing just by the hut at the top of the woods, we sat for a bit here and watched all the birds fly in for the seed on the path and rocks - Chaffinch, Coal, Great, Blue Tits, Nuthatch, Mallard, Pheasant and in the tree beyond a GS Woodpecker. A Brimstone butterfly was flying up and down the banking.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Coal Tit 

The woods were full of the smell of Wild Garlic and there were lots of flowers out in the sun, it was a beautiful day, though I was pleased most of the walk was in the shade! A lot of butterflies were flying around - Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Green-veined White, Orange Tip and I think both Large and Small White.

Orange-tip Butterfly

Small Tortoiseshell

Green-veined Butterfly

By the Pavillion a female Goosander flew down the river. We stopped for a drink and ice creams, it was late morning by now and very busy, though as we carried on our walk towards the Strid itself there wasn't quite as many people.

We finally saw our first Common Sandpiper of day just past the Strid and another two further along. There were more Mallards and chicks hiding among the rocks too. We couldn't resist stopping to dip our (very hot) feet in the river at a quiet spot away from any ducks (don't get me started on the numerous dogs chasing ducks and their chicks in the water - one guy even encouraging his dog, luckily we didn't see any being actually caught but i'm sure the chase was stressful enough!). Across the bank my husband saw a rabbit hiding in the grass.

Spot the bunny

Back along towards Barden Bridge a Willow Warbler (the same one as this morning?) was picking up bits of twigs etc off the path, it was almost oblivious to us being there and was probably some of the best views i've had of one, in fact I don't think i've ever seen one on the floor before! Very nice couple of minutes before it flew off with it's beak full.

Not long after that we were back at the car and cooling down, thank fully we'd parked under a tree so it wasn't too hot in the car. We took the scenic route home seeing Pipits, Curlews, Lapwings, Oystercatchers and Red-legged Partridges as we drove.

Mallard