Yearly Archives: 2017

Looking back at 2017

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Well, that’s another year coming to a close and one I’ve tried to fill as much as possible with nature, conservation, trips away and exercise. This is my constant aim and looking back I think I’ve achieved that; it’s been pretty full on, particularly from late winter through to the middle of summer.

The highlight has got to be the trip to Botswana; probably one of the most memorable experiences of my life which had so many moments to cherish. Added to this must be my two stays on Ramsey Island and the two trips Sweden. However, there were also a whole host of other things that make 2017 one of my best years yet.

Here’s my year in numbers:

  • 1 new continent – Africa
  • 1 10 mile run
  • 1 bird survey course
  • 2 stays on Ramsey Island
  • 3 trips abroad – Botswana, Sweden x2
  • 3 peregrine protection shifts
  • 4 beer festivals
  • 4 weekends away – Norfolk x2, Rutland, Northumberland
  • 5 10km runs
  • 5 countries – Scotland, Wales, Sweden, South Africa, Botswana
  • 6 osprey protection shifts
  • 8 bird surveys
  • 9 counties stayed overnight in
  • 35 days volunteering – Crewe and Nantwich Conservation Volunteers and RSPB
  • 35 species of mammal seen including 22 new ones
  • 57 walks
  • 61 nights away
  • 68 blog posts
  • 70 runs
  • 150 cycles
  • 206 miles run
  • 300 birds seen including 144 new ones
  • 314 sessions of exercise
  • 2,659 miles cycled
  • plus some whisky and quite a lot of cheese!

Here’s some photo highlights:

 

However, while much of 2017 has brought so many positive and happy memories, there were also some less happy times, particularly two bereavements which will always mark out the year – hopefully 2018 will be without such things.

A fine way to spend Christmas Day

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I was in Sweden over Christmas this year and spent part of the big day out in Färnebofjäden National Park. With Christmas celebrated on the 24th in Sweden, like much of the rest of Europe, this freed up Christmas Day for something else. When I’m in Sweden, there’s little I like more than to grill sausages on an open fire out in wilderness. So my brother, nephew and I headed out into the cold and wintry outdoors for a bit of alfresco cooking.

Färnebofjäden is the closest national park to where my brother lives and is less than an hour’s drive away. The ground was covered in snow but not the nice, deep, fresh powdery stuff but old, hard and icy snow that would have brought the UK to a standstill. Many of the roads were sheet ice but with studded tyres, the journey to the national park  wasn’t too troublesome.

Just near Gysinge, we stopped by the River Dalälven and set ourselves up in a wind shelter on the river bank. Wind shelters, small open-fronted ‘log-cabiny’ huts, are dotted around the Swedish countryside, usually by rivers or lakes. With fireplaces in front and a good supply of wood topped up by the park rangers, the shelters are a brilliant facility used by many.

With the fire started very quickly, we waited for the ash-bed to grow until it was hot enough to cook the sausages. We had a wander around the spot while the fire got going. The weather was cold enough for the river to start freezing with plates of ice growing from the banks outwards, joining together to form a larger sheets. With low cloud and mist, the scene was one of a dark and harsh winter’s day.

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There was little wildlife around in the gloom, few birds could been seen or heard, although we were joined by a treecreeper by the shelter. On the way back, however, we saw a large group of roe deer eating out in the middle of the snow fields.

A touch more wintry…

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With a load more snow falling this morning, I went for a walk around Wybunbury Moss. Starting, as usual, at the church yard and then walked  anti-clockwise around the outside of the Moss, the usual views were transformed by the conditions. With snow still in the air, deep, dark cloud overhead and a real chill to a keen wind, the scenes were perfect for black & white images…

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Winter moving in

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After a mild autumn, the last few days have shown winter is not far off. With strong winds and rain lasting for several days, winter showed an early hand with a scattering of hail and sleet yesterday. Being stuck inside doing work this weekend didn’t seem so bad with the weather so awful. However, with the closing of my laptop came some brief sunshine. I took the opportunity to go for a short walk around Wybunbury Moss before the darkness drew in.

The scenery around the Moss is certainly now more wintery than autumnal. Most of the trees and hedgerows are now bare but for a last few oak leaves barely clinging on. The grass is fading away from its lush green and is now more waterlogged than usual, following the recent rains.

The wildlife is also more of the colder months with the redwings and fieldfares moving through and finches and starlings flocking in the fields. The sounds of the spring and summer months have long gone and a silence is falling upon the meadows and trees. I heard a true winter sound from the Moss itself – the staccato, tinkling whistles of teal, gathering to spend the season in amongst the small pools in the Moss-side woodland.

With the darkest days of the year to come, those summer months seem a long way off.

Northumberland Coast in Autumn

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I spent last weekend up on the Northumberland coast, staying in the small harbour village of Seahouses. It was my first visit to the county and I loved it. After arriving via a drive through the Scottish Borders, I settled in for three nights in a comfortable little cottage just a two or three minute walk from the little fishing harbour.

After unpacking, I went for a walk along the nice sandy beach between Seahouses and Bamburgh, nearly up to the castle, under a lovely clear sky and bright autumn sun. Once darkness has fallen, I returned to the beach for a nocturnal run along the sand – running under clearly visible Milky Way was pretty special (and beats pounding the streets where I live).

After a pre-breakfast walk around the harbour, watching the sun rise on a freezing cold dawn, I spent the day watching for wildlife. I first headed out to Bamburgh and the sea front to watch for sea duck and purple sandpipers and then went off to spend the rest of the daylight hours on Holy Island. The tide times were just about perfect with the causeway open from 11:00 until well after darkness had fallen. I had long walk around the island, visiting the village, castle and beaches (unfortunately, the castle was under a mound of scaffolding). As I returned to Seahouses in the evening, there was a starling murmuration over the town, the first I’ve seen this year and a nice highlight to end the day.

After another pre-breakfast walk, the next day I had a long wander along the coast to the south. I started at Embleton and walked north up to Beadnell and then turned back and headed to Dunstanburgh Castle. It was an incredibly windy day with speeds of 30mph and guts of over 40mph. Walking northwards into the headwind was difficult but sideways on to the wind walking was almost impossible. By the end of the day I knew what sandblasting felt like. I spent dusk at the harbour at Beadnell, on a lovely shallow beach with the waves coming crashing in forced on by the still strong wind.

I had a final dawn walk around the village before setting off home after an all too short stay. The Northumberland coast in autumn is a place of stark beauty. Under clear skies with the low sun there is a warmth to the light but when the weather closes in, its a harsh and battling place. The countryside is low and rolling and the beaches wide, shallow with soft light sands all providing a backdrop to the hard walls of numerous castles.

This was my first visit but it won’t be my last – Northumberland is on my list for a return trip.

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Bar-Tailed Godwit

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Purple Sandpipers