RSPB Local Group Mid Week Walk.
The forecast wasn’t kind and officially the mid-week walk was cancelled although as so often in the outdoors, fortune favours the brave.
With wellies on and binoculars in hand, I headed to the original meeting point at Somersall Park anyway the sky heavy with grey although still full of life and the sun even came out for a spell. We began in the woodland by the car park, the air alive with birdsong despite the threat of rain.
Almost immediately the familiar characters made their presence known, magpies, robins, blackbirds, blue tits and needless to say wood pigeons.
Phone in hand the Merlin Bird ID hinted at long-tailed tits nearby and sure enough, a delicate flock soon appeared above, bouncing through the trees like tiny feathered acrobats.
We caught flashes of movement in a holly bush; quick, darting, crowned with yellow. A goldcrest! Britain’s smallest bird, restless and dazzling even on a dull day. Another sighting later confirmed it wasn’t just wishful thinking. We also discovered (yet again) how tricky it is to tell coal tits from great tits when they’re high up against a grey sky; a reminder that birding is always part learning curve although this day we were lucky enough to see both.
We peered down into the River Hipper, swollen from day after day of rain. The usual wagtails and dippers were nowhere to be seen. Hopefully sheltering somewhere safer upstream. The rushing water had a drama all its own.
One of the highlights of the walk came when a song thrush perched right in front of us, pouring out its repeated phrases like a rehearsal for spring. Another joined in further along the path. We also spotted dunlin briefly passing through, along with house sparrows flitting around the edges of the park.
Just as we moved past the canal overflow at the edge of the woods, a kestrel shot through the trees and landed on a nearby branch. Close enough to admire its sharp eyes and beautifully patterned feathers before it took off again. Somewhere in the distance a woodpecker drummed, heard but not seen, one more reminder of how alive the park was, even on a gloomy day.
Down by the dam the birdlife was calmer; sleepy mallards resting on the water, Canada geese checking us out with the hope of food. While moorhens and coots cruised across the water. Then came a moment of real excitement, a female goosander gliding across the water before lifting effortlessly into flight. Shortly after, two striking males appeared with a female, their sleek shapes cutting across the water.
Earlier on the walk Merlin had heard Siskin’s and we had not spotted them, again the app heard them and this time we had a clear view of them in the tree by the waters edge at Walton Dam adding another tick to the mornings growing list.
As the first proper drops of rain finally arrived, our timing couldn’t have been better. We headed off towards St Thomas & St Mark Church Café in Brampton for warmth, lunch and plenty of chatter about everything we’d seen.
Cancelled walk. Grey skies. Mud everywhere. And yet, one of the most rewarding mornings of wildlife we’ve had in weeks. Sometimes all it takes is pulling on the wellies and stepping outside. The birds don’t cancel their plans just because the forecast looks bleak and neither should we.
With snowdrops spotted and song thrush singing my parting thoughts are is this the very first hints that spring is round the corner.
