Golden

13yo has his Bronze DoE expedition coming up, so I took him and friend on a warm-up walk over the moors.  Of course it ended up being one of the wettest days for ages, but that is all part of the experience.

We caught the train to Ilkley and then walked up to the tarn before climbing up alongside Backstone Beck onto the moor proper. Crossing over to Burley Moor we made our way through the Lanshaw dams before dropping down to Horncliffe Well and then over to Baildon Moor for the final stretch home.

It rained for the first couple of hours and the mist came in over the tops so we didn't get any expansive views but it was a good test of navigation skills, even on familiar terrain. And it was very atmospheric stumbling into grouse and wandering from territory to territory of the abundant curlew.

At Horncliffe there were several Golden Plover, of which this one settled. A bit noisy through the mist, but a nice record of the day.

Given the conditions it was a quiet day for butterflies, but there were plenty of common heath moths.