A small group of us headed out for a litter pick this evening in Ouseburn. We had a leisurely walk and a chat and found plenty of litter mostly in various car parks, but we did have a nice walk through the orchard behind the carparks under the bridge.

On the way back we spotted the bright blue and orange flash of a kingfisher, who briefly alighted on a low hanging tree branch and then darted through some hanging ivy up the river, a few minutes later he sped back down the river under the bridge we were standing on and disappeared out of sight. It’s always magical spotting a kingfisher as the bright colours seem so exotic and out of place in nature. A rather sad Mike fact is that due to the river Ouseburn being ecologically dead because of sewage and farming pollution upstream the river can’t support many Kingfishers. One of the joys of goodgym is getting out in nature and having the opportunity to see wildlife while exercising, volunteering, and socialising - you wouldn’t see a Kingfisher in the gym!

A very satisfying litter pick resulting in three full bin bags of rubbish and helping to keeping the Ouseburn tidy. Thanks Charlotte for bringing bin bags as I definitely would have forgot and thanks Beth for the pun! If you want to get involved, we have another litter pick next Monday, this time on the Quayside.