Boundary

I made the most of a fine day by taking a longer loop walk up onto the higher moors.

I headed across Baildon Moor to Sconce, then up Sconce Lane and Old Wood Lane to join Hawksworth Moor at Intake Gate. I’d been recording the odd butterfly (and a Brown Hare) en route, but on Hawksworth Moor I spent a fair time combing the bilberry patches for Green Hairstreak and saw 50+ (and another hare) which was a good number.  

Turning left to head over to Horncliffe Well, I noticed something scurrying across the path and realised it was a Common Lizard, the first I have seen locally (although they are known to be about). Alongside the ubiquitous Red Grouse (extra) were Kestrel, Lapwing, Curlew, Skylark, Willow Warbler and Swallows (extra) which are now back at Moorside and Faweather. No sound of a Cuckoo yet though.

For my main image I’ve gone for a combination of wildlife and heritage, with a Meadow Pipit perched on the boundary fence separating Hawksworth and Bingley Moors, with Reva Reservoir behind. The eighteenth century boundary stone mentions Thomas Pulleyn, former lord of the manor  at Burley Hall, who died in 1759

A date with the football meant I had to hurry a little bit on the homeward leg. I just had time to get some tea before catching the train into Bradford for this evening’s League Two fixture against Notts County. A 1-1 draw was a fair result, but City really needed a win to strengthen their claim to an automatic promotion slot. It is very tight between six teams for three slots and it looks like it will go down to the last game of the season. Three games to go…