Words & Pictures

Wild Weekend

Yesterday afternoon Liz and I returned home from a long weekend spent exploring the diverse range of landscapes and habitats around Morecambe Bay.

 

We paid a couple of visits to the RSPB reserve at Leighton Moss, where we had great views of marsh harrier, Mediterranean gull and black tern (a new species for me), plus a host of other birds.



Other highlights of the weekend included finding two slow-worms on the path through Eaves Wood and a large patch of herb paris on the edge of Eggerslack Wood.

 

Boing!

Common Toads, originally uploaded by Roger B.

After a couple of false starts, it feels like spring has finally sprung. The buds are bursting, the birds are nesting... and even the toads are feeling amorous.

Interview

I was recently interviewed by Elizabeth Edwards for her blog, 1stAngel & Friends. You can read the results here.

Late Snow

Late Snow, originally uploaded by Roger B.

I looked out of the bedroom window this morning to find our street covered in a blanket of snow. It's the most we've had all winter!

First Swallow

This afternoon I spotted my first swallow of the year over Agden Reservoir. Just to prove that it wasn't a fluke, I later saw three more near Old Wheel Dam in the Loxley Valley.

Blackcap's back

Blackcap, originally uploaded by Roger B..

I'm not sure whether this is the same blackcap that was regular visitor to our garden in early March. When he disappeared about a month ago, I assumed that he must have been a wintering bird.

According to the BTO, blackcaps that spend the winter in the UK "are visitors from central Europe rather than British breeders who have stayed on".

Anyway, it's good to have a blackcap around again - even if he does keep bullying the smaller birds!

Hatching soon...

More info here.

Imagekind

I have added new pictures to my galleries at Imagekind. To view them, click on the buttons below:

Tomb Raiders

This morning I made a rather grisly discovery in a local churchyard.

Badgers have been hard at work, excavating a sett under one of the Victorian headstones.

As you can see from the photograph, they have dug out a vast quantity of sub-soil, which is spread around the surrounding area.

After I took this picture, I realised that the spoil heap is dotted with pieces of bone. I didn't look too closely, but I'm fairly sure the bones are of human origin. Even with my limited knowledge of anatomy, I recognised a scapula and several vertebrae.

It looks as though the badgers have been there for some time. As well as the recent excavations, I noticed an older tunnel that has probably been in use for several years.

Click on the photo for a larger image.

Cressbrook Dale

Forty shades of green, originally uploaded by Roger B..

Yesterday I had a wander through Cressbrook Dale National Nature Reserve, one of my favourite areas in the White Peak.

The wooded section of the dale is carpeted by the emerging foliage of ramsons, bluebell, wood anemone and other wildflowers. It's going to look stunning when they're all in bloom!

No sign of any wheatears around Peter's Stone at the top end of the dale - they seem to be very late arriving this year.