April 2013

Last Sunday I heard the first cuckoo in Borrowdale and the following day I heard a very insistent cuckoo in Foulsyke Wood! I checked with last year’s dates and I heard the first cuckoo on May 3rd. It’s always a surprise that they arrive at almost exactly the same time each year! The swallows and house martins are arriving and also the ospreys are back at Bassenthwaite www.ospreywatch.co.uk

From birds I will move to cats as I have now acquired a little cat who I found nearby a few weeks ago with a very badly injured leg. I took her to the vets where sadly she had to have her leg amputated. She seemed to have been a stray for some time and so I have taken her in. As you can she she is making herself at home and fortunately is getting on well with Wattie.

001

There are still small patches of snow on the fells and the snow that fell earlier in the year remained on the higher fells for a long time as the temperatures remained below freezing. The snow in the middle of March created a lot of drifting in surprising places and the road between Loweswater and Lorton was blocked for a little while until one of the farmers came along with a digger! The picture below is of the road towards Castlerigg Stone Circle a week after the snowfall!

005

It has been very beautiful with snow on the fells for so long and when there were blue skies as well, it was glorious to be out. Below is a picture of my friend Lynn on Rannerdale Knotts on a ‘good to be alive’ day!

006