Wednesday 7 January 2015

Mudsquelching Goosander Hunt

Again I wanted to explore unknown territory today. So rather than head down the Owl Road, it was across the field alongside Hawton Lane, and thence to a path leading down the middle of it parallel to the track.

Rubbish explorer me. The track was a dead end, leading only to the Flowserve fishing pond where I noted that selfishly, access to the cycle path had been blocked off. Heaven forbid any nature lovers intrude on their precious fishing pond.

As always seems to be the case, the lake was sterile, devoid of waterfowl and the cover on the banks ruthlessly chopped back. No goosander, like there were on Balderton Lake for the first time this season.

Such glossy, handsome ducks, goosander!

Backtrack. Back on the cycle path, and through a gateway I've never traversed before. Was this the route to some new, utterly delightful haven of beauty and tranquillity?

No. It led to a cattery.

Cut across the field at the back of Grange Road, past flytipped sofas and through deep, squelching, clagging clinging mud that trebled the weight of my running shoes and made me look like I'd been carrying out veterinary examinations of farm animals with my legs.

No kingfisher or egret along the Hawton Brook, but the old wood at the Sconce was busy with blackbird, dunnock and blue and great tits.

So much easier than Parkrun, going downhill through the wood!

Busy cemetery squirrel

Track to nowhere

Barren fishing lake

Don't fall into these

Cattery track

Grange Road fields

Hawton Brook

Poor reception area

Sconce old wood

The mudman cometh
posted from Bloggeroid

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