Wet , wet , wet

Backblip
A good day despite Storm Agnes. We went to the old and new Caerlaverock Castle. A lovely place for a wander with an impressive , moated, triangular castle first built in the13th century. It was open this time ( we first visited in April ) so we were able to go inside. Some interesting carvings. Mike climbed up the spiral staircase while I sat on a bench watching the birds including an egret which flew past.The geese have started to arrive and several skeins flew over. We walked to the old castle which is just the foundations remaining. We carried on walking through the woods to the bird hide. Great views over the Solway Firth to England.
We saw a toadlet on the way back and managed to move it off the path.
We knew the rain was set to start at about midday but decided to give the Wetland centre just along the road.It was £8.63 each to get in. As soon as we stepped out the door the rain started. This picture by Quentin Blake was the first one we saw. There’s a trail through the reserve with more drawings.
We sat in the first hide for a while, only spotting a couple of teal and a moorhen.The heavens opened but we were determined to try a few more hides. Nothing at the Sir Peter Scott hide . I thought there was swan feeding at 1pm but the swans have not arrived yet. I had visions of it being like the swannery in Abbotsbury.
Just a few ‘garden birds’ on the feeders and another moorhen. We saw another couple and they said they had not seen anything either. We did ask the person at the desk if we could come back the following day with the same ticket but unfortunately the answer was no. Think all the birds must have been hiding because of the weather.
We went back to the hotel and had a sit by the open fire before dinner.