An Early Morning Walk to Beat The Heat.
Blue skies over the Saltney Ferry Footbridge.
The "Butterfly bush" coming into flower.
The only other mover on the Saltney Quay footpath.
A Red admiral warms up before take off.
The view towards Chester from the Curzon Park side of the railway footbridge over the River Dee.
The first Grey heron near Crane W.harf.
The second Grey heron perched in a tree.
The third Grey heron - no just a Carrion crow.
There was another Grey heron, but that was nearby next to the river.
Three or four stones maybe, this many!
Did a bird leave these behind? if so, what bird?
Nearly home, the Saltney Ferry Footbridge in my sights.
The lone fisherman patiently waiting for a bite.
One of three large Rabbits still grazing on a field near Higher Ferry.
Loking towards Saltney from the Saltney Ferry Footbridge.
The parking area on Flunt Road, Saltney Ferry, south of the footbridge now appears to be open again - no bollards in sight.
Distance: 7.0 miles. Climb: 101'.
Time: 3 hours 28 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 2.0 m.p.h.
I set off just after 06-00 when the temperature was a very pleasant 15 Celsaius and with no wind, it was just perfect for walking.
However I made the mistake of doing the walk in an anti-clockwise direction, forgetting that the path north east from Saltney Quay was a grassy track. OK really, but not after a heavy dew and yo are wearing sandals. Wet feet was the order of day with my socks remaining wet to the end of the walk, and that was even with a stop to take off my socks and ring as much water as I could out of them. I can now see the need of adding a spare pair of socks to my rucksack on each walk.
I didn't see anyone on my outward journey, until I arrived at Chester Golf Course where even at 07-20 a few golfers were already out.
However on the Dee Coastal Path side of the river, therfe was a lot more activity, lots of people out on bikes, a good number of joggers, the odd walker and one or two dog walkers.
Surprisingly, I saw five Grey herons on te walk today, but I can't say that they were five different Grey herons as birds to have a habit of moving from one place to another. Unusualy I saw more female Blackbirds than male Blackbirds, many of them with beakes full of grubs, so obviously feeding young.
Birds seen or heard today included: Woodpigeon, Collared dove, Mallard, Moorhen, Pied wagtail, Barn swallow, House martin, Greenfinch, Oystercatcher, Carrion crow, Goldfinch, European robin, Blackcap, Wren, Comon pheasant, Winter wren, Common whitethroat, Grey heron, Lesser black back gull, Herring gull, Black headed gull, Common swift, Black billed magpie, Chiffchaff and Little egret.
A few Rabbits were out in the field near Higher Ferry and a Red admiral decided to sunbathe on the path only six inches away from my foot.
The other first for the day was seeing a lone fisherman near Saltney Ferry Footbridge, not the best fisging around, but being below the weir you don't need to have a license.
Home before ten just as the temperature was rising towards the mid twenties. O what joy to have dry feet and sit down with a cup of tea!
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