Yesterday I must admit apart from watching the birds on the feeders and the fox in the garden I didn't do much wild. Work is immensely busy right now and I pretty much crashed when I got home.

Today though I made an effort and got out into the woods before work. A Chiffchaff was calling as we walked in and a Blackbird was singing. As we walked down to the pond the Great Tit family were flying all around, the youngsters were into every tree and shrub. A little further along by the stream another family appeared - Blue Tits - around half a dozen possibly more flitting around the trees.



A pair of Bullfinch flew in front of us and I just caught a Thrush before it flew out of sight. Dunnocks were along the path in their usual spot. No sign of the Robins though today. A female Blackcap was caught up in the Great Tit flock as we walked back. We also noticed 3 or 4 Stickleback in the stream, I knew they were in the pond but hadn't seem them there before, there's not a lot of stream for them to swim in!




As we were heading out my husband saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker in one of the trees, of course it flew off the second I got the camera on it! Still it was a new patch tick, I've only seen one on the patch before and that was several years ago.

Great way to end the walk!

The 1st of June is the start of The Wildlife Trusts 30 Days Wild.  Granted nearly every day is a wild day in some way or another but i'm more than happy to increase the wild! My daughter as her part in the school council suggested the school join up, they seemed quite interested but i'm yet to discover if they actually put anything into action. She is staying with my parents over the weekend and is going to get them out for a nature walk!

I took a walk into Churwell woods this morning before work. Goldfinch, Sparrows and Chaffinch greeted me on the first path. There are Buttercups and Iris's everywhere.




As I watched the water from the bridge I could see birds down near the little woodland, walking down I found a group of Great Tit fledglings, they were a bit difficult to count as they were flitting through the undergrowth but I think there were around 7 or 8. Lovely to watch.


There were plenty of Speckled Woods flying around, lots of them in pairs too.


It was only a 20 minute walk but look how it was worth it!

Sunday morning was a trip to Adel Dam (after a quick visit to the bird/squirrel feeding station in Golden Acre. I think everything was overfed, there were 5 squirrels, a couple of Wood Pigeon, a Jay, Chaffinch and Great Tits, nowhere near the usual number around!)

Saturday saw a pair of Siskins in the garden, they didn't stop long, just enough time for me to grab the camera. I checked back and it's the first time i've seen them in the garden since 2011!

We finally had our first (and maybe our last?!) snow of season on Saturday evening, I couldn't help but take a short walk out in it, everything looks so much prettier at night when it's covered in snow!









Sunday morning I was up early and out for a walk in hope that I could enjoy the snow without too many people about. There's something peaceful about a snowy walk!

The local park was looking quite beautiful and there were just a few dog walkers about as usual for a Sunday morning.






In fact the dog walkers and their dogs were having a snowball fight, lots of fun!


The Blackbirds were out in abundance and looked quite striking against the snow.

Back in July we spent a Sunday morning at Adel Dam, as usual it was fairly quiet despite the number of people in the adjoining Golden Acre Park. The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust had a little information desk set up at the entrance and we had a nice chat with the guy there.

With it being quiet we spent quite a bit of time in each hide, which turned out to be a good thing. From the Marsh Hide, a lot of Blue and Great Tits on the feeders with a couple of Chaffinch on the table. In the undergrowth we saw a squirrel and rabbit. Then in flew in a Great Spotted Woodpecker and put on quite a show, it was lovely to watch.






We spent about 40 minutes in the lake hide, on our own the whole time. Overhead we saw a Red Kite in the distance and over to the right over the trees a Buzzard.

A Heron flew into the trees followed by another which flew right across in front of the hide. Mallard and Tufted ducks with young were dotted about. Then we spotted not one but three Kingsfishers, these birds are a joy to watch and we tracked them flying around the lake for quite a while. They never made it close enought for a great photo but we were happy enough to just enjoy plus anything that can capture my 8 yr olds attention for that long is always a bonus!






Part of me was pleased it was so quiet but then of course just look at what people are missing out on!