Sussex
Scrapbook ~ Wildlife walks throughout the year
Saturday 11th February 2012
Billingshurst - Pulborough
9 miles
This walk started off
with raised voices - well mine actually! While Gill was using the toilet at
Billingshurst station I made my way over to the shop to get some 'emergency'
chocolate. Suddenly a
driving instructor came
motoring over the level crossing and past the shop with his head down busily
tapping away on his phone: I couldn't believe it. A few minutes later I saw him
coming back down the road and so I stepped out and with a raised arm I pulled
him to a stop. I demanded to know if he taught his students to do that too and
then went on to let him know that I thought he was an absolute disgrace!
We then had a beautiful but bitingly cold walk on snow and ice along the
Wey and
Arun Canal on the
Wey South Path.
Despite the terrible conditions of late we spotted
34 species of bird including 2
Snipe,
a
Bullfinch, a
Goldcrest, lots of
Treecreepers,
Lapwing,
Fieldfares and
Redwing. The sky and the trees seemed permanently full of flocks and
birdsong so hopefully this cold spell has not been as devastating to the avian
population as the past few winters have been.
I'm in the process of updating our tattered, torn, burnt and bitten old collection of
Sussex OS maps to the new indestructible and waterproof
Active maps. It's just as well too as we found that our map of this area was
completely out of date and the route of the Wey South Path had changed
considerably since we bought our map... in 1999!
The theme of the day was ... ICE.
Redwing
A Highland Cow with the largest horns we've ever seen on one!
I think there be rabbits in these parts!
Hoar frost on the planking at
Lordings Lock.
Icy Teasel.
The canal was completely frozen over with tiny footprints printed across it.
.JPG)
A very bright, sunny day - perfect for walking. That's
Toat Monument prominent in the distance.
Gill liked this
gate fastener because it was rusty and shiny. So I made up a new word for
her - shusty!
A 'shusty' Beech hedge at Sheepwash Farm. Almost the same colour as the fox we
saw a few minutes later.
Take the time to read the countryside code for yourself and please stick to it at all times.