There are only a few days before schools break up for their summer holidays. Six weeks of bliss I remember. Trainspotting was my main hobby then and over the years I visited various places to try to see as many different engines as possible, My fathers parents lived in Swindon, so and I would spend time on the station adding trains like the "Red Dragon" and the "Bristol Pullman", and the weekly trip around the Great Western works.
The Flying Scotsman has been in area recently and I managed to see it as it arrived on Saturday evening, prior to pulling "The Dalesman" on Sunday.
Sunday I was at Blacktoft Sands. Sunny weather in the morning, cloud and rain in the afternoon.
The barn owl was out hunting first thing
later in the day it was looking out from its box
Just as the steam train trips are starting for peoples summer holidays, the natural world is also changing. Birds that have been on their breeding grounds further north are starting to return. A couple of weeks ago I saw some spotted redshanks, on Sunday it was green sandpipers
black tailed godwits have returned from Iceland
ruff, and greenshank are more common and the number and species of duck are increasing.
Dragonflies were on the wing in the morning sunshine
in the reedbed young warbler are learning how to catch insects and take a bath in the shallow water.
the number of little egrets is steadily increasing
marsh harriers are showing their young how to catch food and tufted ducks are looking after their brood of ducklings. Blackcaps and chiffchaffs are still singing as are the cetti' s warblers.
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