We had been keen since the first
time we came here to see the only Golden Eagles in England, but
like so many things, we had never quite got round to it. So when
we heard back in the winter that the female had died, we realised
that we really must make a trip to Riggindale a priority before
it is too late.
But when we got up on Friday morning, the weather was absolutely
dreadful and we were seriously wondering if we had chosen the right
day for this! Nevertheless, we do not get many opportunities, so
with that in mind, we set off to Mardale Head, hoping that the weather
would improve.
This was our first ever visit to the Far Eastern Fells, and the
only way to describe the way things looked as we stopped to look
at the Haweswater Dam was "grim"! |
 |
The Haweswater Dam in the pouring rain |
On a wider road we might just have
turned round and forgotten about it, but as the road to Mardale
Head Car Park is quite narrow we carried on driving.
When we arrived at the Car Park, there was only one other car,
and that had RSPB written on it. The people in the car, which we
assumed were the wardens, showed no sign of getting out, so we followed
their example and stayed in our car, waiting to see if there was
any chance of it clearing. David suggested that he thought he could
see a fell somewhere in the distance, which was encouraging, so
with that we decided to get our sandwiches out and hopefully the
rain would stop by the time we finished them. |
 |
Mardale Ill Bell not visible in the pouring rain from
the car park at Mardale Head |
| The word sandwich had no sooner been
uttered before a female Chaffinch landed on the wing mirror, staring
intensely at me until I relinquished the crust through the window. |
 |
A female Chaffinch thinks we should share our sandwiches
with her and her family |
| It would be an exaggeration to say
the rain and mist had cleared by the time we finished our sandwiches,
but it was certainly much brighter and not raining so heavily, which
was encouraging, so we decided to wait another 15 minutes before we
made a final decision on what to do. As it was, it was obvious that
no self-respecting Eagle would be flying in this weather, but at least
things were improving. |
 |
The Rigg from Mardale Head Car Park |
 |
Harter Fell becomes visible as the rain clears |
I managed to find some more crusts
for a resident Robin as we waited, and then finally we could see
some fells around us, and the rain had subsided to a light drizzle. |
 |
A Robin comes along to see if we have any sandwiches
left |
 |
The cloud lifts from Mardale Ill Bell as the rain
eases off |
| Just as we agreed to give it a go,
we saw the RSPB men get out of their car and walk off in the direction
of the Observation Hut, so we got our things together and followed
them towards the Rigg. |
 |
A very wet footbridge at Mardale Head |
 |
Looking towards the Rigg from the footbridge |
 |
Wild Thyme by the side of the path |
 |
Wet Birdsfoot Trefoil |
The path goes round Rough Crag,
behind the Rigg and into Riggindale, which is where the RSPB Observation
Hut is situated.
The walk to the Hut was a wonderful way of getting acquainted with
this beautiful, remote part of the Lake District, and we had frequent
stops to admire the views, the clouds having now lifted from the
fell tops. |
 |
Behind the Rigg - David still has the umbrella up! |
 |
Riggindale, walking towards the RSPB Observation Point |
 |
Haweswater from Riggindale |
| The remoteness of the valley makes
it a haven for all sorts of wildlife, and we were pleasantly surprised
to see a beautiful male Redstart just above us in a tree, singing
merrily. |
 |
A Redstart watches us go by |
 |
The rain has stopped and the cloud is clearing as
we approach the RSPB Observation Hut |
As we reached the RSPB Hut, the
wardens had just set up a couple of telescopes and they told us
that the Eagle was sitting on Rough Crag and they had just focused
in on him. We had hoped we might get a glimpse of him if we were
very lucky, but we had never dreamt of getting such a magnificent
view the minute we arrived. He stayed there for ages, giving us
ample opportunity to observe him, before he took to the sky, soaring
high above Rough Crag and High Street.
What a magnificent bird! We obviously knew he was going to be big,
but it is not until you see an Eagle in real life that you realise
just how huge he is. |
 |
The Eagle dwarfs the Ravens and other birds as he
circles above Rough Crag |
 |
Riggindale from the RSPB Observation Hut, with High
Street behind and Kidsty Pike on the right |
 |
Rough Crag |
While the Eagle was soaring, some
Ring Ouzels were calling below Rough Crag, but in spite of our best
efforts and the help of one of the RSPB wardens, we did not manage
to see them.
Eventually, the Eagle got fed up with soaring and landed by a solitary
tree below the summit of Kidsty Pike, where he stayed until we left. |
 |
Kidsty Pike - the Eagle landed by the single tree
below the summit |
| By the time we made our way back,
the sun was out and it was a glorious day, with glorious views all
around. |
 |
Haweswater now in sun as we walk back towards the
Rigg |
 |
Looking back to Riggindale |
 |
The dense trees of the Rigg |
 |
Canada Geese in a line below on Haweswater |
 |
Harter Fell from the path to Mardale Head from the
Rigg |
 |
Spot the Common Lizard |
 |
A Small Heath comes out to enjoy some sunshine |
 |
A small Tormentil flower in the grass |
 |
Some colourful Selfheal |
| And by the time we got back to the
Car Park, we were fully convinced that we had some excellent walking
to look forward to in this end of the Lake District in years to come. |
 |
Mardale Ill Bell |
 |
Back at the Car Park at Mardale Head |
| We could not resist stopping along
the road and taking in the views of this wonderful part of the Lake
District one last time. |
 |
View of The Rigg with Harter Fell behind and Rough
Crag to the right from the road alongside Haweswater |
 |
Riggindale from the road alongside Haweswater |
 |
The Haweswater Dam is now in sunshine |
| On our way to Mardale in the morning,
we had seen a signpost for Shap Abbey. Fascinated, we made a brief
detour on the way back and found some impressive ruins of an old Abbey
- another of Henry VIII's casualties. |
 |
The Ruins of Shap Abbey |
 |
The grounds where the Abbey used to stand, with the
farm behind |
 |
Shap Abbey |
| The Abbey stands by the River Lowther
in a very picturesque setting. |
 |
Monkey Flowers by the River Lowther at Shap Abbey |
 |
Monkey Flowers |
