Tuesday 8 May 2012

Bicycle Nature

So today, I've been off the running and cycling exclusively...

...so far. The day is not yet done...

But anyway, I headed off through Balderton and over the A1 to Hollowdyke Lane. No butterflies to be seen along here though, in past years there have been many many orange tips along here, today, as I cycled past fields of rape in bloom, nothing.

The building work at Fernwood has hacked some of the curious derelict charm of the old mental hospital site, and although the iconic tower remains, it is swamped amongst characterless boxes, and ugly piles of soil splotch the landscape. And the iconic Lightning is gone, making all that scrapyard area devoid of any redeeming feature.

Barnby Lane, swallows! A beautiful  specimen sat obligingly on a telegraph wire for me to sit and have a chat to; on behalf of the town I welcomed him to the area. In a fallow field nearby, a lapwing seemed to be doing a "Wounded Flight"  - taking off and sort of plummeting erratically. Nesting bird startled by a falcon? Or even my bike?

Still no swifts or martins in town, and aside from a couple of fluttering small whites spiralling around each other, no butterflies.

The river and castle looked stunning on my evening ride, but not sand martins or swifts to be seen.

Now about that run...shall I go?

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