Monday 4 May

Lovely morning for our walk

 Shepherd's Purse - Capsella bursa-pastoris

 Wood Sorrel - Oxalis acetosella

 Yellow Water Lily - Nuphar lutea

Young Bullocks

Take Care

Thursday 9 April

Sunny day and once again lots to see

 Common Dog Violet - Viola riviniana

Toads are now appearing in the lodges this was the Small Lodge, unfortunately there always seems more males than female and she ends up with too many suitors

Take Care

Saturday 17 January

Below freezing

Sunny Brow

 

Big Lodge

 

Nuthatch

 

Heron on the Small Lodge

 

Take Care

Sunday 4 January

Below freezing this morning

 We were soon spotted by the regulars and some extra visitors

 They are soon feeding

Just a few photos as we walked the path

 

Harry Heron was still fishing in the river

 

We have been looking for the Shoveler for days, others have seen her, she was on the Small Lodge this morning being picked on by the Mallards, she is so fast that she avoids most of them.

Take Care

Saturday 27 December

Frosty morning and slippy on the paths

The Sun trying to warm us up

Two Coots first to arrive for Breakfast

More photos of the Big Lodge & Small Lodge Area

Small Lodge Area

Take Care

Monday 8 December

Set off in the rain and it cleared up as we walked

Beyond this old fence once stood a small row of cottages, this is the back of the Top Lodge the remnants of them still linger along with a almost filled in channel

You can see some of the old stones on the track and in the middle is the channel, long time since this has seen a good bit of water, there was a time it was a hive of activity.

Farther on near the small ponds is another brick lined channel that leads into the brick lined ponds

Now filled with soil it is walked over and seldom noticed - one day it may be dug out and revealed again

We think this is the remains of some sort of boiler that heated the water prior to being sluiced into the ponds during the bleaching process

This is the twin brick lined pond that is just a bog, you can just see the corner of the clean pond to the left of the photo - if they ever do dig these ponds out for display this one may be perfect as it has never been touched.

The River Yarrow as it leaves the side of the Big Lodge and continues on the route to the sea 

Birkacre Rucks with all the Silver Birch

Take Care

Thursday 27 November

The heron was sat by the Big Lodge

I think he was trying to hide, he flew off heading for his spot on the River

This tiny pond, it's the only name I can call it is near the small lodge, it has a twin just to the right of it, that one is just a bog yet in the past they were both used in the bleaching process, they are linked to the small lodge by a sluice gate, this pond has been cleaned out a few times over the years since it's retirement from bleaching, it is beautifully lined with brick almost a work of art. I think it would have been good to see the workmanship on permanent display.

From a distance it looked like a swan but it was a balloon quite large.

Take Care

Sunday 23 November

A new swan landed and was given the usual welcome

The Swans are not happy with the newcomer - they never are

Deserted Tern Rafts, not often we see them like this, we wonder if the Hawks & Buzzards are about

A few views of the lodge

The intruder trying to get a little food before the next chase

The Shoveler Duck is still on the Small Lodge

Take Care

Friday 21 November

The two fungi photos on the same log, which is Sycamore, I am useless on fungi and not had them ID.

 A new one for me, I would have thought this a Mallard but it is a female Shoveler Duck, slightly smaller than the mallard.

It was very busy and never stopped - it was sifting the water all the time

Take Care

Tuesday 2 September

A glorious morning

The Small Lodge behind the rangers station and cafe

Take Care