Christine's walking & birds blog

This is a round walk of roughly seven miles we used to do years ago from home; and as I wanted to be "green" today I set off on foot along the road to Cliveden woodlands.

I opened my account with a blackcap singing on a bare twig, but failed to see goldcrest or firecrest despite hearing both.

I left Cliveden by the "side" gate which put me on the road above Hedsor Hill. Passing through what used to be Tiny Rowland's place, I paused on the wooden bridge. A family of long-tailed tits made a lot of noise above me, and a treecreeper came quite close. I walked out into a lovely meadow of poppies and had lunch on the bank of the stream.

Cookham Bridge gave me swallows, sand martins and house martins. It was then along Mill Lane to the tow path opposite Cliveden. A family of mistle thrushes was a nice sight far out on the horse pastures. (Used to be cows here - yet another farm has gone, it would seem, and the lovely landscape that grazing cattle maintain has gone with it. Horses are messy - and anyway, they're posh.)

All along the towpath I watched out for kingfishers. There have been kingfishers along this stretch of the Thames for as long as I can remember - but it seemed I would not be lucky today.

A couple seeing me bird-watching stopped to tell me that they lived nearby and had recently picked up a dead kingfisher which flew into their window. That was a blow. However, just after they'd gone, I was scanning the far bank when I saw one - perhaps the mate of the dead one. It didn't seem in any hurry but sat preening for some time.

Several female Mandarins were seen: one with a single duckling, one with two ducklings, one with six and then this one along the lock cut which had, I think, seven.

I made a diversion to take in Ray Mill Island. We used to cycle down there as kids, when the entrance was much more thrilling than it is now. You went along a narrow footpath behind the hotel; high wooden fences meant you couldn't see anything, but you could hear the rush of the water where it was channelled through culverts (the mill race?) beneath you. Then you came out onto a lovely little roofed bridge (now gone, alas), turned left - and you were on the island.

Today I saw three grey wagtails at the weir - and the kingfisher I'd picked up from the towpath. It still showed no signs of having young to look after.

From Maidenhead Bridge I took a photo of this nice old boat-shed before that disappears too.

40 species were seen on the walk, with a further three heard only. The last "ticks" were two lapwings flying over Skindles and a whitethroat near the Jubilee River.