After spending the previous night in lovely York watching the superb Tom Chaplin in concert and demolishing a hearty brekkie this morning,Trace and myself made our way over to the stunning Bolton Abbey estate on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
The journey over saw a couple of lovely Red Kites on route,always great to see.
After paying for our entry to the estate,parking in usual fashion at Cavendish Pavilion,we got the walking boots on and we were off to explore this brilliant site.
Before we had even reached the bridge over the Wharf,the first of at least 19 singing male Pied Flycatcher was heard and watched singing over the pavilion,what a little cracker!.
Over the bridge and into this beautiful upland woodland with it's Sessile Oaks and pungent smell of Ramsons everywhere.
It wasn't long before we were adding more lovely birds to the already observed Pied Fly's and this included several male Redstart and Grey Wagtail and a single male Mandarin.The latter was seen while resting in the lovely Harrison's Ford Seat,watching at close range some of the woodlands residents which included Nuthatch,Coal,Great and Blue Tits as well as Chaffinches and some brief views of the resident Wood Mice.They were all coming to take advantage of the seed put out by local residents,just brilliant to watch and great for Trace to enjoy the birds at such close range.
Further on through this beautiful woodland we enjoyed a plethora of wildflowers which included Wood Anemone,Wood Sorrel,Bugle and of course the iconic Bluebells amongst others.There are some lovely tree species to enjoy also with Downy Birch,the afore mentioned Sessile Oaks,Wych Elm and some lovely examples of Holly that make up the canopy of this very important woodland for birds and insects alike.
After crossing the impressive aqueduct a welcome sighting in the form of a Spotted Flycatcher became my first record of the species for the year and another singing male Redstart showed nicely in the same stand of trees.
Further on into the woodland again and a quick stop to scan a lovely stretch of the river revealed a Common Sandpiper 'Teetering' along the shore,a Dipper feeding it's fledgling and another stunning male Redstart showed with a male Pied Flycatcher singing over head....what a brilliant place!!!.
A prolonged spell of sunshine allowed me to look in hope for the distinctive Hoverfly Portevinia maculata in amongst the carpet of Ramsons and it wasn't long before i found 3 males sunning themselves on the leaves.This is my first sighting of the species and a great addition to the days sightings.
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