Back to Bolam

A quick walk into Morpeth via Carlisle park for an overdue haircut. The melted snow has thrown up a couple of surprises in the way of a sudden spurt of growth of Wild garlic which is quickly beginning to cover the woodland floor and my first Lesser celandine flower. There is still quite a few Velvet shank fungi at the Curley kews end where there are more rotten Beech stumps. The swollen river appears to have moved the Goosanders on, probably temporarily.

Back to Bolam lake where the Smew still favoured the middle of the lake and made photographing it almost impossible. Plenty of other wildfowl here including a drake Gadwall. A much nicer day today and on the way a single Tree sparrow at Newton underwood but I couldn't pick out a Brambling among the Meldon Chaffinches. Usual woodland birds at Bolam but the Nuthatches are always a pleasure to watch. On the way back I called in at Angerton but it was fairly quiet. Most of the ice has disappeared from these inland lakes so most of the wildfowl are dispersing as the temperatures rise. Some of the pics above were taken by my daughter who was feeding the swans and geese.