Squirrel and bird spotting during a park cycle

Over the last month we’ve really not gone too far afield.  It’s definitely been a chance to get out in the parks near home, and with his new bike, riding it is all he’s really wanted to do.

The other week I wanted to get out and about with N, so before we headed off to collect our painted fired pottery, we headed to one of the parks in town, bike in the boot ready for a cycle.

For 9am on a Sunday morning the park was really busy.  It’s a cut through into town and there were plenty of people walking dogs or taking kids out for a morning walk, and we didn’t even have the playground to ourselves.

Most of the time N just spent cycling round and choosing which path he wanted to go on.  His cycling is really strong now.  He’s nearly been cycling a pedal bike for a year so it should be.  And thankfully he’s using his brakes a lot more (well, the back one only), so he’s pretty safe.  Although he did fall off after cycling too close to me and banging into me…I was the one who got the blame for him falling off because I wasn’t walking behind him!  Cheek of it.

I was really surprised to see him standing up and pedaling as well.  There’s no stopping him with his confidence and buying him the next stage up bike has really helped.  Plus it’s a lot lighter than his old bike.

We did a bit of bird spotting.  Well, checked out the aviary to watch the cockatiels and budgies for a while and I managed to get some great bright shots of their plumage.  They do come right up to the side of the aviary to see you although weren’t too keen on staying still there for some portrait shots.

An extremely brief wander round the playground – N wasn’t impressed like he’s previously been.  He stated ‘it’s all for little children’ even though there’s quite a lot of equipment too big for him.

He was more taken with the grey squirrels chasing each other round and up the trees, before one bounded past us and sat perched on some play logs.  N wanted to get up close, and the squirrel let him fairly near before scampering off.  We have quite a few squirrels around the parks in town and the church graveyard that the path goes through, but we can never get to see them that close usually.

It didn’t take long for N to decide it was time to head off, so it was a quick cycle back to the car.

When we set off from home, the sky had been beautiful blue and no clouds in the sky, but just after we left the park, the clouds that had been sweeping over opened, and there was enough rain to be pleased we didn’t stay out longer.

Have you been out and about this week?  What’s the weather been like near you?