Another drab and wet start to the weekend as Saturday morning saw my mood drift from downcast to even worse! Having the company of our four year old grand-daughter Jaime was a welcome distraction as I tried to work out what I could hope to see on my passout afternoon, Peppa Pig and grey skies soon made way for a lunchtime weather forecast of a blue sky afternoon.
I wandered on the tarmac to Kildwick, not the best of walks as it can be very busy with a lot of traffic but with a little care it is quite safe. The skies were clearing as I walked, the busy and melodic songs of various birds which stubbornly remained invisible accompanied me, along with the various hums of exhaust emissions and the occasional booming of heavy bass tracks from the boy and girl racer cars!
Descending towards the canal I paused for a while by a lovely old graveyard, some wasteground by its perimeter looked a good wildlife habitat if I was patient and lucky!
Dunnocks, often called hedge sparrows for reasons I don't know because they are a separate family, are common, they usually feed on the ground and their fluttering wings are a real delight. This one was comfortable with being near to me and allowed some lovely photographs...
Attempts at photographing a very noisy and busy wren were not successful and I moved on to the canal towpath. Goodness what a muddy mess but the decision was made, after a late start I didn't have too much daylight to play with and onwards I strode/slipped/slithered/swore!!!
Watching the various mallards as I walked I came across one which looked distressed, as it shifted from foot to foot with its eyes firmly shut the reason for its distress was relieved audibly, and yes ducks do trump!
Finding more orthodox wildlife shots was once again a trial, the cold winds seem to be keeping the birds sheltered in the undergrowth, their songs are loud and undiminished though.
A not very good great tit shot..
Sometimes close ups are not necessary, a little scale shows the robin pronouncing a territorial claim...
Patience does pay, a lesson I still need lessons in sometimes!! A lovely blue tit paused for long enough for me to get a decent shot...
The birds that have wintered here will be heading away soon, the gorgeous waxwings and redwings I have been fortunate to photograph, and the always welcome fieldfare...
Goosanders seem to be thriving around here, for once I managed to get a pair close together before the inevitable happened....
The skies dulled again as I neared Silsden and my post walk few beers, luckily swans are gorgeous in any light:-)
The calm waters by the boatyard provided the last shot of the day...
I'm not sure reading a soothing bedtime story to a four year old is a good idea, it certainly had a soporiphic effect on one of us! Anyway Sunday morning seemed to arrive fairly quickly and we headed over to Wharfedale, good for playgrounds and wildlife, a good mix for the day!
Some gravel ponds yielded a decent great crested grebe shot, first time here and I need to get know the layout better..
We moved on to Ilkley, sandpits and swings and all that! I took a few minutes by the river Wharfe and got some good examples of black headed gulls in transient plumage, when the change is complete they are a lovely chocolate colour..not black!
After a suitable amount of play we had a short walk by the river, a lovely grey wagtail appeared...
We wandered on and saw three mallards, the gents allowing the lady a social drink:-))
We didn't expect to see a lot of birds in the piercing north easterly wind but dippers are tough and this river is famed for them. No chance of a close up as this one stayed mid river but it shows the habitat nicely....
And it was time for home, one little lady was pleased to see her Mum and Dad after their weekend birthday break:-) And then the early evening and my first stint at the barn owl site, a friend maintains a daily presence here and has provided feeders to help little birds like long tailed tits survive, they struggle badly in cold winters and numbers plummet without places like this.
The barn owls appear most nights, evidently some evenings they fly from the far end of the barn which is about 400 yards away and disappear, others they fly right over where I was stood and even land quite close, not today though and after two hours although well insulated I was getting cold, darkness was approaching and I had to make my way through some dangerous ground to get to a road to await my lift home. Time to be safe and come back another day..............
And just after our tea tonight a barn owl flew right across the front garden..........fate, or just a really good omen:-))
Another fascinating blog from the weekend, your dunnock photos were spectacular and the swan and its reflection excellent too. I expect you are being plagued with the same bitterly cold winds as ourselves, with a quite horrible forecast for the next twenty four hours. Our little birds in our garden are going to need some extra food tomorrow.
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