Monday 13 June - Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre

In addition to the usual fire and security arrangements there is a guard cat across the laneway who comes on duty via his own cat door. 

The weather forecast was not good today and it was raining as we left to catch the bus to Craven Arms. There was light rain or drizzle most of the time we were there but the clouds were bright and the walk very pleasant. We visited the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre in mid-May last year when the wild flowers were at their best.
http://colinchurcher2015.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/friday-22-may-shropshire-hills.html
This visit some of the blooms had finished while recent rains had flattened some areas.

A female bullfinch in an area where there were a great number of these birds feeding in the tall grass

The Leaping Fish are even more green this year.  The mold is an attractive colour.

This moss was a vivid green against the brown of the tree trunk

We spent some time at Kingfisher Bend and might have caught a quick glimpse of the elusive kingfisher. A large scruffy cream coloured dog came along walked into the water and began to bark.  His owner ambled along five minutes later and explained that he always did that.  No hope of seeing any more kingfishers. The dog walkers we saw last year were conspicuous by their absence - may be they were good weather walkers.

A small school group were dipping nets into the water of the pools and identifying their catches from laminated sheets.  We saw a number of coots in the reeds but no ducks were visible at all.

http://www.shropshirehillsdiscoverycentre.co.uk/

Like last year we had lunch at the Stokesay Inn and caught the bus back in generally brightening weather.