Brilliant Bolton Abbey......Sunday 25.04.21.

A decent forecast for today,saw Tracey and myself heading over to one of our favourite areas in the Yorkshire Dales for the day,the following is a selection of photos and a short write up of what we saw.

 We started the visit by parking just across from the Priory grounds and then headed along the lovely River Wharfe,passed the stepping stones,up to Cavendish Pavillion and then on into Stridd Woods SSSI in a loop and back to the car.

In all it was about 8 or 9 miles and obviously takes in some stunning riverside scenery and is a cracking place for birds and wildlife.

Highlights from the avian world included 8 singing male Pied Flycatcher,considerably down on previous years,but we have never visited this early,it has usually been 2 or 3 weeks later and into May,so birds are still arriving no doubt.

 Another prominent species,was Common Sandpiper and today we saw the largest number we have seen on the walk to date,this included 10 birds,with a group of 5 chasing and displaying along the river,near the Priory grounds,a real joy to watch.

Mandarin Numbers were quite good also,with 9 drakes and a female being logged along with 4 singing male Redstart(Including a bird which showed very nicely near the aquaduct),2 Dipper,Red Kite,Green Woodpecker,6 each of both Grey Wagtail and Willow Warbler and finally 2 drake Goosander.

We also saw our first Mallard ducklings of the new breeding season,with broods of 4,3,5,9 and 4 certainly having the aww factor.

Wildflowers were certainly beginning to come into their own as well,carpeting the woodland floor and included Bluebells,Wood Anemone,Dog's Mercury and the first Ramsons were just beginning to break out as well.

This really is a special place,not just for it's historic priory,but for any of my readers who love wildlife and birds it is certainly worth a visit for sure and this is my favourite river by far,with some amazing stretches between Grassington and here.

So another lovely visit to this brilliant site,we travelled home happy after our lovely day out.

The Ruins Of Bolton Priory.

The River Wharfe,From Cavendish Pavillion.

The Famous Stridd.

Red Kite Overhead.

The Aquaduct,Just Along The River From Bardon Tower.

Bluebells Carpeting The Woodland Floor.

A Fountain Dedicated To The Cavendish Family.

Bolton Priory And Its Partial Ruins.

Badger Encounter & More Spring Migrants.......23rd & 24th April 2021.

Another couple of brilliant visits to the local patch over last weekend,included a mammal encounter i will never forget and finally some better numbers of summer migrants arrive.

Friday 23rd April

As it was a lovely afternoon today,Tracey and myself decided to go for a walk on the local patch at East Halton.

A couple of new species for the year were the first highlights of the visit,with both a singing male Whitethroat and Reed Warbler being seen and heard at Winter's,a good start to the visit we thought.

As we began to walk along the seawall towards the Skitter,i spotted a Badger feeding on the mitigation area a very strange sighting for the time of day.But after thinking how dry the recent weather has been it is possibly just hungry,as dry weather means they cannot hunt for earth worms.It was a real privilege to see this cracking animal and it was our first for quite a while.

We carried on walking finding 2 stunning Whimbrel feeding along the shore,but they were the usual jumpy and shy birds this species more than often is,but lovely scope views were enjoyed.

A surprise sighting at the Skitter,was a single Pink-footed Goose and i thought it may be injured or something as the local wintering flock had moved on many weeks ago,but it looked in fine condition.

A walk back along the mitigation area to the car revealed 3 Little Egret,2 Black-tailed Godwit and the first Lapwing chick of the season,plus,unbelievably,the Badger was still feeding.

I managed to get pretty close and have a good look at him and he looked in perfect condition,what an absolute privilege to see.I left him to feed after taking some video and a few photos,what a fantastic end to our visit.

Saturday 24th April

A dawn start today in fairly cold conditions again,had seen a decent arrival of migrants at Winter's with 5 Whimbrel flying west,now 4 singing male Reed Warbler,2 singing male Whitethroat,3 singing male Blackcap and a new species for the year,in the form of 2 singing and displaying male Sedge Warblers.A party of 10 Oystercatcher,also flew north along the estuary from here,an unusual number at any time of the year.

The walk between Winter's and the Skitter was productive also,with my first Common Sandpiper of the year along the shoreline and also a cracking male Cuckoo,which gave a super close flyby.

No sign of the Badger on the mitigation area was good news and hopefully he will have found enough food now to satisfy his appetite.

Also on the mitigation area were 4 lovely Whimbrel which gave some nice scope views,before they headed off north.

At the Skitter,the highlights included another Sedge Warbler,Whitethroat and Common Sandpiper with the Pink-footed Goose also still here.

Breeding success for a pair of Greylags,saw 6 newly hatched goslings following their proud parents about.

Between the Skitter and Dawson City,more migrant arrivals featured,with another 9 singing male Sedge Warbler,2 Whitethroat and 3 Reed Warbler being seen or heard and 4 singing male Cetti's Warbler were also logged,a good 6 recorded for the day,my most along here.

On the Humber,3 Bar-tailed Godwit fed along with much smaller numbers of Curlew,than a week ago,as birds depart for their breeding grounds and over head a year tick Lesser Redpoll entered the notebook.

The mitigation area held 3 Little Egret again,with 2 Sand Martin and a couple of Swallow being seen and also another pair of Greylag with a brood of 6 goslings were noted.

Final good sighting of the visit,went to 2 Wheatear feeding along the fence posts on the mit site,the male certainly of the 'Greenland' race and the female probably also.

Another couple of brilliant visits,particularly the Badger sighting and finally some positivity regarding migrant numbers,although very few Hirundines are in yet here.

Badger On The Mitigation Area,23rd.

Sunrise Over Winter's On The 24th.

Pink-footed Goose At The Skitter,24th.

Female Wheatear On The Mitigation area,24th.

 

Beautiful Monsal & Wyedale,Sunday 18th April 2021.

Today Tracey and myself visited one of our favourite areas in the stunning Peak District National Park in Derbyshire.

We walked an area,we have walked several times before,parking at White Lodge Car Park on the side of the A6,Buxton Road walking through Monsal Dale to Monsal Head and then along the Monsal Trail to Cressbrook Mill/Water-Cum-Jolly,Litton Mill and up to Miller's Dale Station.

On the return leg,we walked along the Monsal Trail back to Monsal Head and back through Monsal Dale to the car at White Lodge.

The areas covered are not just great for the lovely scenery,but also for the wildlife,with a plethora enjoyed on today's visit.

The wildflowers alone are worth the visit,with Wood Anemone,Greater Celandine,Dog's Mercury and Dog Violets abounding.

Bird wise,the usual Residents were enjoyed today and included Dipper,Grey Wagtail and Mandarin Ducks,with migrant species today including 13 Chiffchaff,7 Blackcap and 10 Willow Warbler.

As the temperature rose,particularly in the afternoon,insects began to appear and we recorded Orange Tip,Brimstone,Peacock,Small Tortoiseshell,Green-veined White and the star of the show which Mrs R found,a Green Hairstreak.The latter is the first i have seen here and was a nice surprise.

Other nice sightings,went to some stunning,wild Rainbow Trout seen at Litton Mill,apparently the only wild population of this species in the country.

I cannot praise this area enough for its beautiful wild flowers,wildlife and scenery and i hope to visit again,later in the season.

The View From Monsal Head Along Monsal Dale.

Cressbrook Dale.

Butterbur,Water-Cum-Jolly.

Water-Cum-Jolly.

Wild Rainbow Trout,Litton Mill.

The River Wye At Litton Mill.

Wood Anemones Along The Monsal Trail.

Cressbrook Tunnel.

Tracey's Star Find,A Lovely Green Hairstreak.

Greater Celandine,Monsal Dale.

Dog's Mercury,Monsal Dale.

Monsal Head Viaduct.

Lovely Violets In Monsal Dale.