Sparrowhawk on patrol

 First thing this morning it was very misty, but when the sun started to shine it soon cleared.

Spent a pleasant 90 minutes this afternoon sat in the garden, enjoying the sunshine.

Not a lot of birdlife. The house sparrows were absent and as I mentioned before the blackbirds have gone elsewhere. Woodpigeons, came to get some food, but did not stay long. I was facing NNE  so as not to be looking into the sun. A herring gull was circling overhead, and a small number of black -headed gulls were heading west. I spotted a sparrowhawk circling quite high up.

There are school playing fields a short distance away, on the other side of the railway line, so I guess it was looking for food in that area.

Another week in lockdown

 A mixed week. My wife and I have been invited to join the ONS Covid 19 infection survey and we had our first swab last week. We got our results by post today.

Our tests were negative. We did our second one yesterday and hope that the result will be the same.

Not much bird news. The  3 male blackbirds seem to have sorted out whose territory our garden is, nobodys! All we get now is the odd fly through.

A pair of collared doves visit the garden on a regular basis. In the good old days, Chris and I would often try not to see collared doves on our days out!

Weather on Monday was not brilliant, but at least I had the park to myself when I walked the dog.

Yesterday I had to drop of a request for a repeat prescription at the doctors, so I came home via the racecourse and went for a walk.

sunny day but a strong wind.

Having crossed the racecourse I entered the wood. No sign of bird life at all. The wood, along with other open/green spaces has taken the brunt of people out for their daily exercise.

This morning there was still a touch of frost on the grass on Hob Moor.

more blue sky this afternoon

A full moon this evening and a chance to look at my estate. For my birthday in January I was given

1 acre of land on the Moon!

I think that the red dot marks the spot.

 

One more week of full lockdown, and then I can sit on bench and have a picnic!

Minster Peregrines

 Had to go to into York today so took the opportunity to visit the Minster, to see if the peregrines were present.

Both birds were present. I took my point and shoot camera with me, looking forward to getting my 600m lens back tomorrow. There is a one way system in place at the moment on the city walls so I had a distance to walk.

.

Valentines Day Exercise

 I took my wife out for a Valentines Day trip!. To the local vaccine centre for her first jab.

I then went out for my daily exercise. I decided to have a walk around Clifton Ings. I cannot remember when I last walked in this area, so I thought it would be nice to mark this current blogs first anniversary, with a visit to a new place.

It was a cold morning, with a strong breeze and grey cloudy sky. I parked near the RSPCA home and walked over the River Ouse to the footpath.

On this stretch of the river I could see 26 canada geese, near the red life belt post.

This is part of the flood defence system.

This is the view from the top of it.

I turned left and walked along the top of the flood bank with the river on my left.

Still a bit of snow about and the water was mostly frozen. A few carrion crows and black headed gulls searching for food.

a bit of fencing left here by the recent floods. In the background you can see a green houseboat, which has been moored there a while.

the paths turns right here so this is the view from the corner,

the water treatment works.

Cormorants were perched in the trees. As one flew, I could see its white breeding patch.

There were lots of people walking on the frozen water. Some had taken their dogs with them, and others riding bikes. There was a small patch of open water, where most of the birds were. 6 mute swans, including two youngsters, and more canada geese. Lots of black headed gulls and several herring gulls.

This is the end of the water and feeding along the edge I saw my first pied wagtails of the year.

This is where I walked across the field to join the path on the other side of the water, In the distance I could see the road bridge over river, but I did not want to walk that far.

More frozen water on my left as I crossed the field. On the footpath I saw this sign.

I turned right and walked along the footpath towards my starting point.

More frozen water on my left. The recent flooding must have been quite extensive.

a small parcel of woodland with a sign

A nice walled area near the church.

I was walking along the top path as the bottom path was under water in parts.

another view of the church

this path leads to Shipton Road

this is part of the rugby club. They had planned a music festival for last summer but it was cancelled due to covid.

I then had to walk through this flooded part of the path. I was glad that I had put my wellingtons on, otherwise it was a long walk back!

I was now back in the main part of the ings. A lot of gulls in the area.

the end of Homestead Park.

Back at the beginning, a pleasant 3.45 mile walk, plus a tick!