Festivities are over - on with the show

The safari had a gentle stroll round the village of Storth on the estuary of the rivers Keer and Kent this morning. The tide was in and the pair of Goosanders seen as we drove in yesterday were not present for a photo oportunity and year tick. A couple of Marsh Tits were seen in the woods but there was nothing much about at all bird wise on the river but the scenery was superb looking towards the Lake District National Park. Not seen that much snow on the fells since I lived there in the early 1980s - over half a lifetime ago now - jeez Old Father Time is marching on! Our friends' new bird table was producing the goods in the morning with the usual garden fare, a cracking male Pheasant strutting around the frozen front lawn as we ate our traditional post walk New Years Day mega English breakfast of bacon, Cumberland sausage, eggs, mushrooms, tomatos, and best of all fried bread.

The Langdale Pikes include the glorious easy scramble Jack's Rake seen as the diagonal line running bottom right towards top left on the cliff face. Not so easy in these conditions indeed potentially leathal on the tricky exposed bit two thirds of the way up.

The highest (middle) peak is Harrison Stickle which also has a interesting scramble with a fun finish. You appear as if 'from nowhere' at the feet of the 'mere ramblers' as they sip their tea admiring the view from the summit cairn - gave one of them quite a start last time I did it; tee hee! The pointy left hand summit is Pike o'Stickle, it is lower than Harrison Stickle but rarely looks it. It has a stone axe 'factory' on the scree slope just below the summit - never found one though but the scree run is a quick if scary run down the fell. Oh to still have the ice axe and crampons...still got the techy mountaineering jacket but I doubt if it still fits...

As we loaded the car to leave there was a pair of Ravens cronking from the top of a tall tree in the village...

Where to next? The increasingly mobile Ring Necked Duck has relocated back this side of the river.

In the meantime let us know how your tick list is progressing in your outback