Botany and Beautiful Birds

 Late April was our Cuerden Flower Walk one Saturday morning. We noted Lesser Stitchwort in flower, Bluebells by the reservoir and a flower I had not spotted before on Cuerden. I discovered it was Cornsalad. It was good also to see Cuckoo Flower with Orange Tip butterflies possibly egg laying. In total there were 44 plants in flower. Since we also crossed the WI bridge on its 24th birthday, we sang "Happy Birthday"  The Bluebells did not disappoint either visually or with their amazing perfume. 

 The following weekend was another of the wildlife highlights of spring, our annual Dawn Chorus walk. Starting at 5.00am, We noted Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Garden Warbler, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron with young, Grey Wagtail, Jackdaw, Jay, KingfisherLong Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Robin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon and Wren, The two birds that excited me were, a tawny Owl hooting about 50 yards away as we started and a Common Sandpiper at the edge of the reservoir. We completed our walk by nine o clock when most of us went into Cuerden View Cafe for a well earned breakfast. Below is a photo of a Common Sandpiper.