Summer is starting to push it's way through (15:00)

It's been a while since I last went to Cummersdale holmes and since it was nice and sunny again today, I thought I'd head out for a bit. The day didn't start off quite as I would have liked it to. I ended up getting there later than I wanted, I left my SD card at home (which means no pictures :( ) and then I fell over and hurt my arm - oops.

However three things did make me very happy:
-Bumble bees
-A dead crow
-Tadpoles or fish? (I hope tadpoles)

At first I saw no more than the usual: gulls, crows, tits and ducks. I could hear a woodpecker but try as I might, I could not find him. I also got to see a coot, which was nice because I haven't seen one there yet.

I started to get quite disappointed that I hadn't seen anything different yet when suddenly a large bubble bee started flying around me, not too happy that I'd walked so close to him. I know bees might not be the most exciting thing in the world but I love them and it is the first one I've seen this year. That means it's getting warmer and summer is coming! I saw another two as I was walking around, each a pleasure to see.

A dead crow. Why would a dead crow make me happy? Well something had eaten it. The rib bones seemed in pretty good shape, as were the wings, but all of the meat had been expertly taken off. One wing was still there and I found the other a few steps away although I couldn't seem to find the skull. Seeing this of course begs the questions: What had eaten it? I know otters live at cummersdale and I'd say there are high chances of foxes and badgers. Or could it have simply been a cat from one of the nearby houses? Or maybe something else, I'll have to keep my eye out and see whats about.

I took a couple of pictures on my phone (since I couldn't use my camera)
(Sorry if you don't like looking at dead birds)

Finally, possible tad poles? I'm sure that's enough to make anybody happy. I was stood by the river when I saw a cheeky little robin hopping about looking for some food so I stopped and watched him for a while. I then noticed some movement in the water. Frogs are my absolute favourite animal in the whole world and so tadpoles excite me to no end. I tried looking closer but I couldn't see very well as the water was quite muddy and murky in some places and the bank was quite high. They could have been tiny fish I suppose but there were loads of them and with the way they were swimming, I'd say tadpoles. However, it's a bit early for tadpoles and I haven't seen any frog spawn, so maybe just fish - unfortunately. I guess I'll see in a couple of weeks.

Just as I was leaving, I saw my first mammal there. It ran off very quickly back into an old fallen tree. I went over to investigate but it was either long gone or it wasn't coming back out any time soon. It was light brown and too big to be a mouse, maybe it was a rat.

Overall, today was lovely. I didn't get to see a heron, kingfisher or otter but I think the bees and the first signs of summer make up for that. There's always next time to try and find them!