Spring at Burton Constable

I can't believe its over a month we went anywhere out of Hull. Today it was a warm day with sunny spells and we went for a walk to the grounds of Burton Constable. We explored the area around the Hall and followed the Waymarker Trail. We found out what a Ha-ha is (intrigued? check here). At one end of it stands an ancient tree, a Sweet Chestnut, with some of its main branches now dead and partially covered by Ivy. It is the most impressive tree I have seen in East Yorkshire, with an enormous girth. As it is near the house and the house was built at the end of the XVI century, it is probably over 400 years old.

A view of the live side of the ancient sweet chestnut

A view of the old chestnut covered on Ivy

The tree trunk (child for reference)

Around the farm houses and stables, House Martins were busy nest building. 

In the North Pond, which used to be part of a moat, Moorhens and Coots were being followed by their hungry chicks. The wooded areas were teeming with insects, although we did not see many butterflies.

A pair of geese flying

Moorhen with chicks

 We manage to spot a Hare.

Tenthredo sawfly

Previously in the large lake I have seen toads mating.
This is today's bird list:

1. 
   
2. Blackbird
3. Crow
4. Woodpigeon
5. sparrow
6. Chaffinch
7. Greylag (pair)
8. Moorhen, with 2 chicks
9. Coot with 1 chick
10. Several mallards with ducklings of different sizes
11. House Martins making nests
12. Swallows
13. Jackdaws on the fields
14. Rooks. 2 with one chick begging
15. Great tit
16. Pheasant
17. Goldfinches singingMap

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Note added: I reported the Sweet Chestnut in the Ancient Tree Hunt website, as it wasn't there, and a couple of days later it was verified by Tony Burgoyne and its girth measured at 7.28 m. Tony said this is the largest tree recorded in East Yorkshire! It now has a record here.