A cycle (and an occasional walk) on the wild side

Today’s guest picture comes from my brother Andrew. He was on his way to Kings Lynn when he came to a bridge at Stamford. Knowing that I like a bridge, he took a photograph of it.

It was another dull day here, and to suit the weather we had rather a dull morning with only coffee with Margaret to liven us up.

I looked at a few flowers just before she came. To show what a cool, dull day it was, very few bees tried to photobomb my dahlia pictures today.

Along with the dahlias, Japanese anemones are still doing well.

I cycled round to the shop, and was disappointed to find that there was no sign of the suspension bridge opening, and no sign of any work being done.

Perhaps because there are plenty of berries and seeds in the wild just now, our feeder has been pretty quiet lately, and today was no different. I was lucky to find a busy moment . . .

. . . but we did have a surprise visit from a starling who dropped and soon flew off again.

After lunch, Mrs Tootlepedal suggested a cycle ride round Whita, passing through a lot of the proposed Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, the area recently purchased in the community buy out.

From a photographic point of view, it would have been a better ride if the sun had been out as there was a mass of heather on the hillside . . .

. . . but it was cloudy and the views were not up to much as a look down the Esk valley as we passed the bird hide shows.

I looked at wild flowers instead. As always, if you want a closer look at an individual picture, click on the gallery.

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  Ragwort

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  Scabious

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  Scabious

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  Sow Thistle

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  Sow Thistle

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  Yarrow leaves

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  Woundwort

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  Mint

I took a few views as we went along in spite of the gloom.

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  Coming up from the ford

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  Thistles beside the road

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  Barn at Cronksbank

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  Rashiel

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  A wonderful bank of horsetail

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  Forestry operations

Mrs Tootlepedal tells me that the price of timber has risen a lot recently which may explain the large number of forestry operations I have been passing on recent cycle rides.

Mrs Tootlepedal whizzed fearlessly across the ford when we came to it . . .

. . . though we were a bit more cautious on the other side of the river when we had to pass between some busy bee hives and the heather that the bees were busy visiting.

We did come across a little patch of sunshine, but unfortunately, it was over there . . .

. . . and not over us.

We passed this group of horses taking an interest in a youngster at Middlemoss.

The ride is not long, but there are some steep sections and some very rough tracks and we we walked up these, so it took us a good time to get round the ten miles. However, the last three miles are on good roads and with a kindly wind and a lot of downhill to help us here, we got home in very good spirits.

I had time to have another look at the garden . . .

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  The dahlia had an added fly

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  hostas

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  The French marigolds would brighten any day

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  Mrs Tootlepedal’s mini-meadow is getting more flowers every day

I also went to look at the dam behind the house to record the potentilla on our side of the bridge which has finally started to look as though it is enjoying life, the fine rose hips on our neighbour Liz’s side, and the many growing fish swimming in the shallow waters of the dam itself.

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The day ended with a sibling zoom. Our evening meal not only had roasted kohlrabi as part of the main course but baked plums on toast with cream for a pudding. In spite of the dull weather and cool temperatures, it was not a bad day.

The flying bird of the day is a goldfinch threatening a siskin . . .

. . . and I have added a tiny frog spotted by Mrs Tootlepedal in our garden today for extra interest.