Alan, Allan,
Davie C, Gus, Jimmy, Johnny, Malcolm, Paul, Peter, Rex, Robert
The
beautiful weather of Tuesday had given way to a grey morning as we assembled at
Sorn. After a brief discussion about where to start today’s walk i.e. at Kames
or at our usual point off the Sorn Muirkirk road, it was agreed that the latter
option would suffice and so it was from here we set off at about 10a.m. Although
overcast, jackets were soon dispensed with as we made our way along this
familiar part of the River Ayr Way. Passing through Airds Moss Nature Reserve,
the bridge at Greenockmains was chosen for coffee and a blether
Soon we were
off again with Jimmy and Malcolm in the van (no wonder they were so fresh and
dry at the end of the walk!) and the next wee stop was at the wobbly bridge
over the river. Jimmy decided to try it and Malcolm, not knowing any better,
followed him holding his breath. It didn’t dawn on him that we weren’t going to
cross the river at this point, and when it was pointed out, as he reached the
far side, the air turned distinctly blue, accompanied by much laughter.
Two hours
into the walk and the rain began to fall, lightly at this stage, but enough to
encourage the retrieval of waterproofs from our rucksacks. However lunch was
not to be denied us as we stopped under the shelter of trees just prior to the
start of the boardwalk.
Here Jimmy
was able to point out some tree creepers (birds not local inhabitants) and
these along with oyster catchers and sandpipers made for a reasonable day out
for the ornithologists. At this point it has to be explained that it was the Lemon Pipers and not the
Sandpipers who had the 1968 hit, Green Tambourine. By the way, our resident
bird expert was rebuked for not being able to recognise empty birds’ eggs which
had been found en-route. He has been told never to let us down in this way
again and to go home and brush up on his knowledge. See if he cares!
The rain was
pretty heavy by the time we were negotiating the last stages of the walk as the
path snaked its way up and down and round towards Sorn and because of this we
took the easier option of returning to the cars by the main road rather than
using the higher level path. Four hours for the walk wasn’t bad and we were
glad that we hadn’t chosen the longer walk given the way the weather had turned
out.
It was
rather drookit ooters that huddled under the shelter at the car park to get dried
off and changed before heading to Mauchline and FRT at Poosie Nansie’s.
Notes from the naturalist: Though the weather was somewhat against us today, nature was in full springtime display. Marsh Marigolds decked the wetter areas by the riverside, bluebells were bursting in the wooded areas, lesser stitchwort was coming into flower, butterburr was in full flower,the spurge in the wet areas still held yellow and a full bank of primroses tumbled down the glen of the Windy Burn. Birdlife included Heron (many), Buzzard, Swallows and House Martins skimming the surface of the water for newly-hatched insects, two different pairs of Common Sandpiper, Pheasant, Treecreeper, Lapwing, Whaup (Curlew) and Oystercatcher. Butterfies were not so common withe only a few Peacock worth the noting. But mammals hid themselves from the weather (or from us) today.
PS the egg shell was definitely Pheasant. Am I forgiven?
1 comment:
Jimmy has added some naturalist detail to this blog.
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