A sunny Monday in the valley 26th March 2012

Another grand day for my early finish and I headed off down the valley towards Keighley, the lane was full of small birds in full song, many unfortunately hidden from my sight.

I didn't have long to wait though before a lovely robin offered a couple of unusual poses for shots:-)

Moorhens are not the easiest bird to get good photographs of, for me anyway, their jerky movements and willingness to hide make good shots rare so I was pleased with this one.

I walked on with the sunlight masked now by the tall trees of Low Wood, the noise of a woodpecker drummed out but I could not spot it today, a small blur of brown  across my vision led me to a wren though, singing loudly from a branch.

I visited the site of the long tailed tit nest but kept well away as flitted in and out, my efforts at long distance shots were spectacularly unsuccessful!

Better luck with a butterfly though as a small tortoiseshell settled for long enough for me to remember to change the settings.

The fieldfares will be heading off soon, I'm surprised they are still here but there was quite a large group feeding in a field as I headed homwards.

Reaching Lower Holden Farm I decided to stay  on the canalbank for my return, the lane I use would now be in shade and photography would be difficult in the low light.

A couple of photographs of the calmness of the water in the warm sunlight and our surrounding woodland and hills.

As I have mentioned before I am always tuned into to any unusual movements or sounds, a disturbance in the canal that seemed to be taking place under water caught my eye. The water swirled to and fro in small but powerful eddies and up popped a strongly swimming frog!

Pausing occasionally it continued its way last seen heading for Liverpool!!!

A lovely swan headed my way, I had been checking some usual nest sites but they seem to be unused this year.

Nearly back in town and there was a group of ducks on the far bank, I usually have poor returns on my action shots but just as I focused on one of the males he leapt into the water creating a nice displacement effect, a happy accident!

Another good walk on a Monday afternoon and the fine weather is set to continue, good news for any outdoor enthusiast.