Oakwell Hall

I don't visit here enough despite it being fairly close by. This visit is early April, Easter Monday. Of course in April the trees are still mostly bare with a little growth just starting to show.

It's a haven for birds, we saw a Buzzard overhead and in the trees Greenfinch, Magpies, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins, Long Tailed Tits.....

The pondlife was fantastic and we spent quite a while watching the toads

Spotted the first Small Tortoiseshell butterfly of the year too.

Bolton Abbey

Easter saw us at Bolton Abbey, fairly early as usual to try and avoid the crowds. It was dull and a little chilly but we don't let that stop us!

Best part of the day watching a couple of Goldcrests flit around the branches in the woods near Barden Bridge. Of course they still managed to hide for the most part but I managed a few shots.

This little hut overlooking the river is perfect for a break and is fantastic to sit and watch the birds, which are all quite used to people being around.

We saw Dippers, Mandarins, Grey and Pied Wagtails, Mallards and Goosander on the river.

The sheep were noisy and there were a few lambs about

A few other shots from the day

Fairburn Ings

As usual my blog has been neglected with life taking over and blogging heading way down to the bottom of the to do list. 

So i'm making an effort and throwing up a few posts covering some nature reserve visits over the year. Maybe.......just maybe this might just get me posting a bit more regularly!

First up is Fairburn Ings back in early February, we didn't stay that long, it was so cold but as always it's a joy to wander around.

There were plenty of birds on the feeders and we even managed to catch a couple of Kingfishers through the screen.

At the lake the Black Headed Gulls were out in full force along with a few ducks.

From there we headed home to warm up!