A Winter Walk

The snow arrived on Boxing Day.  Luckily we had been out and got home safely.  Friends were not as fortunate but they have dinner table tales of long journeys and abandoned vehicles for the future.

Today we set off across the snowy fields at lunchtime.  Starting from the Murco Petrol Station on the A52 to the East of Bingham we crossed the busy main road and followed a bridle path up the hill towards a small reservoir.  Unfortunately the reservoir is on private land so we couldn't walk round that but we had good views of a hare as he ran away from us and a couple of kestrels watched us from the air.  Blackbirds, wrens and robins flittered about in the hedges .... always ahead of us.  The sky was blue, the sun was shining and we were well wrapped up against the cold.

 

There was a small party of partridges scratching about searching for a cold lunch.  They quickly vanished when they saw us.  It is magic the way they do that! One minute they are there then they sit down and disappear!  The buzzard couldn't perform the same trick ... it sat on a pylon enjoying the sunshine in full view.

We turned left and followed the path across a few more fields before joining the Linear Walk .... the route of the old railway line.  This is a popular Bingham nature trail which is wonderful for butterflies in warmer weather!  The railway closed in the 1960s: the tracks have long gone and volunteers manage the site.

 

 

Large flocks of skylarks took to the air and meadow pipits wandered about the fields as a sparrowhawk swooped low looking for dinner.   We spotted rooks and jackdaws, golden plovers and woodpigeons, fieldfares and redwings and grey herons. I searched for a kingfisher when we reached the River Smite but dipped out on that one.

There was a Goldcrest in the tree next to us so we got great views of it but no photos as it didn't sit still for long enough!  The reed buntings did pose but I just selfishly enjoyed the sight and didn't bother with the camera!

I spent some time quietly waiting to see if an otter would put in an appearance but no such luck ... they are frequenting this river apparently, just not today.

 

We walked for a couple of hours before retracing our path to get home before dusk.