Monday 10 February 2014

Welcome!

This is my blog on which I'm recording my exploration of Hertfordshire (and surrounding counties). I only recently moved here and this is my record of how I get to know the area.

I've started with a local footpath that I can do as a circular walk from my house. I set out, on the Saturday just gone, in my walking boots and waterproofs. With me I took a camera, binoculars, a drink and some biscuits. In hindsight wellies would probably have been better than walking boots. There hasn't been much standing water round where I live (on a hill it has to be said) but as soon as I got onto the footpath it became apparent how squelchy and water-logged the ground has become – there wasn't a lot of standing water around but if there's much more rain here I imagine a lot of pools of standing water will start to appear.

The weather was bright and sunny but really windy. Admittedly I'd gone out after a couple of showers had passed, not wanting to start my exploration with a soaking. There weren't many birds around, probably due to the wind, but I could hear robins, blue tits and great tits in the trees.

Walking past a particular stand of trees I saw a group of goldfinches taking shelter as well as a pair of blue-tits. A bit further on I saw my first snowdrops of the year. There was also some dogwoods that made a colourful splash of purple-red against the brown/gray of the other trees.
 
 

As I turned a corner of the path I came up against a large pool of staniding water. It was impassible without wellies so, making a mental note to wear wellies next time, I turned round and retraced my steps home.