A Session of the Bike (With Birdwatching of course!)

As it was really good day weather wise and very little wind, I decided to get the bike out for the first time since last November.  I was looking forward to expanding my horizons somewhat.  I only did a 13 mile 'round the block', but it did get me out as far as Barton Street on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds.  I took it very gently as I had my ears and eyes open for birds and wildlife.  Very noticeably it is oils seed rape time which had passed me by so far this year, but the bright splashes of yellow and the heady, perhaps cloying, perfume of the crop were a joy to the senses.  It was good to get out onto the Wold edge and revel in the expansive views over the coastal marsh and the estuary.  Waltham Mill was visible as a dominating presence from most parts of the ride.  Although most of the ride was familiar territory, I returned to Brigsley by a lane that I had never used before.  It was very attractive and crossed Waithe Beck which could easily be a substitute for Tennyson's 'Babbling Brook'.

Robin                                               Peacock
Great Tit                                           Small Tortoiseshell
Blue Tit,                                            Brimstone
Long Tailed Tit,                                 
Coal Tit,                                           Dandelion
Blackbird                                         Daisy
Song Thrush                                   Speedwell
Crow                                                Primrose
Rook                                               Blackthorn
Jackdaw
Magpie
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
House Sparrow
Dunnock
Skylark
Chiffchaff

The Turn to Brigsley after descending from Barton Street though the outskirts of Ashby-cum-Fenby.

Waithe Beck

Was this a last day of sun?

Yesterday may have been the last day of the sun for a while so I grabbed my chance for a walk.  It was a greyer, more overcast day as I set out not much after 9.00 am, but as I sneaked through the gap in the fence and made my way across the fields towards the Horsefield the sun came out and it felt quite warm when sheltered from the wind.  The cultivated fields have been disc harrowed and are very dry; as I walked across the land was being sown and a cloud of dust followed the tractor. Yellow xanthoria lichen clothing the hawthorns glowed bright orange-yellow in the sun.  I noted several domed magpie nests, one with half a sheep's fleece hanging out which the birds were obviously using to line the nest.  I can't think where the nearest sheep are so they must have been flying a long way to find it.  Blackthorn blossom (next year's sloe gin) was a froth of white in the hedgerows, yellowhammers and chaffinches were singing lustily and a buzzard and sparrowhawk soared over the field.  The song of a skylark cascaded down as it hovered as if suspended on an invisible thread. At one point the buzzard was harried by a crow.  

Yellowhammer
Great Tit
Chaffinch
Magpie
Woodpigeon
Crow
Dunnock
Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
Skylark
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Yellowhammer

Chaffinch

Skylark

Buzzard