Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Thwarted - by a bird!

It was a fine day today, so my wife and I decided to go for a walk in Dodd Wood near Keswick. I took the TH-F7E with the aim of making my first activation under my Wainwrights On The Air scheme from Dodd summit.

We had a pleasant stroll round the western and southern flanks of the fell with great views over Bassenthwaite Lake and Keswick. But as the summit came into view a new-looking wooden gate barred the way. On the other side was a wooden hut, a couple of men and a Land Rover.

We spoke to one of the men and he informed us that the Lake District Ospreys had returned from Africa just this morning, and had decided to nest in a tree close to the path. The route had been blocked off to prevent disturbance by members of the public. Because this had only just happened, there were no signs in place to advise walkers not to go that way if they wished to reach the summit. We had a quick look at the birds through the chap's binoculars and then retraced our steps.

We tried another way up to the summit but found that route was barred as well. So we called it a day. There probably is a way up to the top that avoids disturbing the birds but I'll wait for it to be signposted. Our next trip to Dodd will likely be with a tripod and spotting scope!

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