On a warmish but overcast day we took the 10.40 train to Ormskirk and the 2A bus to Rufford, arriving at 10 to 12. We walked in via the Cricket Club path and were in a hide for lunch.
On the way through the houses we saw a Small Tortoiseshell and a Red Admiral on a Buddleia in one of the gardens and there were House Martins flying about. Over the ditch at the Cricket Club there was this large fungus amongst the Himalayan Balsam, probably a Chicken-in-the-Woods.
There were no very exciting birds about Mallards, Coots, Canada Geese, a Tufted Duck and a pair of Great Crested Grebes. A young Heron was fishing at the edge of one of the lakes.
The reflections were interesting, though. These reeds look like they have matching green roots.
Near the tower hide, now a bat roost, we came across this bench with a water vole sculpture, dedicated to Tom Brierly, a former MNA member and YOC member, who died in 2008.
We also saw one of the benches to the MNA’s founder Eric Hardy, who was also one of the founder members of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust.
On the way back for the bus to Ormskirk at 2.50 we saw our last butterfly a Speckled Wood.