Bogs, beaches and blisters

Evening all, its looking like this is going to be a once a week kind of blog. Its Sunday and so far its been a good weekend with a bit of nature and the great outdoors!

Yesterday was spent taking the dog to the vets for his annual boosters then a good run down at the beach again to get some of that energy out of him. The tide was going out by the time we got there about half three in the afternoon but it was great! Lots of razor clam shells again on the beach, those green egg sacks and quite a few bits of fucus serratus and the other fucus seaweek i cant ever remember the name of. Some welk egg sacks dotted about too and I think a dog fish case on the walk back to the car.

After the beach we hot footed it over to Halebank about 30 minutes away on the other side of the River Mersey to carry out a Hare Survey / transect for the North West Brown Hare Project. We got there just after 5pm and were done by 6.15 following a lovely sunset.

It was just a shame that a) some of the foot path we wanted to walk along for the survey was out of bounds thanks to the farmers no trespass sign

and b) the fact all we saw were 3 pheasants and no brown hares! A bit of a shame but thats what happens when you survey! To comiserate at our loack of hare views we went to Sainsburys and bought curly fries and burgers and had a fab dinner which nearly made up for it!

Today was even more active! I am a walk leader for the local 20s and 30s Ramblers Group and I lead my 3rd walk of the year with the group to Anglezarke Reservoir and White Coppice. It was a 8 3/4 mile walk and I managed to get 40 onto the walk!

All returned safe and sound I am glad to say but, like me, a few were rather shattered and muddy. We were pretty lucky with the weather. Not a huge amount of wildlife but did see some red grouse up on the moorland, we heard some skylarks and lapwings too on the approach up to Winter Hill and back down to the start. Just one more walk to lead for the group this year up in North Wales and then I get to go on others and be lead rather than lead!

At the end of next week I am off to North Perthshire to co lead one of the National Trust of Scotlands Thistle Camp Holidays at Killiekrankie and The Hermitage. I cant wait; I have co lead there once before and there is plenty to keep you busy. The last time I was there as a visitor in October 2011 I saw the Salmon leaping up the huge falls at The Hermitage it was awesome. I cant wait to get back up there and get stuck in!

Hello

Evening and what a varied week the past three or four days have been. Lovely sunshine Thursday and Friday, then sunshine and showers yesterday and a real biting wind today. Its been a great weekend though our plans to head to our allotment didnt happen. Instead we headed to Keswich for the day and were so lucky with the weather though it was a bit breezy. Derwent water looked stunning with Catbells and the other hills in shadows one minute, sunshine and sun rays peeping through the clouds the next. We had a wander with the dog down to the lake a couple of times with some shopping in between. It was great. Today has involved a trip to the beach at Leasowe. There was biting wind and white horses out to sea. The dog enjoyed it though! Lots of razor clams, piddocks and otter shells on the beach along with the green egg sacks of a worm I can never remember the name of. See picture below:

Well as with anything new, I'm finding it a bit tricky working my way around this blog. The post that is my first post I actually did last night but thought I had lost it, turns out it was in drafts I just didnt know where to find it!

Anyway I thought I would do some more babbling about some of my favourite places and pictures of nature and see how far I get. So first up is Wester Ross on the West coast of my spiritual home, Scotland. This photo was taken a few years ago on a beautiful day. I went up there with Tom last April and lets just say we didnt get a view like this that time! When the weather is beautiful up there, well you cant beat it.

So to another favourite place of mine, but I just never seem to get up there as much as I would like, Glen Coe. Again on the West coast of Scotland but further south than above. I've been fortunate enough to spend a couple of weeks volunteering with the rangers up there and absolutely love the place. The wilds of Glen Etive, some fantastic Munros (Scottish hills above a certain height which I think is 3000ft), the hidden valley and Rannoch Moor, a special place.

The photo below is looking over to Morvern from Ballachulish just down from Glen Coe to be precise and I was so lucky to get such a calm sea loch!

September / October 2011 we headed up to Glen Affric amongst other places to go camping and have a relaxing week walking in the wilds. Glen Affric is a fantastic place and we caught it just as the leaves were starting to turn for autumn. We did the 11 mile walk around Loch Affric and were just amazed by how beautiful it is up there. Hope to go back again and explore further into West Affric. I have been there before but didnt get chance to explore it properly. 



There are so many photos I could include but I think for the time being I will maybe say a bit more about me.

I live near Liverpool and am very fortunate to live about 20 minutes from some lovely beaches and only about 1 hr 30 minutes - 2 hours from 3 national parks, Snowdonia, North Wales, The Lake District, Cumbria and The Peak District, Derbyshire. I work 4 days a week in the NHS and spend my spare time outdoors or thinking about being in the outdoors.

I've had a dream for about 6 years to be a countryside ranger and Im lucky enough to volunteer twice a year for the National Trust for Scotland as an assistant leader. I love volunteering for the trust it is so inspiring for me and I feel very privaledged to visit the properties and get a feel of the land, people, flora and fauna of the area. I think I'm on my 12th camp this year and have been right accross Scotland from islands like Canna with 19 people living on them and seeing white tailed sea eagles on my tea break to counting bats coming out of their roosts from Scottish castles or cutting back Rhododendron in Glen Coe.  

I was having my doubts about if I would ever get to be a ranger and to be honest I was getting a bit fed up of my own voice telling others of my dream. I had been volunteering with some great rangers closer to home in Cheshire when one mentioned about a course that ran in the evenings about an hours drive from where I lived which was a really good practical course. I couldnt believe it, a course which meant for the time being I didnt need to sell my house or give up my job to do!!! So in September I enrolled at Reaseheath College on their Countryside Conservation and Recreational Management Foundation Degree and I cant get over the amount I have learnt in just 5 months. The lecturers are fantastic and they really prepare you for the realities of working in this sector. So I am slowly getting closer to my dream.

I have to say that in the same year I met Tom, my man and my rock who has made me believe my dreams are possible and gives me the strength to keep working towards them. He is my dream man - I mean who else buys his girlfriend a moth trap for her birthday? Best birthday present ever! See below!

My mother too has always said to follow my dreams and believe in myself and I cant thank her and my dad enough for passing on their love of nature and flora. I remember when I was little, my mum and dad gave me a propogator to go and collect caterpillars from the garden and some foliage to keep them happy. I took them upstairs to my bedroom. I should point out that I am 31 and when I was young (how old does that sound?!!) it wasnt very difficult for me to find a lot of different types of caterpillars in my garden. I think I woke up the next morning to my mum screaming / shouting as I had forgotten to close the vents on the propogator and all the caterpillars were climbing up the woodchip wallpaper!

Other childhood memories include rescuing a hedgehog and putting it in with the rabbit to find the rabbit infested with fleas! Running down the street throwing my jacket over a poor injured blackbird to put it in our greenhouse so the cats didnt get it, needless to say the poor thing didnt survive the night.

Well I think I am bored of hearing about me now so I am going to say good night for now and I'll write more when I have something more interesting to say. There is so much I want to write about but everything in moderation and all that! So I will leave you with a picture of one of my highlights of 2011, watching the salmon leap at the Hermitage, North Perthshire, amazing! They had a long way jump, this is the waterfall below!

Night all and to end with a quote "Access to nature is as important as having something to eat." I quite agree Octavia Hill (Co-founder of the National Trust).

Well this is it. I never thought I was the type of person to write a blog but thought I might give it a go as a place to share my love of nature, the Great British outdoors, conservation and photography. Please bear with me, english was never my favouritr subject, but I will do my best to string a few sentences together whenever I have something interesting to say. For the time being I think I will post some of my favourite wildlife photos from adventures gone by then aim to start record trips I have been on and the things I have seen.

Well in terms of interest I love really anything to do with nature. In autumn its funghi, in summer its moths and orchids, at the moment its birds of prey. I love the beauty to be seen in nature.

But its not just the flora and fauna. I love the landscapes, the climate, the sounds and smells of the outdoors. So for the time being I will finish with a picture of some woodland in the place I love to go as often as I can, Glen Coes, Scotland. So for now, goodnight people and I promise to write more again soon.