The Lancashire Coastal Way
Tags buzzard, lancashire coastal way, ribble, rook, teal
1st Leg: Newton Marsh to Naze Pool (About 8 miles)
Having decided to walk the 137 miles of The Lancashire Coastal Way, I set off at 7.30 this morning for the 1 hour bus journey from Blackpool, to the start of the walk in the village of Freckleton, on the north shore of the River Ribble estuary.
The weather was kind to me, in that it did not rain, sleet or snow as the forecasters said it might do. Instead, it was around 4 degrees celcius with an 8 mph SE wind and very overcast skies.
Strictly speaking, the walk starts in Freckleton on Naze Lane East, but I wanted to go and have a look at nearby Newton Marsh, a further 1½ miles down the road.
As soon as I arrived I set up my scope and scanned the pools to see what was about - Wigeon city! There was 300+ but all fairly distant. Some of the pools come quite close to the road where I was viewing, but nothing was using them at the time. The only other bird I could see amongst the Wigeon were some Mallards, and only a small, scattered handful of around 12.
On the walk back to freckleton, I saw two flocks of Carrion Crows numbering around 35 - the most I have ever seen together. I counted 17 all sat together in the top of a tree which looked impressive. In the fields with the sheep were 17 Rooks, a bird I don't often see and in the hedgerows I saw 5 Long-tailed tits and around 6 House Sparrows.
Back in Freckleton, I started the walk down Naze Lane East, towards Dow Brook, which as it widens and nears the River Ribble, becomes Naze Pools.
This section of the coastal way is a narrow, fenced in path, at the top of a very steep bank that overlooks the brook and pools. The bank sides are densely wooded and as a consequence, the views are sadly lacking. There are just a couple of places along the way where the pools can be viewed and a scope is essential. There are three wooden bridges over small riverlets and several styles to negotiate along the way.
On the brook I saw about 7 Teal and on Naze Pools there were around 30+ Shelducks, 8 Coot, and 9 Mallards.
Along the path I saw Blackbirds (7), Blue tits (4), Great tits (4), Wrens (5), and Collared doves (6).
At the end of the path you are diverted through a field to avoid a nearby farm-house. I shared the field with a flock of sheep that watched me suspiciously and moved out of my way with contempt as I approached. Whilst crossing this field I saw a Buzzard, circling and soaring over the pools. The end of the field is the nearest point to the farm-house and I was greeted noisily by a rather large Doberman - fortunately he was the other side of a tall wrought iron gate, but I still didn't hang about and negotiated the style in record time
Once passed the farm house, the path continues again for a short distance, before coming to an abrupt end at the top of steep bank that leads down to the River Ribble.
The coastal way continues along the tide line of the river for about 2 miles, until it reaches Warton Marsh. This was originally on my itineray, then a walk along Lytham promenade to Fairhaven lake to finish the day.
The shores of the Ribble were, however, completely unpassable. With each footstep, I sank further in and eventually the mud was at the top of my boots. It occured to me that I have 2 miles of this to endure, the tide was coming in and nobody knew I was here. So, after a couple of hundred yards, I beat a hasty retreat
I did, however, see around 40 Black-headed gulls, 6 Great Black-backed gulls, another 40+ Crows feeding in a field with the gulls, 6 Moorhens, 2 Magpies, 8 Woodpigeons, 6 Mute Swans and on a distant sand bank, around 200+ Lapwings.
Having retraced my steps back to Freckleton, it was now 2pm and I decided to call it a day. I shall have to commence leg 2 of the walk from the other end of Warton Marsh at a later date.
It wasn't long before a Blackpool bound bus whisked me off and I'm now writing this blog with my slippers on and my boots slung over the clothes line
Having decided to walk the 137 miles of The Lancashire Coastal Way, I set off at 7.30 this morning for the 1 hour bus journey from Blackpool, to the start of the walk in the village of Freckleton, on the north shore of the River Ribble estuary.
The weather was kind to me, in that it did not rain, sleet or snow as the forecasters said it might do. Instead, it was around 4 degrees celcius with an 8 mph SE wind and very overcast skies.
Strictly speaking, the walk starts in Freckleton on Naze Lane East, but I wanted to go and have a look at nearby Newton Marsh, a further 1½ miles down the road.
As soon as I arrived I set up my scope and scanned the pools to see what was about - Wigeon city! There was 300+ but all fairly distant. Some of the pools come quite close to the road where I was viewing, but nothing was using them at the time. The only other bird I could see amongst the Wigeon were some Mallards, and only a small, scattered handful of around 12.
On the walk back to freckleton, I saw two flocks of Carrion Crows numbering around 35 - the most I have ever seen together. I counted 17 all sat together in the top of a tree which looked impressive. In the fields with the sheep were 17 Rooks, a bird I don't often see and in the hedgerows I saw 5 Long-tailed tits and around 6 House Sparrows.
Back in Freckleton, I started the walk down Naze Lane East, towards Dow Brook, which as it widens and nears the River Ribble, becomes Naze Pools.
This section of the coastal way is a narrow, fenced in path, at the top of a very steep bank that overlooks the brook and pools. The bank sides are densely wooded and as a consequence, the views are sadly lacking. There are just a couple of places along the way where the pools can be viewed and a scope is essential. There are three wooden bridges over small riverlets and several styles to negotiate along the way.
On the brook I saw about 7 Teal and on Naze Pools there were around 30+ Shelducks, 8 Coot, and 9 Mallards.
Along the path I saw Blackbirds (7), Blue tits (4), Great tits (4), Wrens (5), and Collared doves (6).
At the end of the path you are diverted through a field to avoid a nearby farm-house. I shared the field with a flock of sheep that watched me suspiciously and moved out of my way with contempt as I approached. Whilst crossing this field I saw a Buzzard, circling and soaring over the pools. The end of the field is the nearest point to the farm-house and I was greeted noisily by a rather large Doberman - fortunately he was the other side of a tall wrought iron gate, but I still didn't hang about and negotiated the style in record time
Once passed the farm house, the path continues again for a short distance, before coming to an abrupt end at the top of steep bank that leads down to the River Ribble.The coastal way continues along the tide line of the river for about 2 miles, until it reaches Warton Marsh. This was originally on my itineray, then a walk along Lytham promenade to Fairhaven lake to finish the day.
The shores of the Ribble were, however, completely unpassable. With each footstep, I sank further in and eventually the mud was at the top of my boots. It occured to me that I have 2 miles of this to endure, the tide was coming in and nobody knew I was here. So, after a couple of hundred yards, I beat a hasty retreat
I did, however, see around 40 Black-headed gulls, 6 Great Black-backed gulls, another 40+ Crows feeding in a field with the gulls, 6 Moorhens, 2 Magpies, 8 Woodpigeons, 6 Mute Swans and on a distant sand bank, around 200+ Lapwings.
Having retraced my steps back to Freckleton, it was now 2pm and I decided to call it a day. I shall have to commence leg 2 of the walk from the other end of Warton Marsh at a later date.
It wasn't long before a Blackpool bound bus whisked me off and I'm now writing this blog with my slippers on and my boots slung over the clothes line
Total Comments 6
Comments
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Well done on the start of your walk, Alan! You saw some great species and in good numbers most of them too. I would also have beaten a hasty retreat from walking the shoreline to Warton Marsh, a sensible decision! Always another day isn't there.
Super photo's, especially the last one! I can imagine it would look rather spooky there on a night with a full moon.lol!
Hope your boots recover from the mud!
Looking forward to the next chapter of your walk.Posted 21-01-10 at 08:23 AM by Little Sparrow
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A great read of your first stage Alan,well done!
I love the pics too especially the 2 Teal,I hope your boots dry out in time for the next stage!
Now I'm going to go all motherly on you and insist that you let someone know of your whereabouts next time.......that coast is notorious for it's mud banks & quick tides as i'm sure you know......lecture over!!
Posted 21-01-10 at 08:48 AM by Twitcheruth
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Thanks for your comments Judith & Ruth,
T'other half was aware of my itinerary Ruth, but if the worst had of come to the worst, 8 hours would have passed before dinner was missed and there was a break in the current battle in World of War Craft
Don't worry too much, I'm seriously a no risk taker!Posted 21-01-10 at 10:25 AM by alanjns
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Glad to hear that Alan!Quote:Originally Posted by alanjns
Don't worry too much, I'm seriously a no risk taker!Posted 21-01-10 at 10:28 AM by Twitcheruth
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If you make it every tuesday without fail ..ill take my hat of to you......!Posted 21-01-10 at 06:32 PM by bassist
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Keep your hat on!
It will all depend on the WWW - Work, Weather & Wine!
But I can safely say; ''it 'aint gonna happen'', 'cos the week after next I'm off to Cov to visit family.
I will, however, try to do a leg per week at all other times, so maybe you can just doff your capPosted 21-01-10 at 07:00 PM by alanjns
Updated 21-01-10 at 10:55 PM by alanjns
