Velobiking With The Historian and The Ladies

 It was a beautiful morning as Heather and I loaded the bikes onto the car and drove over the Wolds to Cadney. I had never been to Cadney and enjoyed the ride. Brian and Heather had just arrived and we soon had the bikes off the car and were riding along the delightful back roads the short distance into Brigg. Here we had the obligatory coffee stop to top up The Historian's caffeine levels; the scones were excellent. From the Angel we cycled through the town to the banks of the River Ancholme. The route finding was easy from here: follow the river as far as Saxby Bridge and then return. As we left Brigg and the noisy M180 behind it became more and more isolated and peaceful. Things were fairly quiet on the bird front but we managed over 20 species, the highlights being buzzard, sparrowhawk, marsh harrier and Kestrel. There were large numbers of dragonflies on the wing, the most common being migrant hawkers, many in tandem as they mated on the wing. Brown hawkers were also numerous and there were a few common darters. There were still a few plants in flower and we recorded 17.

 Once back in Brigg, it was time for an excellent lunch sitting outside the Pantry in the sun. All that was left to complete an excellent day was a potter through the lanes back to Cadney where we had time to explore the attractive church. I was taken by the 13th Century green man in the sanctuary.

Busy at Bonby

 It was a bright and sunny morning as I drove down Carr Lane at Bonby full of anticipation as I knew that there were quite a few wheatears and yellow wagtails around.  It was a cold morning, though, at only 4C and there had been an early frost.  As always I revelled in the silence and remoteness of the place, it is really special.  I was fascinated to notice this morning that the Carrs really do stand out from the top road.  More or less the first bird I saw to photograph was a stunning male yellow wagtail, closely followed by a wheatear.  I saw quite a few wheathears but all were females.  Down by the river I found a very confiding sedge warbler which allowed me within feet of it but it still skulked in the undergrowth.  A whitethroat was very vocal down here too.  I enjoyed watching a trio of brown hares courting and then mating.  I'm not sure if it was two males and a female or the other way round.  Sadly they were too distant for photography.

• Yellowhammer 
• Meadow pipit
• Shelduck
• Crow
• Pheasant
• Yellow Wagtail
• Wheatear
• Reed Bunting
• Swan
• Mallard
• Swallow
• Buzzard
• Whitethroat
• Sedge Warbler
• Goldfinch
• Linnet
• Sparrowhawk
• Lapwing
• Skylark
• Swift
• Kestrel

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Goldfinch

Linnet with nesting material

Male Linnet

Meadow Pipit

Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

Sedge Warbler

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Yellowhammer

Yellowhammer

A Walk Along the Ancholme

As Lockdown restrictions are being eased slightly we made the decision to meet Thomas at Doncaster services.  He had been to Doncaster to buy a new car and we met up afterwards at the services, taking our own flasks, sandwiches and chairs and keeping the recommended 2m distance from each other.  Rather than just drive to the services and back, however we decided to have a walk along the Ancholme on the way.  I hoped for butterflies and we wanted to have a look at the new bike trail along the river.

The original plan was to park at Horkstow Bridge, walk down the river to Saxby Bridge and back on the other side.  However, when we arrived at Horkstow, there was a large group of 20 somethings in 3 or 4 cars swimming and BBQing and playing music very loudly.  This is not the first case I have heard of people crowding to normally quiet spots.  Recently so many people besieged Limber for the Brockelsby Estate walk and the parking mayhem and damage caused in the woods has resulted in its closure.  This behaviour is inexcusable.  I also heard yesterday that a similar situation was Hubbard's Hills in Louth.  Deciding not to stay we drove back to Saxby All Saints and the bridge there and walked towards Bonby Carr Lane.  The butterflies I had hoped for didn't materialise, although I did find some beautiful dog roses - one of my favourite flowers.  I wonder if the dry weather is the cause of the lack of butterflies.  We have had no significant rain for over three months.  From floods we moved straight into pandemic lockdown and drought.  When will this world learn that we cannot keep desecrating the planet.

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Looking towards South Ferribly Sluice

Saxby Bridge

A Short Walk along The Ancholme at Brigg

On 30th March, struggling with my bad back, I walked a short distance along the River Ancholme at Brigg. Again blackthorn was well in flower, with its beautifully intricate white flowers with orange/red stamens, and butterbur was well out on the bank side. I like the fact that one of the reasons this plant was given its name was for its very large leaves that continue to grow after the flowers have died and in days gone by used to be used to wrap butter to keep it cool.  I delighted in the close observation of the micro-landscape of a silver birch trunk and even enjoyed the challenge of trying to sketch it.