Marbury Country Park, Great Budworth and Pick Mere 22nd January 2025

 

I'm still alive.

First views of Big Mere.

Gulls on ice.

The view across the mere towards Great Budworth.

Visiting the Great Budworth drinking fountain.

Walking through Great Budworth.

St. Mary's and All Saints Church, Great Budworth.

The way ahead to Pick Mere.

A Grey heron perched in a tree next to Pick Mere.

Mute swans on Pick Mere.

Looking down Pick Mere towards the village.

Common coot on Pick Mere.

Great cormorant at Pick Mere.

Our view from our lunch spot overlooking Pick Mere.

Great Budworth from the Trent and Mersey Canal towpath

The three "?" on the footbridge leading into Black Wood and Big Wood.

No comment.

The path through Big Wood.

One of many Grey squirrels seen at the feeding station in Big Wood.

Heading back to the car park.

A Goldeneye on Big Mere, Marbury Country Park.

Mute swans and Mallard on Big Mere.

One of the fine avenue of trees in Marbury Country Park.

Distance: 7.9 miles. Climb: 410’
Time: 4 hours 847 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h.
Temperature: 3.0 Celsius at the start. 7.8 Celsius at lunch and 4.0 Celsius at the end.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 – 1. Mainly Calm, but occasionally we just about felt something (Light air).
Group: Martyn, Mike, Fran and Nigel. It was pretty misty all the way to Marbury Country Park, and it didn’t look like lifting. Views across the mere were somewhat misty. There was still some surface on the mere, evident by a few gulls that were standing on it.
We had an interesting chat with birdwatcher / photographer who showed is pictures of a Hawfinch that he had taken in the park yesterday.
Conditions underfoot were boggy in places, but cleaning our boots when we got home was very easy.
The Sun did put in a brief appearance as we arrived at Pick Mere, making it a very pleasant lunchtime as we sat on the benches overlooking the mere.
The stretch along the towpath of the Trent and Mersey Canal is always rather tedious, although today we seemed to get to the footbridge quicker than usual. We finished the walk by exploring the Black Wood and Big Wood before dropping down to the mere-side path. It was interesting to see the new feeding stations, well stocked, appreciated by birds and Grey squirrels alike.
Birds seen or heard today: House sparrow, Dunnock, Jackdaw, Common blackbird, Common starling, Collared dove, Mallard, Carrion crow. Black headed gull, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon, Blue tit, Coal tit, Common chaffinch Great tit, European robin, Tufted duck, Grey heron, Goldeneye, Great cormorant, Common buzzard, Mute swan, Eurasian curlew, Eurasian jay and Wood nuthatch.
Overall, an enjoyable walk, that proved a little more challenging than we had originally expected.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Morris Dancer in Kelsall, where Mike and Nigel had a beer or and the rest of us had a pot of tea between us. Even better today, Nige got the tea pot topped up with hot water, so I was able to have more than a couple of cups!