Soil Hill and a mullock

9.50 - 10:45

With the weather forecast showing heavy wintry showers from 12:00 noon to 15:00 I thought I'd have an hour up on Soil Hill this morning while Sue and Abigail went to pick up Emma from White Windows.

Things started off pretty good with bright sunshine.

5 Goldfinch were on Perseverance Road as I approached the first bend after the terraced houses.

I went through the wall gap stile, at the sharp bend on Perseverance, heading to the hill.

The next stile, at the wall corner, is normally a real quagmire (a favourite of NK's!) and today was no exception.

Taking a circuitous route over some stones on the deck, to avoid the worst of the bog there, I apparently loosened a stone holding back a length of taut barbed wire.

The barbed wire sprang into action and lassoed my left leg at the same time I managed to stand on the other bit of the wire with my right foot anchoring it to the deck.

My next step went nowhere it just pulled the wire (that was now immobile) and I completely lost the plot and my balance, being lobbed unceremoniously "Harse" first into the bog and ripping a good 12" gash into my

 "Supreme supalite comfy-down berghause " waterproof trousers.

"Oh dear, never mind” I calmly mouthed.

The usual birds were on Soil Hill, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits in good numbers with a couple of Lapwing.

A good scan of the North Slope tree line did not produce owt and as the sky went black the wind got up and dumped some stinging hailstones on me,  I decided to slope off home.

Heading home, down in the dumps, with part of my trousers leg flapping around my ankles, I did actually manage a see couple of Linnet.

One Linnet was singing from the wall on Taylor Lane - don't know why it was so happy.Humf.

Of course the sun came out again to make things pretty again humf again!

 Mr. Grump

Difficult to hold the camera steady in the gusty wind

Skylarks in the grass

Here comes the storm

The only bird (that I could see) on the north lope - Meadow Pipit