Walk 8 - Birchover

4.3 miles 2pm - 6.30pm. Going to an area we haven’t really been to before. It’s interesting trying to fill the gaps in our map and having to choose places we wouldn’t have travelled to before. We made to start the walk and after admiring two peacocks in a camp site we walked through (and Zooey finding a peacock feather to take home!) we came to a cow filled field. We decided to go a different way round as we’re all pretty scared of cows (having been chased in the past!) but that just led to another cow filled field with cows who were bellowing quite madly. We waited for a good 10 minutes for all the cows to move down fields so we could walk across without having to go through the herd. It all worked out in the end! We walked a gravelled, tree lined track through fields and then in to a wood, keeping out of the sun most of the way. We stopped in one wood to rest, take on board a snack and do some sketching. Eventually we did break cover to make our way across one very dry sun baked field and felt a wall of heat in front of us as we walked. The grass was full of small, fast moths which landed on our clothing as we walked and then flew away just as fast. We made it back in to the shade, walking in to the village of Winter and grabbing ice lollies as we went through. It was a final steep uphill to get back to Birchover but the sun was a little less intense as it was getting later in the day and the view at the top was beautiful! The things we saw and named on sight were: Rowan, Oak, Ash, Birch, Hawthorn, Elder, Goat Willow, Holly, Sweet Chestnut, Hazel, Sycamore and Beech Trees. We saw (or heard) Peacocks, Blackbirds, Sparrows, Crows, Chiff Chaff and Tree creepers. We had recorded a blackbird, wren and robin. Our plant today was one we could name on sight too - cow parsley.