Out

A dry, brighter day but not much sunshine.

I headed down to Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits nature reserve, although in this late spring things were still quite bare and quiet. There were plenty of Chiffchaffs about and a few Goosander on the river and Curlew flying by but no sign of Kingfishers and the Sand Martins haven't returned yet. The highlight came when four Red Kites circled low overhead working their way down river, the most I've seen togeher for a while. 

Apart from the catkins there was plenty of Lesser Celandine and a couple of patches of Marsh Marigold, but little else. With so few sources of nectar it was no surprise that there was no butterfly activity but there were a fair few bumblebees. I was here two weeks later last year and saw seven different species of butterfly - that bounty seems a long way off at the moment.

Walking over the fields to Sun Lane nature reserve I seemed to be scattering rabbits with every stride but it was otherwise quiet there too. Still, it was nice to be out for a few hours.