Hey Blog! This week is a mix of things, including a walk, one of my favourite TV programs, and a bird I’ve longed to see but never seen (yet…).
Yesterday Mum found out (see, parents do have complex nets of spies searching the countryside, don’t they!) that there were hawfinches to be seen in Cromford. Cromford is a really nice town up the Derwent valley. It has Sir Richard Arkwright’s mills, the first cotton mills in the world and the birthplace of both the industrial revolution and the factory system; the best bookshop in the world (in my opinion, it has an amazing café and both indoor and outdoor seating at the top, all hidden behind a door of books; rooms full of books that go all around the place with three stories; it seems to be built on a foundation of books!); and is the north end of the Cromford canal, which Arkwright haggled over when it was being built so he got a bumper share of the profits! Either way, this morning, we went up on the train to Cromford and went round to have a look.
We were reported to on the bridge over the river that the Hawfinches had been there this morning, but had vanished, most likely because of the children who were running around underneath the trees where the birds were (could someone please tell them to move it when there are Hawfinches around?). We decided to go over to the bench which had been suggested to get a bit closer so we could see if they decided to come back.
Did we see them? No, of course not. They’ve done this before, for which reason we call them Haw-haw-hawfiches – they laugh at us every time as they aren’t in sight. Actually, Hawfinches don’t make a laughing sound, they make a sound more like a cheep. However, we did have a very nice walk back along the Cromford Canal. The canal was iced over, and it looked like a bird had walked over it – if a bird was four times as big as a golden eagle and could freeze water as it stepped on it. Which it could if it was a magic bird, I suppose. However, I’ve never seen one, nor has anyone else, so I’m putting the water patterns down to Jack Frost (who I’ve also never seen, nor has anyone else) – OK, OK, let’s just say they were scientifical patterns the water made as it froze. Actually, the bird is a lot more exiting though…
It doesn’t take long to get home along the canal, though that is probably due to the fact that I have very long legs, inherited from my Dad, which speed me along. We did not see all that much, except a Dipper, a few Little Grebes, some Mallards, and a Coot. However, we are going to round off the day by taking dinner upstairs and watching Winterwatch, the winter wildlife program. There are three seasons of the Watches: Springwatch, Autumnwatch, and Winterwatch. They are presented by Chris Packham, among others. They always aim to bring you “the very best of British wildlife”. Now I’d better go upstairs…