It was a typical early Spring morning, dry, misty with hazy sunshine, quite cool with the air temperature around 5c. I left home just after nine o’clock with Meg and Gracie for a walk around the Castle Howard estate.  The sun finally burnt through the low cloud as I was driving along the A19. I always enjoy the walk around the grounds at Castle Howard and today was no different, no matter the weather, unfortunately by the time we arrived it was still quite misty, with the sun well hidden behind the thick cloud.

The coffee and biscuit from the Courtyard café were very pleasant and enough to keep me going for the remainder of the morning. It was just before 10.00am as we made our way over the cobbled stoned courtyard and into the ticket office. The main reason for my visit today was twofold, firstly, the grounds always look quite special when the daffodils come into flower, so I wanted to take some photographs of them whilst they were at their best, and secondly, whilst I was here, I wanted to record some of the bird species up in Ray Woods.

I always  have to take a bit of a calculated risk to determine  when the Daffodils will be in full flower, and a general rule of thumb I use is that over the years of visiting the house and grounds the Daffodils come in to flower approximately two weeks after ours at home, which is probably due to Castle Howard being some two hundred and eighty feet above sea level, being set amongst the Howardian Hills.

Fortunately, this morning the Daffodils were out and looking beautiful, even before we entered the estate the grass verges adjoining the two gatehouses were full of Daffodils, they certainly brightened up a dull, grey and misty morning. 

After passing through the ticket office, the tree lined paddock opposite was covered in Daffodils, it looked as though someone had placed a huge yellow blanket on the ground under the trees. We continued our walk along the gravelled drive adjoining the Walled Garden, turning around occasionally to look and listen to three Peacocks which were bleating their heads off on the flat roof of the ticket office. We continued our walk towards the house, stopping every now and then to photograph the daffodils and a couple of large patches of Siberian Squill in full flower, their lilac-coloured florets were certainly eye catching. Three swans were sat majestically on the grass between the trees, seemingly oblivious to everything going on around them.

On reaching the Southwest corner of the house we always stop to take a photograph of the house. Looking over to my left I noticed the temporary winter housing which had been covering the Wild Boar statue from the harshest of the winter weather had been removed, the boar looked fine and was sat quite motionless admiring the view looking over the North lake and beyond. 

We continued our walk along the gravelled drive of the South terrace, passing the grand old house on our left, till we reached the Time Capsule, from where we climbed up the gentle slope which was covered in Daffodils up to the entrance of Ray Woods. Stopping at the top of the slope (for a rest) to admire the views across the South lake and to look back towards the house. Suitably refreshed we passed through the wooden gate the Daffodils had replaced the Snowdrops which were here on our previous visit.

On this morning’s visit I was by myself with just Meg and Gracie as company, so I took the time to sit down and listen to all the bird songs within the woodland. I spent a very pleasant twenty minutes or so sat on one of the benches overlooking the South Lake recording all the different bird songs we heard including; Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Rook, Skylark, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Jackdaw, Robin, Song Thrush, Peacock, Blue Tit, Wren, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Marsh Tit, White Wagtail, and drifting over from the South Lake the Moorhen and Little Grebe. There was also several Eurofighter Typhoons flying over too, but I didn’t count them!

Continuing our walk through the wood, some, forestry staff were busily cutting back some of the damaged trees and carrying out vital maintenance work to the woodland, the smell of the wood smoke took me back to my old scouting days. The Rhododendron bushes were starting to flower with beautiful pink, lilac and white coloured florets; several Blackthorn bushes were in full flower along with flowering Cherry Blossom and Corylopsis shrubs too. After Meg had her usual roll in the autumnal leaves we left the wood at The Temple of Four Winds. A Rhododendron bush on the edge of the wood was in full flower, its white flowers certainly brightened up an otherwise grey and cloudy morning. After a pleasant walk around the Temple to admire the views across the Howardian Hills, we headed down the grassy bank, which was full of flowering Daffodils, and on to the edge of the South Lake, with good views looking over to the New Bridge and Mausoleum on our left. The grass along the water’s edge was still a little wet and the ground was quite muddy in places much to Meg and Gracie’s delight, I had to be careful where I walked otherwise my feet would have been wet through. We continued our walk along the South side of the lake and headed back to the house, stopping in places to listen to the Tufted ducks, Grebes and Moorhens on the lake. Huge swathes of Daffodils were all around the water’s edge, and also as we headed up the gentle slope towards the house which were an absolute picture. On reaching the house it is just a steady five-minute walk back to the courtyard, the three swans we saw earlier were still sat in the grass looking very graceful enjoying the peace and quiet. On reaching the Courtyard we headed into the restaurant for a very enjoyable brunch, not being left out Meg and Gracie made short work of their doggie breakfast before falling asleep at the side of our table, much to the amusement of the other diners.