I stole the list below from BBC Winterwatch, some wildlife which can be seen at this time of year, on a typical Winters day walk in the UK.
- Singing Robin ~ Easy.
- Corvid Roost ~ Easy.
- First Snowdrops ~ Easy.
- Scent of Gorse flowers ~ Easy.
- Jelly Ear Fungus ~ Easy.
- Hazel Catkins ~ Medium.
- Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming ~ Medium.
- Overwintering migrant birds gathering ~ Medium.
- Fox screeching at night ~ Medium.
- Overwintering insects ~ Medium.
- Winter Moth ~ Medium.
- Hair Ice ~ Hard.
- Mistle Thrush guarding winter berries ~ Hard.
- Glue crust fungus ~ Hard.
This morning my locality was monochrome! We decided to walk from Clitheroe to Pendleton village and then along the bridle path to Mearley , passing the farmhouse I grew up in and then back home via Worston village. This walk has appeared on my blog before , though never in Winter.
I must admit I was hoping to find a little more snow and early on I wasn’t disappointed. We also spotted a few of the easy to see items on the watchlist too.
Pendleton lies at the foot of Pendle Hill near the nick of Pendle. Unfortunately it was foggy today so the hill became obscured by the mist after I took the photo below.
I still have relatives in the area and my lovely cousins made us a socially distanced outdoors brew ( a treat indeed! ) which warmed us up for the continuation of our walk.
Believe it or not, this is actually the first Holly I have seen with berries all Winter. The berries are an important sorce of food for birds in the colder months and trees are supposedly a protection against witchcraft. Appropriate in the Pendle countryside, home of the Lancashire witches….
As a child I lived in the tenanted farmhouse above. Little Mearley dates back to 1590 and my bedroom was the mullioned bay window room. I have happy memories of growing up there, though as a 16 year old
, all I wanted was to move into town.
Afternoon and heading back to Clitheroe, the snow had all but gone.
Have you spotted anything yourself from the Winter Watchlist?
sunshine and celandines 
You can have some of my snow if you want it Sharon, there’s been a fair bit fallen since last night although it seems to have settled in some places more than others. I went out for a walk myself today but it wasn’t the best 😦 I like the red gates and the sign on the Worston house gate – the wording makes me think it was once on a gate to a railway line.
Yes I know what you mean about the sign. Most of the snow has gone today but it is frosty which I love on a walk. 🙂
No snow here but very cold. 🥶 Some lovely photos, my faves are the jelly ear fungus and the kestrel, incidentally we had a sparrowhawk in our garden earlier this week. X
Oooh lucky you about the sparrowhawk. I have only seen one once, and it was in the process of killing a pigeon, so all a bit traumatic, but the circle of life of course. X
What a lovely post Sharon & I felt as though I was tagging along, which was good as it is very, very hot here at the moment. Loved seeing where you grew up & also the robin. They are delightful. Take care, stay safe & hugs.
Lots of robins out and about at the moment. Thanks Susan. X
Lovely walk and what an atmospheric place to be a child. I grew up on the Lancashire Cheshire border that never seemed to know where it was. Thanks for the walk!
Your welcome. Was that sort of Ormskirk way? X
Wow beautiful pictures! I have never seen a kestrel bird before, thank you for sharing that!
Your very welcome. I think you have them in the state’s too. Ours are quite small for birds of prey.
Monochrome – almost. I loved the flashes of red every so often, even Hugo’s collar. It looks like you grew up in Wuthering Heights! Was it cold? I grew up in large Victorian manses without central heating and my childhood memories are all tinged with cold.
Haha , yes it was a crumbling old house with no central heating. That did change though when we got heating in my teens. I do remember blowing the air and it was ice cold, frost inside the window panes. But I don’t remember feeling that cold until after we got heating. After that I turned into a right softie. 😊
When I was 16 we moved to a smaller house with central heating. Bliss!
Wonderful photos, enjoyed seeing them!
Thank you.
Lovely photos, good idea using the BBC winter watch prompts. I think the gates are all one estate – I am trying to think back from when I used work in Burnley – it is the ?Huntroyd estate – the farm gates are always a red colour.
Could possibly be. X
What a wonderful walk and beautiful pictures.. absolutely love the kestrel 😍 cup of tea half way sounds so perfect too, these things are just lovelier than ever just now!
They really are. Made our walk. X
Lovely photos, so atmospheric, I could feel the cold air as I looked at them. What a lovely house and place to grow up in. Refreshments along your walk sounds good too:)
When I read this yesterday I was going to ask if you’d send some of your snow my way (I live west of you across the Irish Sea in NI). Then this morning, Sunday, there it was, proper snow! We’ve had lots of rain and ice but little snow, so my wish came true or you read my thoughts! You have some lovely photos here and I enjoyed the walk too. I’ve always wanted to walk up Pendle Hill and the whole area, a Lancashire I should have walked a long time ago. 🙏
Thanks for commenting Ashley, and glad that you have some snow today. 🙂 X
Love the pic of the ewe watching you!! And the heron!! And the holly!! Such a bright pop of color 😊
The red really pops out against the snow. 🙂
Great kestrel photo! Like you, I have only seen a sparrow hawk once, and it too was killing a pigeon. It was on my front lawn and I saw it through the window. I didn’t know what to do because as you say it’s the circle of life. I didn’t intervene, even though there was the opportunity to do so, but there’s been many a time since that I wished I had.
Poor you that it happened on your front lawn. 😦 They are such magnificent birds and I guess they are only big and healthy like that, with plenty of pigeons in their diet. X
Great walk and what a place to grow up! Love the sign on the gate, we have one of those down here in Devon, I think its near to Frenchbeer on the eastern side of Dartmoor
I always take a photo of that sign when I walk past. 🙂
What a lovely house you lived in as a child. Lovely photos by the way. I don’t think I’ll see much from the BBC list, but will keep a look out. x
You never know. Xx
A nice monochrome walk on your home turf with a touch of red for the camera. It is always worth getting out – well almost always.
Usually. The snow and frost does put a positive spin on things….
My word, but that was a cold grey walk. I really enjoyed the splash of red, on the gate! Because I live in Africa I’m accustomed to plenty of light and sunshine – grey skies for prolonged periods depress me no end. I remember on my last visit to the UK, feeling as if the grey sky was literally within touching distance (and I’m very short, only 5 ft!) above my head. Awful feeling. One of the reasons I don’t relocate to your country.
We were very lucky last year that Spring and summer was endless blue skies. That’s not the norm though! Having been brought up here I’m kind of used to grey. X
I really enjoyed your walk- our old home looks so pretty. I have seen a robin, catkins and snowdrops, not bad considering they are all near our house.
That’s great, all wintery spots. I’m looking out for snowdrops. X
Wonderful photos. I love the splash of red throughout them. 🙂
Thank you. 🙂
What a feast of sightings! Your photos have lovely atmosphere, especially the one of Little Mearley Hall. It looks like the setting for a gothic romance.
It does a bit….and I was lucky enough to grow up there. Lots of crumbling old houses in these parts. 🙂