The Dales Way - Grassington to Kettlewell

I met up with a few friends of mine to walk the next section of the Dales Way which was from where we left off last time (Grassington) up to Kettlewell. The weather was kind to us and was dry apart from a little drizzle blowing in as we set off.

As usual we managed to take a couple of wrong turns when the path/signage was unclear but these turned out to be serendipitous as on one of them we found a small group of orchids (fragrant orchids we think) and on another I heard, then saw, a Tree Pipit. Overall we covered just less than 8 miles but this was done at a fair pace and was most enjoyable. We reckoned it was the best section completed to date. To my surprise there were plenty of birds to be seen too, even though the route took us away from the River Wharfe which had been at our side ever since we started the Way back in Ilkley last year.

Birds seen en route:
Golden Plover - 2
Curlew - about 10 in all
Lapwing - 2 trying to see off a flock of crows
Skylark - 5
Mipit - just 1
Tree Pipit
Oystercatcher - 2
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1
Willow Warbler
Wheatear (f) - 1

When I got back home there was bad news in that the House Martin's nest had fallen down, with at least 2 eggs broken. Looking up the birds have already started rebuilding as there was a small patch of wet mud pellets on the bottom edge of what remained of the nest up by the roof. The problem is that it hasn't rained yet this month so a ready supply of mud will be hard to find.