The first of a regular series of walks on the first Sunday of each month began with a circular walk from the Warren House Inn on a bitterly cold April morning. It was great to see at least three Ring Ouzels at Headland Warren and hear another one singing briefly into the easterly wind in front of the Inn. These newly arrived and increasingly rare summer migrants were hanging around with their northern cousins, Fieldfares - a real overlap of the seasons typical of this run of bizarre conditions.
A few Chiffchaffs are starting to be seen on the moor, but there are still no Willow Warblers and not even any Blackcaps, which usually arrive a few weeks before the former. These easterly winds have kept everything, including the vegetation, pinned down and still in the grip of winter, but now, finally, temperatures are rising, the wind has switched round to the south west, and things might start to move.
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| Mum and my sister Nichola at Headland Warren |
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| At the 'buddle pit' at Golden Dagger tin mine |
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| Stone wall, Challacombe Down |
It was a great day and the first of our regular monthly walks on Dartmoor. Thanks to my brother for picking a nice route and for lunch in the Warren House.
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