Plan Z

Skipool Creek

The plan had been to have a day out at Hodbarrow to see if/how the little terns are faring. The Barrow train wasn't amongst the cancellations at Oxford Road though it was a lot busier than usual, probably because of some of the earlier cancellations. We got as far as Wigan without any problems then spent half an hour waiting for a driver. In the end the driver who had finished at Wigan took the train up to Preston where the train was cancelled. Looking at the options, assuming nothing untoward happened at Lancaster or Barrow the earliest I would be arriving at Millom would be quarter to three. Given how tricky it is getting back to Manchester from West Cumbria when the trains are behaving themselves I didn't fancy my chances of getting home much before midnight. In fact, heading anywhere North of Preston on the Northern trains looked a bit too much of a gamble. So I was stuck with an old man's explorer ticket to get some value from.

In the end I got the next Blackpool train, got off at Poulton le Fylde and had a walk up to Skipool Creek. The river was high so there wasn't a lot about save a few mallards and gulls and a solitary little egret on the far bank. I walked up the Stanah Tramper Trail along the river up to Stanah. A couple of buzzards soaring high over the other side of the river towards Hambleton were harassed by carrion crows. A couple of chiffchaffs sang in the trees, a reed bunting sang in the field by the path. There seemed to be a blackbird feeding on the path every hundred yards.

Skipool Creek

There was more bird life in the fields at Stanah, mostly woodpigeons and house sparrows with collared doves, greenfinches and goldfinches. A pair of corn buntings in a hawthorn bush in a field of sheep was a nice surprise.

It was a bit of a bust birdwatching wise but the weather held and it's a nice walk. Again I was concerned about the dearth of butterflies about.

I walked into Thornton, got the bus back to Poulton and went home via Bolton and Crewe just to get some sort of value out of my train ticket. Which reminded me I haven't visited Sandbach Flashes yet this year.