A walk in the sun

As I spent most of last week catching up on jobs in the house and only managed a few short walks locally I thought I'd stretch the old (physically and metaphorically) legs this morning and get out and about. The walk from home to the Pike, along the ridge and across to the trig point, over to Whiteholme, then Light Hazzles, Gaddings, Langfield Edge and back home was a joy.

There weren't any special birds around but there were dozens of Mipits and Skylarks filling the skies on the way round. One Mipit had its beak stuffed with goodies and I hope there's more than one chick waiting in the nest to receive such a load.

Several Common Sandpipers were enjoying the very low water levels at the reservoirs and dam, along with a Redshank, 2 Little Ringed Plovers and 2 Dunlin. One of the Dunlin approached close enough for a decent portrait.
















I thought the sun and the warmth would coax at least one common lizard into view for me, but no such luck. Never mind though, there's always tomorrow.

A singing male Stonechat accompanied by a juvenile below Langfield Edge was a pleasing sight as they are very few and far between this year following the tough winter. A single Reed Bunting was singing further down towards Lee Dam. I heard a short burst of song from a Curlew early on in the walk but never saw or heard one from then onwards. They have probably done the with the business of breeding and are now moving off to pastures new.