A Grey heron goes stalking.
A Fieldfare next to the Wales Coast Path.
One of the Long tailed tits spotted today.
A close up of another or maybe the same Long tailed tit.
An delightful splash of yellow miniature Daffodils on Castle Drive,Chester.
Chester Weir and The Groves.
A male Goosander near Chester Weir.
A female Goosander near Chester weir.
A pair of Teal on the River Dee.
Distant views of a Little egret on the bank of the River Dee, north west of Saltney ferry Footbridge.
Time: 5 hours 47 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.8 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 2.3 m.p.h.
Wind speed: 0 - 5.2 m.p.h. Temperature: 3.9 - 10.0 Celsius.
Group: Martyn and Roger (for the first 8 miles).
Group: Martyn and Roger (for the first 8 miles).
A dry cool day with sunny periods was the forecast for the day. Had i realised it would have felt so warm when the Sun shone after lunch, I would have made this anothe March shorts day. Instead I wore my Winter Paramo gear and lost 1.2 kg on the walk.
It is always pleasant to walk on the riverside, especially if you forget about all of the cyclists that didn't use a bell on approaching from behind and the bird seemed somewhat lacking until you actually make a count.
Birds seen or heard today included: Collared dove, Moorhen Mallard, Dunnock, European robin, Greenfinch, Blue tit, Common blackbird, Great it, Long tailed tit, Raven, Common chaffinch, Grey heron, Great cormorant, Woodpigeon Black billed magpie, Redwing, Fieldfare, Black headed gull, Herring gull, Lesser black back gull, Common gull, Goosander, Common buzzard, Carrion crow, Teal, Jackdaw, House sparrow, Feral pigeon, Winter wren, Little egret and Common redshank.
We also saw a couple of Small tortoiseshell butterflies , another sign that Summer is on its way.
Perhaps the best sighting today was watching a few never still Long tailed tits in a tree before lunch or maybe the four mewing Common buzzards seen after lunch.
Our planned lunch stop at Edgar's Field had to be aborted when all the benches were occupied. We headed off towards the Old Overleigh Cemetry, but ended up using a bench overlooking The Dingle next to the Overleigh Roundabout. Not a perfect spot, but at least we were in the warm sunshine.
After parting company with Roger at River Lane, I decided that I would extend my walk to see if the Bewick's swans were in there usual field, having seen on the Dee Estuary Birding Site that four Bewick's swans had been seen at Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB. No Bewick's swans seen today, so they must have liked what they saw at Burton Mere.
Overall a very enjoyable walk, lasting nearly six hours in all.
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