The Dee and Thereabouts

Tag: wildflowers

  • Wagtails along the Alyn

    Sunday 17th May

    Back to Loggerheads Country Park in Denbighshire this morning. The temperature was 12°C and there was a very gentle wind (WSW), although the odd cold gust blew through the woods. Overcast when we first arrived, the sun shone through from mid-morning onwards.

        We were greeted by lots of lovely pale, pink flowers on long stems with large leaves at their base – the common bistort certainly catches the eye.

    Bistorts at Loggerheads

    Common bistort

        A pair of House martins have constructed a nest up in the eaves of the gift shop once again and we watched as both parents shared feeding duties, each darting in with insects caught on the wing. We saw two chicks that briefly revealed themselves, although there may be more.     

    House martin entering nest

    House martin entering nest and (below)about to emerge in search of more insects for its chicks

    House martin leaving nest

        The woods are thriving now, with lush green grasses and leaves sprouting everywhere and with the chorusing of birds and the liquid sound of running water. Apart from the bistorts, there are occasional little bursts of buttercups, herb robert, red campion, dog violets, and Welsh poppies too. Our nostrils detected the pungent aroma of wild garlic which was being gently wafted by the light wind. Pure vitality fills the senses.

    Leete path

        To the sound of two Song thrushes singing across the woods to each other – they may have been throwing out challenges or merely chatting loudly – we carried on along the Leete path.

        Nuthatches and Great tits fed from the impromptu ‘feeding table’ at the water’s edge – these two species seem to tolerate one another probably because they’re roughly the same size. However, we did see a Nuthatch shooing away a Blue tit which is smaller in size. The bully!

    Great tit and Nuthatch

    Great tit and Nuthatch tolerating one another

       Disappointingly, the Dippers seem to have abandoned their nest to move elsewhere and we were unable to locate them this time.

    Abandoned Dipper nest

    The recently abandoned Dipper nest, beneath which the river has clearly receded

    We had noticed today that the Alyn was a little lower than it was a fortnight ago, resulting in the waterflow vanishing from below their nest. As Dipper chicks dive straight into the water directly beneath once they’re ready to fledge, this seems to be the obvious reason for the nest being abandoned. However, as Dippers are early nesters, it’s quite possible that any young might have already fledged, in which case the nest would be abandoned naturally. Hard to say.

    River Alyn low water

        Still, we were encouraged to see that the Grey wagtails have bred successfully and we saw the proud father, with the distinctive black bib of its breeding plumage, shadowing two fledglings as they all flew up and down the River Alyn. (The mother came out later, too!). After they leave the nest, Grey wagtail fledglings are still dependant on their parents for food for a further week or two.

    Two Grey wagtails

    The two fledglings have very little yellow on them…

    grey wagtail solo

        I’m not sure that the male was feeding his offspring today, though. Rather, he appeared to be simply accompanying them up and down the river, gathering together on rocks mid-stream before flying off again. Perhaps he was familiarising the two fledglings to their surroundings although, quite soon, these two youngsters will have to leave their parents’ territory and find places of their own. Their parents might then go on to produce one or two more broods.

    Grey wagtail male?

    …unlike their mother!

        It’s reassuring that the water is clean enough for the Grey wagtails to find food in and to have produced at least this one brood, anyway. We’ll keep a look-out for any future Grey wagtail fledglings and also remain vigilant in our search to locate any Dippers once again. But that’s for another time!

    The important stuff

    As is customary, we finished off our outing at The Mill House café (Tŷ’r Felin), where we each had a very welcome cappuccino accompanied by a slice of Millionaire’s shortbread (Stu) and a Mars bar krispi (Col). Lovely!

  • The Lush Woods

    (Sunday 3rd May, 2026)

    Over to Loggerheads Country Park in Denbighshire this morning. despite the low temperature (9°C), it was dry and the air was full of birdsong. In fact, even as we left the car park we heard a Chiffchaff singing from a nearby tree: we caught a brief glimpse of the bird before it climbed out of view.

        As we approached the stone bridge that leads onto the Leete path, a stoat sprinted across our route. It was gone in the blink of an eye and, for a brief moment, I was the only one who seemed to have seen it. However, another walker confirmed he’d seen it too which was reassuring!

    garlic Loggerheads

    Wild garlic in full flower

        We were last here at the end of March when most of the trees were still leafless and there were very few flowers growing, but what a difference we saw today. Welsh poppies, primroses and dog violets offered splashes of colour on each side of the path. The white flowers of the wild garlic were carpeting the undergrowth from the edges of both banks of the river now, and the mild aroma was just lovely.

    Welsh poppies Loggerheads
    dog violets Loggerheads

    Welsh poppies and dog violets

        The ash, hazel, and sycamore trees that line the path are all in leaf now, as are other trees such as beeches and birches that lie deeper in the woods. Together with the ferns and mosses (and evergreens!), everywhere you look there are vibrant shades of green. It was such a visual contrast to our last visit.  

    Dipper on another rock

    White-throated Dipper

        We were very pleased to see that the White-throated dipper was back at Loggerheads – we hadn’t seen any Dippers here since early February, although they might simply have been exploring another part of the river. This particular Dipper watched the waters from a rock, bobbing up and down in characteristic fashion. Every so often it walked into the river, submerging itself to collect aquatic invertebrates or whatever else it might find edible. It then took its food across to what we’re certain is its nest: the Dipper kept going to the same place and coming back with its beak empty. We suspect that the female might have already laid her eggs inside the nest, so we’ll keep watch and may have more to report at a future date.

    Dipper on rock
    Dipper in Alyn

    Top: Dipper, mid-bob and, bottom: Going for a dip. (If you look closely at each picture, you can see it has caught some food in its beak).

        A constant patroller of this stretch of the River Alyn is the Grey wagtail. We usually see just the one bird, but today we saw two of them keeping each other company. We’ve mentioned before on this blog that Dippers and Grey wagtails share very similar habitats and, while we quite often see both species at the same time, I don’t think we’ve ever seen them so close to each other before. At one point, one of the Grey wagtails was feeding only a metre or so away from the Dipper, which was also feeding. Each bird nonchalantly continued to concentrate on its own little section of water as if this was all perfectly normal.

    Grey wagtail 3rd May

    Grey wagtail

        The freshwater invertebrates and flies that Dippers and Grey wagtails both feed on does depend on there being good water quality. Considering all the negative reports on the state of UK rivers, the fact that both of these bird species are present on this stretch of the Alyn – and are breeding here – is a good sign of the river’s condition. Let’s hope it stays that way.

        All along the Leete path we seemed to have been followed by the same Song thrush today, although I suppose there may actually be more than one thrush at Loggerheads – who knows? Anyway, just as we regained the path and began to wend our way towards the café, ‘the’ (or maybe ‘a’) Song thrush landed on a branch overhanging our path and gave us a terrific solo rendition of its repertoire. Brilliant!

    Song thrush Loggerheads

    Song thrush

    The important stuff

    To The Mill House café (Tŷ’r Felin) for some of life’s little essentials: the usual cappuccinos with a Lemon curd blondie for Col and a Biscoff brownie for Stu. Very enjoyable!