It’s been quite a few weeks since we last went for a country walk. We had to do a few household tasks yesterday, probably made a little less unwelcome by the weather being pretty unpleasant, particularly in the morning. However, waking this morning on what looked like a beautiful spring day, we headed out for a walk around part of Rutland Water.

Since we moved to Northamptonshire three years ago, Rutland is now less than an hour away. We have been to the wildlife trust nature reserve a couple of times over that time but today we decided to do a five mile circuit around the village of Hambleton and the peninsula on which it sits. The whole walk was under a mix of bright sunshine and fluffy spring clouds. The strength of the sun can now be really felt, being towards the end of March, but as soon as cloud covered it over, even fleetingly, there was still a chill in the air, especially out in the brisk wind.

There were signs of spring all along the walk: in the fields, along the hedgerows, in the woods and along the shoreline. There are new lambs in the fields, hawthorns are now coming out into leaf and the blackthorn into blossom, and there are migrant birds starting to appear and sing.

I would like to pay a little more attention to the wild flowers this spring and there were plenty on the walk. There were delicate primroses in amongst the trees and celandines on the grass verges in addition to the blossom in the hedgerows. There must also be a great display of bluebells in some of the shoreside woodlands as there were big swathes of them bursting up through the leaf litter.

After what was a stunning five-mile walk we headed to the nature reserve. Firstly to look at a possible new purchase; it’s about time I bought a proper wildlife watching telescope and I just wanted another look at one before I take the plunge (possibly). The last visit of the day was to Manton Bay to see the newly arrived ospreys. The established pair have settled in and are already mating regularly, so it might not be long until the first eggs are laid.

This did remind me of one of my old usual spring haunts, at the Glaslyn Wildlife osprey nest protection site near Porthmadog in North Wales. I volunteered there for a number of years, spending quite a few nights but also many days in the old caravan amongst the wet meadows and drystone walk, just a couple of hundred metres from the nest. It was a joyful experience being surrounded by wildlife and helping to protect this beautiful but rare species. I saw this morning that the lucky volunteers no longer have to sit in an old caravan but have a new hide, perched up on stilts to avoid the water from the too often flooding river. The ospreys at the Glaslyn have yet to return this spring but I’ll be keeping an eye out on the webcams over the coming days.

I’ll finish this post with a few images of the lovely spring walk today…