We like caches which offer a chance to visit a scenic location
or see an object that can't be seen anywhere else. This satisfies
both requirements.
The location is a new bird hide near a small village in darkest
southern Lanarkshire. The “object” is a very rare bird, but it is
only a chance to see it – a sighting is not guaranteed. A Great
White Egret has been in semi-permanent residence since March and is
still coming around to visit the local herons, ducks, buzzards,
dippers, wagtails, swifts, swallows, housemartins, curlews,
kestrels, swans, geese, oystercatchers!, blue tits, gold finches
and chaffinches as well as the full gamut of everyday
ornithology.
Also there are badgers setts close by and a bit further up the
the river otters are regularly spotted. There are trout in the
river, but you'll need a permit for fishing.
The hide has been constructed by one of the local landowners as
part of a general programme of environmental improvements and is a
great addition to the local landscape. It's a very sturdy
construction, and needed to be when hordes of twitchers descended
on the village in March. A long avenue of ash trees has been
planted leading to the hide and it will be good to watch it develop
over the next few years. We've been able to watch the egret and the
twitchers from our kitchen window, and now we'll be able to watch
the cachers as well. Who says the country's boring?
There isn't much parking near the cache but you can leave your
car in the village and walk round. (And if you want to know what it
is you're looking for,
this is
it....)