The Wednesday Walk 17th October 2012

 

The Plan

An Arne walk

The Leader

A.M – RSPB
P.M – Trisha

Who Turned Up

A.M – Wendy, Beatrice, Trisha, David
P.M – Trisha, Sue, Trudy H, David

The Walk

The forecast looked reasonable so we planned on something a little different. We drove to the RSPB car park at Arne - arriving earlier than we would usual plan - and tagged ourselves on to a guided walk led by an RSPB guide. He took us first down towards Shipstal Point where it quickly became clear that today’s high tide was more than just high, it was over the top. The path to the bird hide was under water and our guide was forced to find two wooden seats which we used to clamber over the wet stuff. From the hide he gave us an interesting talk on the bird life in the harbour. I gather that the birds were either dippers or dabblers. The actual names escape me, but I seem to recall that most were either lesser-crested, greater-crested, long-tailed, short-tailed, black-tailed or common. Leaving the hide, we saw a mother deer tending a six month old fawn in close proximity to us. Neither seemed worried by our presence. When we came to the harbour view point, we saw just how high the tide really was. The spit between Round Island and Long Island was gone, replaced by a stretch of open water.
After lunch, Wendy and Beatrice opted for shopping in Wareham, while Trudy H and Sue joined us for the afternoon walk. This time Trisha took charge and obtained a route map from the RSPB centre. Things started out well but we were quickly overtaken by heavy rain. We managed to get to the bird hide at the Western Front trench before the heaviest downpour hit us. Afterwards, we decided to head straight back to the car park.
Thanks to RSPB and Trisha for an interesting day out on Arne but the weather got us in the end.

The Pub

The King’s Arms at Stoborough.  A good eating house, and the food was well prepared. The pie was delicious.

Next Week

Meet at David’s at the usual time for a Forest walk.