Infinite space

Morecambe Bay, Flookburgh

There are days when the mudflats of the Bay seem infinite in space and time. Mud, water and clouds - apparently merging together. These ancient little wooden structures are the only vertical features.

This area of mudflats near Flookburgh was until a few years ago carpetted with green saltmarsh. The natural shifting of the Kent channel that sweeps through the Bay disturbs the patterns of sediment movement, and saltmarshes erode in one place and accrete in another. Grange-over-Sands became Grange-over-Grass, while this area of the Bay at Flookburgh rapidly lost its marsh to reveal these little structures deeply embedded in the mudflats. The saltmarsh erosion is still continuing, with the turf of the marsh edge collapsed and broken into a multitude of pieces.

I was out on the marsh to complete another Wintering Bird Atlas visit. There were vast numbers of oystercatchers, curlews and knot on the mudflats. While over the saltmarsh, skylarks were singing, surely heralds of the coming Spring.

There are other signs of Spring: singing song thrushes and mistle thrushes, snowdrops bursting into flower everywhere, hazel catkins liberating their pollen, and woodpeckers drumming.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to view and comment on my 200th blip. I was touched by the warm and generous comments that you made. I had been thinking of giving up, does this mean I have to keep going now?