A Walk in the Country

This afternoon I walked a favourite old cycle route - a nine mile, country lane circuit from the nearby village of Powerstock. I've fancied it for a while, and wondered whether Marsh Tit was a possiblity. After all, the circuit passes very close to Powerstock Common, the only place locally I've seen that species. Here's the route...

Well, for several miles I saw very few birds at all. I'm not kidding. Yes, the odd Robin, a few House Sparrows and whatnot around the occasional farmyard, but barely anything in between. Climbing south-east away from Powerstock up King's Lane brings you to the high ground near Eggardon Hill. Turning north from there is like heading into a green desert...

Birdless. Honestly.

The heady whiff of slurry at this point...

Thankfully the ground slowly drops away towards the edge of Powerstock Common, and birds...

Yesss! My first Marsh Tit for a couple of years, and a lovely species to hit 90 with.

Bullfinch.

At its lowest point the road passes beneath an old railway bridge, long redundant. In wet weather it floods here, and once I tried cycling through the accumulated water only to find the 'puddle' was in fact a knee-deep lake. It was dry today, and I was interested to see that a load of work was in progress, seemingly to turn the old railway into a path of some kind...

A nice bit of industrial Victoriana there. The line opened in 1857.

Up on top...

Looking east. I've just read that Sustrans have funding to turn this old line (Maiden Newton to Bridport) into a cycle path. Presumably that's what is going on here. The sign says 'Please keep off. New path surface bedding in.' Obviously I kept off.

Looking west. Plenty to do yet...

The lane is quite pretty along this stretch, and light drifts of Snowdrops brightened it further...

Another uphill trudge here, before turning back towards Powerstock for the home leg. Amazingly I jammed two more Marsh Tits, both together and presumably (hopefully!) a pair. I got a very bad photo of one of them...

One of two. Well over a mile from the first Marsh Tit.

It was dark by the time I was back in Powerstock. Though I hadn't fluked a Woodcock, I did enjoy the delightful sight and sound of a loose flock of 100+ Fieldfares heading over through the gloom to roost. I was kind of doing likewise soon after...