A Riverside Walk With a Bonus.
The rising tide, looking east from the Higher Ferry /Saltney Ferry Footbridge.
The rising tide looking west from the Saltney Ferry Footbridge.
It's a long time since I have used this path to Sealand Road.
The Beluga XL approaches Hawarden Airport.
At times even grasses look good.
The final stretch to Queensferry, but it's not for me today.
I wonder is there a message in that bottle!
The hills of Cheshire above Higher Ferry / Saltney Ferry Footbridge.
Distance: 7.2 miles. Climb: 80'.
Time: 4 hours 3 minutes. On the move waking average: 2.4 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.
We may be having to walk on our own, but so far we had some superb days weratherwise for walking. Today was no exception. However as a precaution, I decided to take my sunhat that had ties, so that I would be no danger of it taking flight in any gust of wind.
I arrived at the Riverside, River Lane, to be informed that I had just missed the bore going through. Had I seen it, that would have been an unexpected bonus. The tide was rising rapidly, but eventually stop short of spilling over the normal banks.
Arriving at Saltney Ferry Footbridge I decided to cross the bridge and head down the Wales Coast Path towards Queensferry in the hope of seeing some Skylarks and Lawings. I didn't see or hear a single Skylark, but did see several Lapwings, some displaying - always a bonus to see.
However the the best sound of the day was hearing a Cuckoo - my first Cuckoo of the year. Usually we hear Cuckoos calling on our walks in the Eglwyseg Valley, so to hear one day really did make my day. It would have been even better had I seen the bird, but I am happy to have just heard it.
My overall walk average was even lower than usual as I bumped (not literally) into a couple I knew (Rita and John) who were cycling along the Wales Path. We spent a little while chatting to each other with the appropriate social distance between us. Hence this extra time standing still brought down the overall walk average.
Once again there was lots of cyclists on the Wales Coast Path and of about 20 that I saw cross the Saltney Ferry FOOTBRIDGE, only three walked across with their bikes!
It would appear that the Flint Road between Saltney Ferry and Sandycroft was again a testing ground for at least one speeding motorcyclist - sound pollution as well as increasing the carbon dioxide output.
Birds seen or heard today included: House sparrow, Lesser black back gull, Herring gull, Black headed gull, Greenfinch, Chiffchaff, Winter wren, Dunnock, Common blackbird, Common chaffinch, Carrion crow, Woodpigeon, Oystercatcher, Canada goose, Goldfinch, Common whitethroat, Barn swallow, House martin, Grey heron, Black billed magpie, Lapwing, Common buzzard and CUCKOO.
Overall still a good walk, but if it carries on for much longer, going uphill might be a struggle, but one I am looking forward to experiencing.
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