I went past Lee Dam which has been very quiet as the Little Grebes didn't try nesting there this year following their double wash-out last year. Also no Moorhen nest either and the two Canada Goose nests were destroyed by someone or something. Very sad. Willow Warblers have been numerous though and a Chiff Chaff has been about too. The usual Swallows were feeding over the water and their young were on the wires.
Up to Langfield past Horse Wood where, I'm sorry to say, there were no Grasshopper Warblers this year at all. I'll have to concentrate on what was successful this year as opposed to what failed or failed to turn up or I'll really feel downhearted!
Reed Buntings were out in good numbers and a Linnet was singing away in the new bracken but the bird I wanted to see was Stonechat as they have been hit really hard over the last few hard winters and their numbers are not recovering yet. I saw a single juvenile Stonechat preening on the top of a bracken stem but strangely there was no sight nor sound of the adult birds.
Climbing up the steep hill from Langfield onto the ridge that runs NE then East to Stoodley Pike there were many Meadow Pipits flying around carrying food and a few juvenile birds too. Mipits were my constatnt companion for the whole morning and they look to have had a very good year locally. Skylarks also make the day more enjoyable by their singing but I only heard 5 all morning. The path leads on to join the Pennine Way after half a mile and there splendid views over the valley and across to Stoodley Pike itself:
Pennine Way leading to Stoodley Pike |
Withens Clough res |
Just off the Pennine Way is a newly built short stone wall that has a seat overlooking the valley and the wall is a useful refuge from the strong winds and the rain that are common through most of the year. It was put there by a family to remember their father:
The Te Deum stone at Withens Gate is a relic of the past, this text is taken from the website Journal Of Antiquities. "This medieval marker or boundary stone stands close to a wall at Withens Gate, Langfield Moor, between Cragg Vale and Mankinholes on the Calderdale Way footpath above Todmorden. It has been referred to as a coffin stone, stoop stone, boundary marker and marker stone. The name Withens Cross has also be ascribed to it by some historians.
The stubby little stone is now only a few feet high – originally it was much taller but vandalism over the years has damaged it. But in 1956 it was restored to what we see today by The Hebden Bridge Local History Society. On it’s front side there is a thin incised Latin cross and below that two letters in Latin TD which are translated as being Te Deum Laudamus or ‘We praise Thee, O Lord’, whilst on the opposite face the letters BG TB which were perhaps carved in more recent times, indicating that the stone has been in use as a boundary marker.
Originally the stone was in use as a “coffin rest”. Coffins were carried along the old packhorse route across the Pennines between Cragg Vale, Mankinholes and Lumbutts, placed on top of the stone and prayers said for the deceased before the journey was continued to its final resting place. There are a number of similar stones in this area and eleswhere, some with quite intricate carved crosses and lettering – most probably dating from the 15th or 16th century."
The Te Deum stone |
Mipit |
Only a few hundred yards further on there was a Common Sandpiper calling which is one of my favourite sounds on upland reservoirs through summer:
Common Sandpiper |
Little Ringed Plovers |
record shot of LRP |
Small Heath butterflies were another almost constant sight through the morning as they seemed to be following the same route as myself:
Small Heath |
Going up the path I spotted a Roe Deer up ahead and I ducked down behind the wall hoping it hadn't seen or sensed me. I was upwind so hopefully I could get closer and have a decent view.
Roe buck |
I was almost home, or at least I could see home from the top of the hill but not before I saw a Jay flying from the trees in the clough towards Sunderland Pasture plantation.
Back onto the Pennine Way for a short distance and then off down the hill and home in time for lunch. A simply marvelous morning :)