Sea view from the Gronant Dunes NR Hide Little tern colony hide.
Swirling flock of Dunlin and Sanderling.Dunlin, Sanderling and Little terns.
Dunlin, Sanderling and Little terns.
There are birds at Big Pool Wood NR!
No, a carpet of Red campion.
Ferns in the wood, north east of Talacre Abbey.
Our lunch spot.
Even more Bluebells in Coed Bell.
Our final view of the Bluebells in Coed Bell.
Gronant ahead - nearly back at the start.
Walk Stats:Distance: 8.6 miles. Climb: 708’
Time: 4 hours 56 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.2 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.
Temperature: 14.5 Celsius at the start. 16.7 Celsius at lunch. 19.7 Celsius mid-afternoon
Beaufort Wind Force: 0-1. Calm to Light air.
Group: Martyn, Sue and Michel, Fran, Nigel, Mike and Ed.
The weather forecast today was pretty good, very little wind, no rain, lots of sunshine and feeling warm.
However, on arriving at the start on Shore Road, Lower Gronant, Coed Bell was decked in mist. Thankfully we had already planned to visit the Little Tern Colony at Gronant Dunes NR and visit the Bluebell wood in the afternoon. Hopefully by the time we ot there, the Sun would have “burnt off” the offending mist.
There was plenty of activity at the Little tern colony (now manned by a volunteer at the first hide), with lots of terns flying around (>100 we were informed) and looking for nesting sites on the shingle bed. However, we were more impressed by the large flocks of Dunlins and Sanderling as they swirled around in the sky just above the tide line, reminding us of the immurations associated with starlings coming into roost.
Walking along Presthaven Sands, the tide was lapping close to the usual high tide line, and the sea mist was such that we couldn’t even see the wind turbines just off shore.
We visited Big Pool Wood NR, but once more the bird life wasn’t showing, but we did see some good displays of Blebells and Red campion.
Lunch was taken on the access track leading to the Home Farm and the grounds of Talacre Abbey. An old wall provided suitable resting spots while we enjoyed our lunch out of the glare of the Sun.
After lunch, as we descended the track from Acre Wood towards Coed Bell, we had our first impressive displays of Bluebells on the East facing slopes. However, the best was yet to come.
On entering Coed Bell, the display of Bluebells was stunning. The early morning mist had gone, the Sun was shining, enhancing the appearance of the Bluebells, some in the shade and some in the Sunshine. The scent from the Bluebells helped our appreciation of this spectacular Bluebell display.
Birds seen or heard today: Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Black billed magpie, European robin, Common blackbird, Blue tit, Common chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Willow warbler, Winter wren, Great tit, European robin, Chiffchaff, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Blackcap, Rook, Skylark, Meadow pipit, Dunlin, Little tern, Little egret, Grasshopper warbler, Reed warbler, Sedge warbler, Stonechat, Great cormorant, Mallard, Dunnock, Common starling, Greylag goose, Lesser black back gull, Herring gull, Moorhen, House sparrow, Barn swallow, Cetti warbler and Reed bunting.. In addition, our Merlin app identified a Common redstart, Yellow wagtail and Siskin, but I would have liked to seen them to confirm they were valid!
We arrived back at the cars, having had a superb varied walk and still “wowed” by th diplay of Bluebells that were blessed to have seen.
All that was needed now was to head to head for a local hostelry for a celebration drink. My choice was the suitably named Blue Bell Inn at Halkyn, but the prejudices of the rest of the group meant we ended up at the Britannia Inn at Halkyn, again serving an excellent pint of Lees bitter now that Sarah has once again taken on the pub.
2 comments:
Dear Martyn, have some sad news John Thomson passed away on Friday. Graeme Anderson
Thanks Graeme. Martyn
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