But for covid travel restrictions we should have been in Mallorca over New Year. With that sadly having to be cancelled we were determined to do something with our time off work. A quick Airbnb search revealed a nice cottage on the very edge of Wirksworth for a reasonable price so it was back to our beloved Peak District for some winter walking.
We walked the following routes/areas:
Day 1 - Black Rock, High Peak junction, Cromford Canal, Cromford and Bolehill
Day 2 - Dovedale to Milldale and return
Day 3 - Burbage Rocks, Carl Mark Iron Age Fort and Higger Tor
Day 4 - Harboro Rocks
For 3 of the days we had bright clear blue skies but on day 3 it was extremely wintery with the walk being completed in a blizzard sweeping across the moors! The drive back to Wirksworth after that was very dodgy in rapidly worsening road conditions.
Naturewise it was just the usual suspects with 9+ Dippers and 2 Ravens along Dovedale, 5 Red Grouse on Burbage Moor and a mix of Nuthatches, Grey Wagtails and Mistle Thrushes. There were plenty of Little Grebes along the Cromford Canal and a visit to Carsington Water very late in the day on day 2 yielded the Red-necked Grebe after a little while searching from the main visitor centre area. Several Fieldfares were in the gardens around our cottage in the harsh weather on day 3.
On the way home 5 Red Kites were seen along the A14 near Corby.
It's interesting to reflect that just a dozen years ago Corby (and the A14 nearby) was the nearest place to see Red Kites...
ReplyDeleteSuper photos!