Category Archives: Winter

First Trip and First Days of Spring on the River

Last weekend saw us make it on the first river trip of the year, finally after a very cold and rather drawn out winter this year. It was fantastic to finally get out on the water, and with the river Wye in quite a bit of flow after yet more rain the river itself felt as eager to move down stream as we were! A highlight was taking our new red Old Town Discovery 158 out for a maiden trip, and I have to say she is a lovely boat – there’s something classic about the red colour – perhaps it’s from the Bill Mason days (see below), and whilst our green one blends in visually with the surroundings, the red one seems equally at home out in the wilds. There was really no sign of spring yet, despite it being the very end of March – just some wild garlic in the woods with it’s rich pungent aroma as you walk through breaking the leaves and releasing the scent, and a few daffodils of course in the churchyards and gardens. But otherwise it felt like we were there at the very start of spring – the first day was much like winter, cold wind and grey clouds, no greeness in the trees at all. But when the sun came out after the nights camp on an island in the river, and all the birds in the valley burst into song it seemed like suddenly spring had gotten underway. Buzzards soared in breeding pairs above our campsite, the river flowed past, and overall it was a pretty special trip – here’s to many more this year! View the trip in video below:

Some still photos of the trip:

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Winter – Fieldfares & Foxes

Winter brought massed groups of Fieldfares to our countryside – beautiful big thrushes that arrive here only when it’s a really cold winter, like we’ve just had. Look out for their strange “group-hopping” behaviour, perhaps there to confuse predators – something was exciting these foxes anyway!

Pic Of The Day; "Old Red"

Old Red is our new canoe – an Old Town Discovery 158 in classic canoe red. We just returned from her maiden river trip, on the River Wye – here’s a great picture of Old Red pulled up at the bank, while Hawkeye looks out for birds in the woods on the river bank. We’ll post a full report of the trip here in the coming days – it was a great trip – still very wintery, no sign of green in the trees – just some early wild garlic out in the woods, and a few daffs and snowdrops. The birds were urging Spring on though with fantastic chorus of song coming from the woods and riverbanks.

"Old Red" with Hawkeye in spotting birds, on the river wye. Click for larger image.