Toad in the Wold

A windy day made Mrs Wolds-End and I decide to have a walk down a dale in the Yorkshire Wolds. Leaving the chilly wind blowing over the high ground we descended towards an area of woodland that gave us a few minutes enjoying a calmer day with the sun shining between the rows of trees. On leaving the wood we were disappointed to find that the steep sides of the dale gave little shelter and in fact channeled wind down until it hit another steep slope and doubled back towards us. There was little bird life to be heard and I was sad to see a fair number of empty shotgun cartridges and a few piles of pigeon feathers!

Turning into another dale we saw two Brown hares running up the slope.

Moving down we came across a pond and on investigating surface movement and croaking sounds we saw Common toads in "amorous" groups.

At one side of the pond away from the toads there was evidence that frogs had performed their ritual earlier as there was a large quantity of frog spawn. This small area of water, full of duck and pond weed, seems to be a wildlife haven.

After walking up one of the steep slopes we turned around retracing our steps and sought the shelter of woodland to enjoy the contents of a flask. 

A Kestrel flew over but stayed too high and far away for a good photograph. 

Time then to climb out of the dale on to the top of the Wolds and journey home.