Two Wings and Some Prayers at Boarbank Hall

Our annual birdwatching retreat, Two Wings and Some Prayers, took place at Boarbank Hall in Cumbria from 13th-18th May, led by Sr Margaret Atkins and Dr Margaret Phillips.

Participants joined the resident Community for Mass and sung Daily Office, and enjoyed birdwatching trips to the nearby Leighton Moss, especially for waterbirds, and Hay Bridge for woodland birds and ospreys, and to Hodbarrow on the west coast, for coastal and scrubland species.

Highlights included nesting spoonbills, fine views of lesser whitethroat and pied flycatcher, and a white-winged black tern spotted by a sharp-eyed translatantic member of the party, who had no idea they were so rare in this country! We also made the most of Boarbank's varied grounds, with a dawn chorus walk and a check on our nestboxes.

Indoors events included a talk on learning birdsong (with a quiz at the end of the week to check on progress), a presentation by the poet Samantha Rhydderch intertwining birds and bird poetry with her own faith journey, and a slide show on the birds in medieval art, especially the Sherborne Missal. The Sisters joined us for a bird-themed (and very entertaining) social evening on the last night.

Other events coming up include a long weekend on Catholic Social Teaching (28th June-1st July), our Thinking Faith summer week (27th July-3rd August) on 'What Catholics Really Believe', a week on Care for Creation (5th-12th October) and our Advent Hope in Health weekend (6th-8th December). All our events combine talks, prayer, time outdoors and social time.

For more information, see: www.boarbankhall.org.uk/whats-on/ or email Sr Margaret Atkins on margaret@boarbankhall.org.uk.

Next year's Two Wings and Some Prayers is scheduled for 12th-17th May 2025.