Whitbarrow top

This is the top of Whitbarrow, the limestone hill that often features in this journal when seen from my side of the Kent Estuary. The photo is taken above the cliffs of White Scar. The view is south-east across the low-lying drumlin country to Farleton Knott, the next limestone hill. It was an overcast day today, with milky, hazy light. On a clear day, the views are stupendous.

Ten years or so ago, the top was covered in a conifer plantation. Seen from the A590 road to Barrow, Whitbarrow had a Mohican haircut. If viewed in large, you will be able to see the stumps left behind when they were felled. The planting of Whitbarrow was one of the less well advised ventures of the Forestry Commission in their heyday. My friend Simon, with whom I was with today, working for English Nature saw an opportunity as the Commission was transforming itself into an organisation with a much broader purpose that included nature conservation. He persuaded them to remove the conifers to allow the flower rich limestone grasslands that belong here to restore themselves. It was a bit of an act of faith at the time, when the dense tree canopy was removed, there was virtually nothing left alive underneath and what there was was covered in the cut brash that would have been too expensive to remove in its entirety. But you can see that today there is a continuous cover of grassland, we saw today the return of many of the typical grassland plants.

The Forestry Commission is a different beast today. The Forest Estate is managed for many purposes, not just forestry. The Commission has done much to manage its woodlands for wildlife, and it provides many opportunities for recreational uses. This is why there is such an outcry at the current proposal to sell off the publicly-owned forests, possibly to commercial organisations whose prime purpose is profit generation.

We both came down walking wounded today. Simon hurt his foot, and I was hit on the leg by a large stone when I set off a minor landslide as we were taking a shortcut back, scrambling down a steep and unstable slope. Bruised but not broken.

We saw a couple of woodcocks in the Whitbarrow woodlands, so that takes my year list on to 92.

I did the RSPB's Garden Birdwatch this morning. In my one hour in the garden, this is what I recorded:

Bullfinch 2
Blackbird 9
Chaffich 9
Dunnock 2
Woodpigeon 1
Greenfinch 4
Collared Dove 2
Starling 2
Jackdaw 4
Blackcap 1
Tree sparrow 2
Robin 2
House sparrow 8
Song thrush 1
Reed bunting 1
Blue tit 2
Great tit 1

A similar list to last, but it was good to pick up the tree sparrows, reed bunting and blackcap. Now that Bob the Cat has taken up birdwatching rather than hunting, we are feeding the birds and this is bringing in larger numbers of species such as the blackbirds and chaffinches. The song thrush is one of the species that the Garden Birdwatch has demonstrated to be in decline in recent years.

Thanks to everyone for helpful and supportive comments yesterday. And for forbearance when I let off some steam.