The avenue of trees in Marbury Country Park.
Looking across Budworth Mere towards Great Budworth.
Tufted ducks on Budworth Mere.
Mute swans - still not mature.
On the path near the Mere.
St. Mary and All Saints Church, Great Budworth.
A pair of Mute swans, probably the parents of the immature swans seen earlier.
A European robin and Great tit at the feeding station in Marbury Country Park.
One of the European robins at the feeding station.
The footbridge giving access to the Trent and Mersey Canal towpath.
On the Trent and Mersey Canal towpath.
St Mary and All Saints Church seen from the Trent and Mersey Canal towpath.
Lapwings in flight.
Bill and Ben tribute?
A Rook in Wincham.
The entrance to Pick Mere pic-nic area.
The view of Pick Mere from our lunch spot.
A Mute swan on Pick Mere.
Looking north west towards St. Mary and All Saints Church, Great Budworth.
The waxing Moon from Hield Brow.
Escaping from Hield Lane onto the path leading to Great Budworth.
St. Mary and All Saints Church, Great Budworth.
The last of the boggy paths!
Canada geese on the edge of the Mere.
Lapwing at the wader roost next to Budworth Mere.
More Lapings and a few Eurasian curlews at the wader roost.
A pair of Goosander on Budworth Mere.
Distance: 7.8 miles.
Goosanders on Budworth Mere.
Climb: 351’.
Time: 4 hour 22 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.
Temperature: 6.8 – 10.6 Celsius.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0-1, at most Light air occasionally felt.
Group: Martyn, Nigel and Mike.
We usually do this walk in a clockwise direction, but today we decided to go the other way round, but still hoping to arrive at Pick Mere pic-nic area around mid-day.
The first part of the walk was along the Budworth Mere path through Big Wood and onto the Trent and Mersey Towpath. We called in at hide overlooking a well-stocked feeding station. Today lots of Blue tits, Great tits and European robins were taking advantage of the food on offer. Grey squirrels weren’t missing out either!
Walking along the towpath is never that exciting, but we were amused at a narrow boat owner’s tribute to Bill and Ben!
We did however get the impressive flyover of a large flock of Lapwings, made to look good as the bright sunshine reflected on their white underwings, giving a real appearance of flickering.
We arrived at Pick Mere just before mid-day, but decided to opt for a marginally early lunch stop.
The bright sunshine and blue skies, made the mere look blue, and it was warm enough to sit at the pic-nic table without our fleeces or Paramo jacket.
As expected, we did come across some boggy patches as we crossed the fields near Pick Mere and later on the north west side of Budworth Mere.
Birds seen or heard today included: Blue tit, Great tit, European robin, House sparrow, Rook, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Mallard, Goosander, Tufted duck, Song thrush, Mute swan, Moorhen, Common coot, Canada goose, Eurasian curlew, Lapwing, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Common starling and Common buzzard. We missed spotting the Kingfisher seen by a birdwatcher when stopped at the screen overlooking the Mere.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable walk, completed bright sunshine, no wind or rain and blue skies overhead.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at Rake Hall, Stoak, where Brimstage Brewery’s Trappers Hat went down well, warranting a second pint. I didn’t have a second pot of tea!
Home in time to enable me to clean my very muddy boots outside in the daylight.
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