Friday 30 April 2010

This morning's run was to Bottisham and Lode, then back via Lode Mill along the old railway line. Weather was dry but slightly cloudy and quite windy, not too cold. The track was damp from yesterday's rain but not muddy. Still some stiffness so a slow time of 53'10" for this 9km route.

A single Swallow seen at either end of Bottisham, a couple over Station Road, Quy where the bridleway joins and a couple further on. Also in Station Road there were at least 14 House Martins and another 1 in Vicarage Meadow. A Great Spotted Woodpecker in Mill Road, Lode. A couple of Chiffchaffs heard singing. 2 Jays along the railway line.

Wednesday 28 April 2010

A gentle run to Lode Mill with Joanna this morning. Weather was dry, bright and cool. Distance 4.6miles in around 48 minutes.

A Swallow over the house as we set out. 6 House Martins in Station Road today and 6 Whitethroats heard singing. A fairly large carp was in Quy Water near the mill. A Green Woodpecker in the grounds of Anglesey Abbey by the mill and a Muntjac in the grounds near the house. Another Muntjac was seen in Station Road. A Reed Bunting along Quy Water and 2 Lapwings flying around the field bordering the Anglesey Abbey woods. A Mallard duck on Quy Water with 4 ducklings.

Tuesday 27 April 2010

A morning run to the end of White Fen Drove (7.8 miles). The weather was bright and sunny and fairly warm by the end. The paths were dry, despite the rain at the weekend, but the grassy stretches were dewy. Time 1hr15'03".

4 House Martins in Station Road Quy and 2 Swallows a further 3 Swallows in Lode, 1 in the usual place at the cottages and 2 at the start of White Fen Drove. At least 8 Whitethroats seen/heard in various places and about 3 Chiffchaffs. A Grey Wagtail was at Lode Mill. A mle Linnet was just passed the farm on White Fen Drove. A Green Woodpecker seen towards the end of White Fen Drove, also a single Roe Deer here. Several Wrens, Yellowhammers, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Great Tits singing. A few Goldfinches and Greenfinches seen. A Heron was flying near Quy Water, a Kestrel was near the old station in Lode and a Jay along the old railway track.

The grassy stretch of White Fen Drove.

Wednesday 21 April 2010

An evening run down White Fen Drove and back via Quy Fen. The weather was dry and bright. Paths remain free of mud. Total distance run 8.7 miles in 1 hr 19'45".

I saw my first House Martin of the year in Station Road, Quy. There was 1 on my way out (quite high up) and 1 when I came back. A Green Woodpecker in the horse field at the start of Quy Water and another just before Lode Mill (same spot as last run). 2 Swallows at the cottages on Fen Road and a Reed Bunting a bit further down the road. A Pied Wagtail was seen on the wide track leading to Quy Fen. Finally a Goldfinch seen at the end of the bridleway.

Green Woodpecker at Quy Water

Monday 19 April 2010

A 10k run this morning to the start of White Fen Drove. Weather was cloudy and cool. Still no rain so the tracks remain dry. Some stiffness in the legs this morning. Time 56'20".

A Reed Bunting was seen along Quy Water just before Anglesey Abbey. 2 Jays seen a bit further along in the woods and a Green Woodpecker just before Lode Mill. A Kestrel and a Lapwing were seen along Fen Road. A Swallow was flying along the lode just before White Fen Drove and another was on the roof of the cottages again. Lots of Wrens singing this morning also Song Thrushes and a few Yellowhammers. 2 Goldfinches in Station Road, Quy. Several Moorhens along Quy Water.

Saturday 17 April 2010

A 10 mile run today to the end of White Fen Drove and then across to Oily Hall. The weather was warm and sunny, with just a slight breeze. A quick start with a time of just 16 minutes to Lode Mill. Overall a good time of 1 hour 28'46".

A Kingfisher was seen along Fen Road Lode both on the way out and coming back. Kestrel in Station Road, Quy and another in Fen Road, Lode. 2 Skylarks in the field leading to Oily Hall. A Green Woodpecker was seen on the way back just after Lode Mill. A Hare was in the field at the end of the old railway line and where this joins the bridleway there was a Brown Rat.

A lot of decent-sized fish seen in Bottisham Lode and at Lode Mill.

Thursday 15 April 2010

Today's run was to the end of White Fen Drove (7.8 miles). Weather was dry, but rather cold. Paths remain dry as we have had no rain this week. Time taken was 1hr 12 minutes.

A pair of Mallards on Quy Water has ducklings. A pair of Bullfinches seen along Quy Water just before Anglesey Abbey, there was also a Sparrowhawk here at the edge of the woods. A Jay was seen just before Lode Mill and another 2 at the end of White Fen Drove. 2 Golden Plovers flew over as I was running along Fen Road, Lode. A Kestrel in Fen Road and a singing Chiffchaff. Several Moorhens around.

4 pairs of partridges in White Fen Drove and 2 pairs of Roe Deer.

Tuesday 13 April 2010

A 10k run this morning along Quy Water to Lode Mill then out as far as the start of White Fen Drove before turning back and returning along the old railway line. Quite a cold start with some ground frost. The conditions however were good with the path along Quy Water past Anglesey Abbey very dry. The only muddy patch was the short stretch of track leading to the old railway from Lode. My time of 55'45" was reasonable given my stiffness after Sunday's 10 mile race.

A Great-Spotted Woodpecker was on a telegraph pole in Station Quy both on the way out and and coming back. A Green Woodpecker heard in the trees as Anglesey Abbey. Several Wrens, Great Tits and Song Thrushes singing and plenty of Chaffinches around, a couple of Goldfinches too. A Lapwing was displaying over the field just before Anglesey Abbey. A Swallow was on the roof of the cottages in Fen Road, Lode. A Sparrowhawk in Lode.

A large clump of Marsh Marigolds flowering well in Bottisham Lode.

A Muntjac along Quy Water in the trees at Anglesey Abbey and 2 Roe Deer just before White Fen Drove.

Sunday 11 April 2010 - Sandy 10

Ran in the Sandy 10 - 10 mile road race on Sunday morning. It was fiarly warm at times, despite the weather being generally a few degrees cooler than the day before. It was a good course starting with 2 miles uphill then 6 on the flat followed by a downhill finish.

2 Chiffchaffs signing at Hazells Hall, several Skylarks in the fields between Everton and Potton. A Nuthatch heard in the sand hills on the downhill stretch back into Sandy.

Friday 9 April 2010

I ran the 10k route to Lode and out to the start of White Fen drove. Weather was fine and dry and slightly cool. The path along Quy Water through the woods at Anglesey Abbey was fairly dry.

A Chiffchaff signing in the woods at Anglesey Abbey. Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming at Lode Mill and at the same spot a Green Woodpecker calling from the grounds of Anglesey Abbey. Several Chaffinches seen and a few Yellowhammers. Also several Wrens heard singing and at least 3 Song Thrushes. 2 Red-Legged Partridges seen.

Along Fen Road in Lode there were 2 Roe Deer and a Lapwing chased off a passing Crow. At the cottages along Fen Road there were 2 Swallows.

The old railway track

Friday 2 April 2010

A morning run to Swaffham Bulbeck, along Swaffham Bulbeck Lode and back through White Fen to Lode and Lode Mill. Weather conditions were fine, dry not too cold and only a light wind. Total distance run of 10.6 miles (17.1km) in 1hr 31".

Not a great deal of wildlife seen, but there were a couple of Roe Deer on White Fen and another 2 at the top end of White Fen Drove.

Swaffham Bulbeck Lode - Looking back towards Swaffham Bulbeck. Ran along the right hand bank .

Swaffham Bulbeck Lode - Looking towards the River Cam.

Tuesday 30 March 2010

An evening run today. I decided to try out an extension to the route that takes me to White Fen. At the end of White Fen Drove a track leads off to the left which then cuts diagonally across a grassy field (after crossing a narrow wooden bridge over a ditch). The track then passes Oily Hall, another National trust piece of land, which is currently being grazed by some sheep to keep the scrub down. The track then rejoins Fen Road which passes a polo club before returning to Lode on my usual route. The total length of this run is 9.9 miles and I managed a time of 1 hr 31'15". The second half of the run was into a strong head wind with driving rain, so the time was not too bad.

Total distance for March 2010 of 103.3 miles (165.7 km).

The windy and rainy conditions were not good for birds but between White Fen and Oily Hall I saw a Grey Heron, 2 Meadow Pipits and a flock of 18 Snipe flew low over the field. There was also a single Roe Deer just out of Lode.

The narrow wooden bridge