The Blue Forest
One thing I really like doing is getting lost in the woods because I always know I will eventually find my way out…
This was my first visit to the Blue Forest and of course I strayed from the main route, lost the way and almost run over an adder for the second time this year….both times I nearly fell off my bike! 😮
An Evening in the Lanes
When the weather is so hot as it has been the last weeks I tend to spend more time in the narrow lanes between the pastures…the lanes are all lined with trees and vegetation and are a good place to search for various insects and birds, also providing a pleasant alternative and shelter from the oppressive heat of the marsh and open pasture. Lately I have found a couple of quite narrow lanes such as the one shown in the image below which I assume is meant to be a footpath….the route is lined with tree roots making the way quite bumpy and potentially very wet if I lose my concentration for a split second. 😉
Small fields seperated by lines of trees make a perfect habitat for the buzzard…I seem to hear them quite a lot at the moment…this young buzzard was soaring about making himself heard…
If you look carefully in the top left-hand corner of this last image you can see one of the many dragonflies that were hunting in the lanes.
Le Tour…
The wind was in my back most of the way, the scenic route I had in mind was leading to one of the few areas of raised bog in the country on the Friesland/Drenthe border…
The route I had chosen was roughly twenty-five miles to my destination through pasture and forest. The most notable part of the journeys’ avian soundtrack were yellowhammers, a bird which I don’t get to hear so often…
On my arrival I was stunned by the scale of this nature reserve which was too big to explore completely…I only managed to see the Frisian part of the reserve, the Drenthe area is twice the size.
My interest in this nature reserve were initially spurred on by rumours of cranes…unfortunately on this day they were nowhere to be seen…I did however managed to sight many spoonbills and the odd egret. Further investigation will definitely be necessary in the future…
The return journey was somewhat more tiresome, this time I had to cycle against the wind and even lost the way adding more miles to my already exhausted legs…so about halfway I needed to boost my rapidly dwindling energy levels with an ice cream and a sugary drink. All in all by the end of the day I had almost cycled sixty-five miles…probably more with all the exploring on the marsh… 😎
a heartical view 