Gail's professionally decorated cake; very proud of her!
It was a glorious crisp, frosty morning with clear skies. The views on my walk were superb with vistas out to the Howgills, Lakes and Morecambe Bay. Shortly after commencing my walk I walked through two large fields of unimproved grassland that were carpeted with ant hills, and sadly as you might expect they were an oasis in a Ryegrass desert! I made a note to myself to return in the summer and have a look at the profusion of wildflowers and butterflies, that I don't doubt will be there.
Howgills
The Lakes
Ant hills (above & below)
As I walked across the car park a couple of Nuthatches called and I watched a male Bullfinch foraging in one of the trees. Bullfinches are scarce in the Fylde, so I always welcome the opportunity to connect with this gentlest of finches.
The two fields containing the ant hills also contained some Hawthorn scrub and thickets and I recorded one or two thrushes walking through these fields; 3 Song Thrushes, 3 Mistle Thrushes and 7 Redwings. I dropped down in to an area of woodland with some wide, recently cleared glades (management for Fritillary butterflies?) and I had a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a calling Marsh Tit. Again, Marsh Tits are scarce down in the Fylde, so it was good to see and hear. A single Buzzard later and I was back in the car park.
Woodland path
Sadly I didn't observe any Hawfinches, but there's always another day. Today was about the walk and the views!
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