I am not planning to do a walk today, though you never know. For the last 50 days, I have exceeded 5 miles every single day and my weekly intensity minutes too, so I think I am entitled to a day off! And just to make you tired I have walked 418,944 steps this month, which is the equivalent of over 200 miles – almost 1/3 of the Southwest Coast Path, which I did with one of my sons over 20 years ago. I digress. So if not walking, I thought I would share with you some of the more unusual things I have seen or done this week on my walks.
On Saturday, I was treated to a superb display of fish aeronautics as a shoal of mackerel were hunting baby crabs around Port Erin beach for several hours – at least that is the latest story I have heard. It was similar to what I imagine the Northern Lights might look like, the fish changing direction and formations to make the most of their catch. The gulls stood waiting for their moment to pounce. It was all quite mesmerising.
And yesterday, I did a walk from Castletown to Silverdale Glen (and back) to assist in “Splashing about in Silverdale”, an event run by Manx Wildlife Trust – http://www.manxwt.org.uk/ – to introduce children to the secret delights of underwater river life. The river is thankfully unpolluted which enabled us to find a wide variety of creatures. Having been instructed on how to use the nets effectively and our feet to disturb the wildlife, we soon found mayfly nymphs and stonefly nymphs, fresh water shrimps, worms, caddis fly cases to name but a few things. Dawn Dickens was her usual brilliant, enthusiastic self making it fun for children and adults alike. She showed the children how the caddis fly builds a nest with tiny stones that stick to the rocks, so we all spent a happy few minutes turning the boulders over in the hope of finding the spoils, and we were not disappointed.
Next Tuesday is “Bouncing Bogs” at Dalby Mountain – we hope to see you there, too.
On the way there and back, I couldn’t resist collecting blackberries from the hedgerows, so part of today will be spent making blackberry and apple pies to freeze.
But first of all, work beckons…
Gill's Isle of Man Walks 