Sunday peregrination.

A clear blue sky and the first warm Sunday of the year. Reeth was very busy as I drove up to the peace that is the Heggs Castle Cluster for a wander, or a ‘peregrination’ as some would have it. The last couple of days has seen a large arrival of swallows in the dale, so I went looking for other migrant birds.

I didn’t hear the cuckoo which has been calling recently behind Heggs House, but found I found plenty of other migrants. Five plus territories of spotted flycatcher (a late arriving migrant) were quite a surprise. Plenty of willow warbler too. A couple of green woodpeckers were ‘yaffling’ loudly, 2 lots of pied flycatchers, a couple of woodcock, common sandpiper, blackcap and a few beatboxes occupied by tits feeding their young. Surprisingly no redstarts were seen. There were no ospreys today, unlike the other day when two flew low overhead. perhaps the Wensleydale birds?

I noted very few bees and a few butterflies. One orange tip and a few whites were seen including a lovely green-veined white feeding on wild garlic.

I also saw a wonderful elm in full leaf. A survivor from Dutch Elm Disease which look stunning at this time of year. Very few left locally sadly.

A lovely walk on a stunning day at a wonderful location.