It Could Have Been So Much Better… But..

…it was a poorly planned day out!

This weekend, David and I decided to go on another Welsh adventure, but we did not give much thought, as to where the adventure should be. I suggested forest walks and lakeside jaunts, with the possibility of a swim. In the end, we decided on visiting Llyn Ogwen. I saw it as an opportunity to revisit Llyn Idwal, the place where my wild swimming bug originated.

Llyn Ogwen and Tryfan

However, before sunrise, the alarm sounded at 6am. I dragged a feverish body out of bed. My throat, though not sore felt irritated. I didn’t feel 100%. As I made a quick breakfast I debated with myself whether to go out or not. I decided on the former, as I knew I would just been sitting at home feeling sorry for myself otherwise.

Come 7am David and I had hit the road heading for the A55 and the Llyn Idwal car park (postcode LL57 3LZ). We arrived just before 9am and paid £5 for all day parking. We crossed the A5 towards a National Trust sign Carneddau. This was the beginning of our circular walk around Llyn Ogwen.

Llyn Ogwen walk

It would have been beneficial if we had 1. read the itinerary of the walk and 2. printed out the map, but we did neither. So come the beginning of the trail and finding the path littered with boulders was a bit of a surprise. If I had know the walk of two+ hours was going to be spent clambering over boulders and sinking my feet into muddy, sodden heath-land I would have chosen a different walk. I am not very happy climbing. I prefer a walk where there’s not much scrambling but we decided to plow on nether the less.

Tryfan

Happy to be outdoors

Among the ferns

Though we did have nice views of Tryfan, (part of the Glyderau), there didn’t seem to be any decent shores in which to access to the lake. Legend says that Llyn Ogwen is the final resting place of Excalibur. Though having read that the lake is only 6ft deep, I have reservations on believing this tale!

We continued to stumble our way along a path that at times was none existent.

And then the rain decided to make a show.

Llyn Ogwen

We followed way-markers sign posted slate walk and thankfully the remainder of the walk took us along the A5. At last, flat ground! With being soaked to the skin, feet sodden with mud and feeling under the weather! We decided to take lunch in the car and see how I felt.

The weather did not seem to abate nor did my temperature. So we decided to forego visiting Llyn Idwal and a swim in either lake and made our way back home.

Though I wish I had managed a swim, I am grateful we got out for a walk. Perhaps next year in better weather we can revisit this area again.

Have you visited his area? Or had to postpone a trip due to ill health? Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

RSPB – Leighton Moss

Itching to go out walking again, I was looking for ideas for places to go to this weekend. I don’t know why but sightings of bearded tits at RSPB Leighton Moss popped up on my Facebook wall. So I decided to look at their website and planned on taking a few hours walking along their trails of woodland and reed-bed habitats.

Leighton Moss is the largest reed-bed in the NW of England. They have breeding bitterns and is the only home to bearded tits in the region.

We visited after a 1.5h drive, on a cloudy mid-September afternoon. Unfortunately too late to see the bearded tits on the grit feeders. However we did manage to see plenty of other wildlife, predominantly garden and woodland birds.

Among the many feeding stations we passed, we managed to spot hungry blue, great and long tail tits. A friendly robin sang to us for food but we had none. There were many chaffinches having squabbles, but the stars of the day (for us) was a small marsh tit and surprisingly bold nuthatches!

Marsh Tit

Nuthatch

We also saw goldcrests flittering about the trees, but they were so fast that David couldn’t get a picture! Maybe, one day!

Leighton Moss has many walking trails to choose from. David and I did them all save the salt-marshes as they were not on the main reserve. For the three hours we were there, we put in a reasonable four miles of walking.

Woodland walk

reed-bed walk

We stopped for lunch at a bench on the Causeway path, and watched as house martins swooped overhead and red and blue dragonflies darted about. Even the odd speckled wood butterfly made an appearance.

Of the many hides on the reserve I was very impressed with Lilian’s hide. It looked newly made and was very spacious, with bowed windows looking out towards the reed-beds and comfy seating. David snapped a good photo from here of a grey heron.

From Lilian’s Hide

Lilian’s Hide

Grey Heron

Not far from Lilian’s hide is the nine metres tall skytower, which gives unparalleled views over the reed-bed towards Morecambe Bay.

The path leading from Grisedale hide offered us two wildlife experiences. The first was on noticing something moving inconspicuously in the reeds, we looked a little closer to find a tiny field vole. He was so cute!

Field Vole

Further along the path we were surprised by a sudden splash of water! We did not see what made the noise but there are otters residing in the area. I’d like to think we startled one as we made our way along the path.

Overall, I enjoyed our visit to Leighton Moss. At first the £7 per person admission fee for non members seems a little steep but there is free car parking, a shop and cafe in the visitor centre, with the reserve open from dawn to dusk. So £7 for the whole day is good value for money especially as you can walk around the paths as many times as you like and rest a while in the hides.

Membership at £4 a month would be viable if we visited these places more often, but alas only every now and again do we visit an RSPB site. Perhaps that is something to be rectified in the future?

Have you visited Leighton Moss reserve? What were your impressions?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

Product Placement – Haith’s

* This post comes courtesy of Haith’s – Bird Food Specialists since 1937. If you want top quality bird seed and feeders from a British family run business, then Haith’s has all the products your garden birds need!*

Recently I was approached by Haith’s to review some of their products. I have to admit I was secretly flattered that my opinion mattered, so I agreed. Within a few days three products arrived via post neatly packaged, there was much detail to keeping the products safe in transit.

The products to be reviewed  were: 

• MultiFeeder Plus: a feeder which holds not only seed but water and two fatballs, ideal for attracting different species of wild bird or for hungry birds during the winter.
• Fat balls (small): I was kindly gifted six of these suet balls to trial, which come helpfully with no nets.
• (Original) wild bird food: Compiled from a recipe dating back to the 1960’s.

I was eager to fill the feeder up and see how my numerous garden visitors would receive the need addition.

The multifeeder needed to be constructed. The instructions included were easy to follow, even I could follow them! Indeed I managed to fit the parts together without asking David (the product expert) for help! There is a domed cover to keep the larger birds at bay and to keep the rain from ruining the seed. The inner well can be used for water or other types of seed or mealworms. The two fat ball holders have sharp spikes in which to pierce the suet to the feeder.

The fat balls came all individually wrapped in cardboard packaging, to prevent them from crumbling, and the wild bird food, filled with high-energy sunflower seeds and wholegrain cereal, is packaged in a sealed brown paper bag.

Haith’s bird food comes SuperCLEAN™, which means in production they eliminate dust and husks which can damage birds respiratory tracts.

Once the multifeeder was filled with water, wild bird food and fat balls, it was time to hang the feeder outside and see what the visiting garden birds thought of the fare on offer.

Hanging the new bird feeder

Fledged starling on new feeder

What the birds thought of the multifeeder:

It took a while for the birds to take to the new feeder. They were scared of the dome. Though we had one intrepid fledgling starling enjoying the fat balls and seed.

Over the coming weeks, the dome started to attract other birds. Like a blue tit and fledged goldfinches!

At this time of year, end of summer/beginning of Autumn my garden is awash with bird families after a busy year of breeding. Fledgling starlings still with their baby feathers are hungrily looking for food, and suet fat balls are their favourite foods. Goldfinch young with their brown heads are all vying for sunflower hearts, whilst house sparrow families look for smaller seeds and cereals.

The wild bird food and fat balls were a hit with all classes of bird.

What I thought of the multifeeder:

I didn’t care much for the detachable fat ball holders, as once the fat ball had been pecked and became crumbly, then the fat ball easily fell off and was lost to the voracious beaks of pigeons. The six fat balls were soon devoured this way, they only lasted a week in my garden!

Being made of plastic, I was a little worried for the durability of the multifeeder. However we discovered that it was more robust than we gave it credit for as it survived a fall of 1.5m without shattering. We have very raucous starlings who don’t have much in the way of table manners!

The two trays for different types of food or water is a good feature. Come winter you could feed suet pellets in the small dish while still offering normal seed or sunflower hearts in the other. There are many variants yet to be tried.

Overall, the multifeeder is a good addition to any feeding station. The starlings loved it, and I liked how robust it was. I will monitor how many birds take to the multifeeder during wintertime and do a short follow-up review. I can see many tit species enjoying the differing feed on offer and we have yet to see a robin this year.

I thank Haith’s for this opportunity to sample their products.

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Links:

If you are interested in purchasing any of the products included in this review then follow the links to the individual pages.

• Multifeeder Plus: https://www.haiths.com/multifeeder/
• Fat balls: (Individual or up to a box of 150): https://www.haiths.com/small-fat-balls/
• (Original) Wild bird food: https://www.haiths.com/original-wild-bird-food/

Haith’s website offers more bird foods, such as peanuts, niger and livefood. If you would like to see their entire range follow: https://www.haiths.com/bird-food/

To hold all these different types of food, there is a designated page for all of Haith’s feeders, including feeding stations, window feeders and tables, follow this link to see their range: https://www.haiths.com/bird-feeders/

Tomorrow Isn’t Promised

Recently I have been thinking of my own mortality. It’s not a topic many people want to discuss. Whilst contemplating the end of life, the phrase tomorrow isn’t promised, cropped up. This made me think of being mindful. To live life in the present. It is a mantra I have been trying to follow every day this year; to take each day as it comes and not to think too much of the future. However much we may plan, life has a way of throwing spanners in the works! So enjoy today and be thankful for the people we share our life with and of the places we see along the way. Life is like a journey. It’s not the destination that matters, but our route along the way!

So as a little recap of the year so far, here’s some of the people and places that have made my journey through 2017 a joy!

I am thankful to have David in my life. He is quietly strong, someone who you can depend upon and a wonderful friend. I love you with all my heart! We have been on many walks this year. Lake District walks to Thirlmere, Dodd Wood and a walk through the bluebells at Rannerdale.

David and I atThirlmere

David and I at Dodd

David and I with the Rannerdale Bluebells

Thurstaston Beach

Strawberry picking

The path – Lunt Meadows

We have shared walks along hot, sunny beaches, picked our own strawberries and visited nature reserves. I couldn’t think of anyone I’d rather be on these walks than with you, David!

On many of our local walks, to Liverpool Festival Gardens, Sefton Park and Crosby Beach, we have taken bubbly, lively Riley with us.

Riley at Sefton park

Christine, Riley and Anthony Gormley

Riley and David at Festival Gardens

If I have to mention Riley, I have to mention Artie and Evie and my wonderful aviary of foreign finches.

Owl Finches

Evie

Artie

Rainbow -Gouldian

My mum has been a constant support over the years and I thank her for her love. We shared a special afternoon tea at Jam, Liverpool in March.

Mum and I

Music has such a big place in my heart, and the music of Hans Zimmer is right up there with the symphonies of Mahler and Rachmaninov. In 2017 I luckily saw Hans’ World Tour visit Liverpool. To say his music is electrifying is an understatement, just listen to his Dark Knight medley from his live concerts!

Hans Zimmer and Tina Guo

Blea Tarn

A new passion of mine has become wild swimming. This year I have had seven wonderful swims. Blea Tarn was not disappointing.

Work takes up a lot of my time but working with Sue and her guide dog Kallie often doesn’t feel like work. It feels like muddling through a day with a friend. Sue has become a wonderful confidante.

Sue and Kallie

Sharon and Hugo

I have tried to read and follow as many blogs as I can. There is one blogger who has become an online friend (we shall have to meet in person one day, with our dogs) and that is Sharon from her wonderful blog sunshine and celandines. I have enjoyed our many online chats on the culture/holidays and walks we both blog about!

I love street art. So when there is a new Wild in Art animal trail or a mural, I try and visit. Birmingham’s Big Sleuth was entertaining and Paul Curtis’s For all Liverpool’s Liverbirds mural was a must for any Liverbird to visit!

David and Spock

For all Liverpool’s Liverbirds

I have tried to notice the smaller things in nature this year. It really does make you more appreciative of life. Feeling the warm sun on your skin to foraging for berries. Seeing a bird of prey being harried by a family of swallows or seeing a snowdrop during the coldest of days makes your heart swell. These small events make life’s worries and trivialities disappear or seem easily overcomable (if that’s really a word!)

Large Skipper

Toad

Peacock butterfly

Red Tailed Bumblebee

There’s four month’s left of 2017, but for now I want to live for today and feel blessed with the memories of the places I have seen, with the people I hold dear.

Thank you for reading,

Live life in the moment

Christine x