Daily Archives: April 14, 2019

Too cold for Skylarks!

I was awake early so I thought I’d try an early run up to the moors. It was cold, very cold. All the time I was there the car thermometer never rose above 1 degree with a vicious wind.
At first it was quiet, with hardly a bird to be seen but as the moorland creatures thawed out birds started to appear but even the Skylarks were singing from the floor! On the southward run I saw hardly anything but turning around and retracing my path the birds started to appear. – displaying Curlews, posing Wheatears and, most spectacularly, a pair of Hen Harriers which were trying to do their courtship skydance but they had an interfering Crow playing gooseberry.
Add in a couple of Red Kites, a Buzzard, a flock of three Sand Martins and scattered Stonechats and all the signs are there than spring is underway.

King of the castle