Foreside Lane Area

12:00 -15:00

I parked at the bottom of Foreside Lane and walked up the lane and took the first footpath on the left. At the first wall corner I turned right uphill with the wall. At the top the path levels out as it approaches some outbuildings and crosses an abundance of clay pigeon debris. The path was not obvious here and sods law being sods law I’d taken the South Pennines O.S. map out of the rucksack to reduce the weight, just this morning, having not needed it for ages. So I turned back downhill to the wall corner and turned right through the big, big , boggy marsh to arrive at the bridleway. A right turn here and then a left turn through a gate when nearing houses brought me to a boggy track which passes an old ruin before going through a gate into a field. The path follows the wall to the main Ogden bridleway. Here I turned right uphill to reach the large stone memorial seat near the bridge over the ravine. Here I turned right heading for a very prominent footpath sign seen on the hill.

The path turns right at the sign and would eventually lead back to Foreside Lane and the car. I had a bit of a diversion going left along the Water Board enclosed path to ‘Sandy Gallops’. Here I turned right down hill and right again later to arrive back at Foreside Lane.

Birds:-

6 Pheasant, C30 Meadow Pipit throughout the walk,

6 Curlew, Mallard, 9 Skylark.

Trying to negotiate the Big Boggy Marsh area I flushed 2 Common Snipe they both made a call as they left the scene.

Grey Heron over, Kestrel over, Stock Dove, 4 LBBG > E.

And (for me) a real corker of a spot, a Little Owl camouflaged as a tree stump in one of the very few trees hereabouts.
I managed a few pics before it flew onto a wall at the top of the hill. I though that with so few trees, there must be something in one of them, and sure enough there was.

Leaving the tree I noticed some further movement  in the same tree, which I would put down as another Little Owl although I did not spot it.

On TMR there were a few gulls but it was far too distant for me to ID any of them. Just one or two larger gulls in amongst the smaller ones.

I’ve decided not to mention the “W” word today!

Soil Hill in the distance

Little Owl