Bolton Abbey

as it was none rainy day, we decided we would go to bolton abbey for a walk to see if there was anything around. On the first corner coming up-river towards the cafe, there were three mandarin ducks, though only

2 on the water, a third sat with the mallards.

-Mandarin males
Walking through the woods, spotted this rather tame robin, less than a meter away, so I got down to take some photos

-Robin
I got distracted off the path, and found myself looking out of the woods into a feild, where overhead there were a couple of buzzards, and a curlew flying over, which was interesting to see these two completely different birds being so close to each other.

-Buzzard 
On the way back, we got the novelty sight of watching some mallards get covered in scum, looking like they had large white beards or something.

-Mallards 
Walking back towards the car, I went on the loop round the rivers bend to see if I could see the Mandarins again. However, I saw a new bird for the year in the form of red kite. There were quite a few circling above the trees, but they were a way off, so were difficult to identify at first, until I looked at my photos and recognised the distinct forked tail. In the feild they were circling over, there was also a lapwing displaying.

-Red Kite
Walking under the bridge to get back to the car, I spotted the first goosanders of the day. They were on the other side of the river, so my photos are really poor. However, it just gopes to show that they are still there, though theres no reason why they would not be.

-Goosanders
And so we went home, and ended a very exciting day.