Today with the family I went to Upper Teesdale to Morehouse National Nature Reserve to look at birds and rocks and send the boys on a 6 mile walk around Cronkley Scar to see if they would get lost. They didn't but they did run into a mega hailstone shower because they were about 600 feet above us . We just huddled behind a wall to keep out of the rain! As we left the road and went past a farm a nice lady came out and told us where the Pennine Way path was and complained about the lack of signs ! The grass meadows were coming into flower , mostly Buttercups for now and when we crossed the bridge over the River Tees we went straight into a Redshank breeding ground , going on all the noise they were making which indicates we were close to their nests so they were trying to distract us away . Being ground nesting birds it is the only defense they have ! The sky was low , multi greyed and promising rain which it delivered about half an hour later , a quick hard shower , which glistened the grass making it sparkle and smell of worms rising to the surface which is what they do after it rains . We saw many small birds which I've yet to identify , that being a big part of the fun and had a good look at some shale conspicuously sticking out from the lava laden Whin Sill. What on earth was it doing there ? Well it had been pushed around by an unimaginable force of hot rock prying apart and cooking the sandstone , shale and limestone which is why there were many outcrops of locally know " Sugar limestone " the remnants of a baking session 295 million years ago . We met up with the lads as they were working their way around the bottom of Cronkley Scar alongside the Tees and had biscuit break a few yards from the low but clear water . I was keen to see a Ring Ouzel bird in Falcon Clints gorge but no chance although I did notice something black screech across the river in the high wind and it was black , a little bigger than a Blackbird but going to fast and to far for me to identify it but there are no Blackbird habitats in that part of the Tees Valley so it must be a Ring Ouzel but self deception plays no part in my quest! On the way back after we met the lads it bucketed it down and the wind was behind us and the back of my legs and pants were soaked in about 5 minutes and then it started running down into my hiking shoes and before I could get really excited it just stopped and out popped the sun as if nothing had happened. Getting wet out in the fells really puts you in touch with nature . We will be visiting this area once a month to track the the hay meadow growth though the summer and next time we visit there will be Redshank, Oystercatcher , Lapwing and Curlew chicks running around . A lovely walk topped off with meatballs , tomatoes sauce and spaghetti for tea and two episodes of Star Trek.