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

Bolton Abbey

Bank holiday Monday had us up by 6am (too early according to some!) to be at Bolton Abbey in hope of seeing Flycatchers whilst it was still quiet. Making a change to our usual visits had us parking up by Barden Bridge and walking down towards the aqueduct through the wood.

Right off we spotted a Heron by Barden Bridge shaking what looked like a clump of grass, it flew down river as we got closer so we couldn't quite tell what it was. Chaffinch and Chiffchaff were singing in the woods joined shortly thereafter by a Song Thrush high up in the trees.

The Sand Martins are back on the river, I love to watch them swooping across the water, so quick and graceful. A pair of Mallards with two chicks swam alongside us for a while and Greylag Geese were in the water and in the field across the river. A Lesser Black Backed Gull landed briefly on the water (granted I thought it was a Herring Gull at first but thanks to birdforum I got the correct ID!). Grey and Pied Wagtails flitted all over the river, we saw more than ever today,  as were the Dippers. A Treecreeper did as it's name suggests and crept all over a tree.

Going over the aqueduct we walked up into Strid woods, by this point it was raining on and off only light so far and we were covered mostly once up in the woods. At first all we saw was Blue/Great/Coal Tits, more Chaffinch, Nuthatch, Blackbirds and then I spotted a bird fly across into the trees behind me. My first Pied Flycatcher! As it turned out the first of many through the morning, the were all over the place after that, usually flying in and out of trees over the river. Unfortunately despite the many hours we walked there wasn't a Spotted Flycatcher in sight.

The Mandarin ducks were by the hut at the top of the woods waiting for food along with the usual songbirds. We decided the take a walk up to the Valley of Desolation for the first time, we'd already agreed to forego the longer walk up to Simons Seat as the weather was not looking great by this point, as it was we got caught in a heavy downpour not that the ducks mind......

Nor the sheep

In the valley a dipper was flying up and down the river and a Willow Warbler or a Chaffinch (I saw/heard several Warblers hidden in the trees during the day & got lots of terrible photos which were not much help with IDs!) was flitting around in the trees. Maybe the rest of the birds had sensed the impending rain and were in hiding!

Feeling quite damp we stopped for a much needed cuppa at the Cavendish pavilion and watched the rain and the Chaffinches for a while. Finally it eased off as we made the trek back to the car. Along the way we saw a couple of Common Sandpipers along the water's edge, more Wagtails, Dippers and a gorgeous Redstart flying in and out of the trees, unfortunately I couldn't get a decent photograph.

We ended up walking around for about 6 hours, several more than we'd planned but we really enjoyed the day despite the rain!

On a side note as we drove past the entrance for the Cavendish pavillion first thing I spotted a pair of Ruddy Shelducks in a field full of sheep, I assume an escaped pair?