21st April 2012, Two walks and I missed the rain!

A weather forecast for thundery showers and sunny spells, close inspection of the local forecast disclosed that early morning should be dry so I packed up my gear and headed for Barden, North Yorkshire and a relatively short drive from Silsden. My preferred parking place by the river Wharfe offered no spaces even at this early hour so I had to divert a little further away. A short road walk took me down to the river though and I passed the ruins of Barden Priory along the way.

 Despite a chorus of birdsong there seemed to a distinct lack of willing models as all I got was glimpses of fleeing birds, not good! Eventually a male chaffinch offered himself for a photograph.

I left the woodland path and made my way through a very boggy area to where the songs seemed loudest, what I managed to photograph there were two birds not famed for their song but two real woodland specialists, a wren and a treecreeper:-)

Sightings of spotted flycatcher and blackcap made this diversion very worthwhile and I passed a very pleasant half hour in my little woodland glade. Resuming my riverbank stroll I saw a nuthatch gathering nest material, several attempts at photographs were unfortunately all so bad I ain't showing them!!!

I know of a regular dipper nesting site and approaching carefully allowed me the opportunity to watch this lovely bird gathering some grasses and moss to line the nest.

 My return up the river yielded a decent shot of a male goosander, plenty of these on the Wharfe but they don't seem to like being photographed and usually flee before I even get focused!

Heading back towards the road and my car I passed through a field and two birds I would not normally expect to see there, a pied wagtail and a meadow pipit.

Back on the tarmac and the road climbs steeply away from the river, trees that are rooted down below line the road and the tree tops are almost at eye level. Beautiful song emanated from the trees and I managed my first, though not brilliant, shot of a willow warbler. I hope to improve on this one!

Heading for home I was congratulating myself on my judgement of the weather conditions, no rain so far and no need to wear the waterproofs I had absently mindedly left at home!!! My route led me through the village of Embsay, just outside the village there is a small pond and I usually stop and have a look to see if there are any birds about. As I halted the car a really heavy downpour began, hail and rain battered the car for about ten minutes before it was safe to leave the vehicle for a look at the pond. I was in luck, a flash of bright orange caught my eye...except for the legs and bill the superbly camouflaged redshank.

There was also a couple of shelducks on the water, photographed here with a coot as a bonus.

A really good morning walk and I was eager to get home and check my photographs, as it turned out the weather allowed me plenty of time for that. We had about three hours of really heavy showers and I began to think that was it for the day but in mid afternoon the skies cleared again and I went for another wander, this time near home.

How things can change! I could not get anywhere near birds, everything flew before I even had the lens cap removed!!! No matter the sun was out and I just enjoyed the scenery, lambs are plentiful in the fields and caught this one doing a stretch.

  One reasonable shot of a goldfinch on some telegraph wires completed my wildlife pix for the day.

Two walks completed and I had managed to beat the weather, some good photographs collected along the way so all in all a decent day and I reflected on my fortune as I headed up Silsden towards my reward of a pint or two! Last shot of the day taken across the flower beds in the town, showing the Nail Sculpture which commemorates the towns contribution to the clog making industry, in the background the Punch Bowl Inn where I would be found soon!

1st April 2012, A raptor watch and a Wharfe wander.

With a couple of ospreys and hen harriers being seen from our local raptor watch point we took the opportunity to take the short drive into our neighbouring valley to join them for a while. Since first meeting up with my old schoolmate we have been introduced to others who meet there and they are a friendly and informative group.

We set up the spotting scope and joined in the perusal of the surrounding woodland and horizons, a kestrel and a couple of buzzards soon showed. This long distance viewing takes a while to get used to, there is no chance of photographs unless you are really lucky or posess a lens of a size I could not carry!

The binoculars do come in useful for watching for movement then alerting others who swivel the scopes almost like guns being aligned on a mighty battleship!

A pair of skirmishing sparrowhawks drew everyones attention for a while and more buzzards came into view. We bade the group farewell after a couple of hours and went in search of small things by the riverbank, we were hoping for a glimpse of the kingfishers we have not seen for a while, despite a lengthy search they could not be located but there were compensations.

A coffee break by the river saw a pair of mallards come up close, the strong overhead sun was not perfect for photography though.

Chaffinches seemed to be in abundance by the river and their noisy song rang out loud from the bushes.

We walked as far as the falls above Howgill taking another short break in this splendid location.

On the way back we saw some small groups of birds flying quickly, the style and colour meant only one thing...the sand martins are back:-) Impossible for me to photograph in flight I shall return to the nesting area in a couple of weeeks when they are usually more amenable.

A little further down river another recent returnee, the grey wagtail, I have posted a couple of pix of these but I was able to get a bit closer on this occasion, not perfect light but not bad.

The Wharfe really is rich in wildlife and this stretch was proving to be well the small effort of our walk. Another bonus awaited us as a pair of mandarin ducks cruised furtively past.

All in all a super day for bird sightings, we took a very quiet back lane route home being in no rush.

A small pond near my old home town of Embsay drew my eye as we drove past, various species of birds were on the water. By the shore was a common sandpiper another first for us this year.

Here it is between the goose and the semi submerged duck.

A bit of a cool breeze detracted nothing from a lovely sunny expedition, now the forecast for next week does not look good:-//





Game, two halves, result!

With blue skies and freezing temperatures the prospects of a great morning on Barden Moor were high, I was not to be disappointed.

The variety of wildlife to be seen on the moor at this time of the year is not great, red grouse, pheasant and kestrel are the most likely, the smaller birds meadow pipits and the like tend to go nearer the coast in winter.

The cold desolation of a winter walk on a bleak moor is not to everyone's taste, for me it offers the isolation that allows clarity of thought, photographic opportunites that are created by my own fieldcraft and above all peace and quiet.

After leaving this shooters track I wandered off path to try and get a little closer to the plentiful survivors of the inglorious twelfth, skittish and untrustworthy of humans which is really only to be expected the red grouse is a bird of splendid colours.

I made my way to a wood on the edge of the moor, the northern edge had not yet been blessed with sunshine and it was cool to say the least, the firmness of the ground was very welcome after the mud of the last few weeks though!

A kestrel hunted in the distance, the same area I had just left and sometimes I wish I could be a bit more patient.

A few pheasants strutted around in the wood, like grouse they are reared for the pleasure of  those who find shooting such lovely creatures to be a worthwhile "sporting" activity, plenty escape however and there is now a flourishing wild population.

Time to return to the car now and I exchanged pleasantries with a chap who was setting up his telescope near the end of the track back to the car park. He remarked on my off path route and I assured him I was safe and confident as I grew up at Embsay and the moor was my childhood playground, he enquired as to my name, his eyes lit up when I told him and he told me his name.....

My best mate from junior school at Embsay!!! 50 years have passed since my family moved to Silsden  and now I find that our mutual love of wildlife has brought us back together, co-incidence, luck, whatever!!

Mobile numbers were exchanged and we shall now meet up regularly.

After a brew at home I had another canal walk in the afternoon, making the most of a sunny day seems so much less effort than going through the motions on a dull day.

A good few birds to enjoy along the way,

I was able to see but unfortunately not photograph a weasel as it sped across a field in pursuit of a terrified rabbit, hunter and hunted as nature intended.

A young swan preened its feathers before taking up a lovely pose!

Almost back in Silsden now and I looked for the kingfisher I have seen here recently, despite a lengthy search I could not locate it but the view up to Nab End was a worthwhile sight.

One last bird sighting before I gained the streets of Silsden, a cute blue tit chirping away merrily.
Not a bad way to end my two walks!

My old mate has directed me to a location not too far away where short eared owls have been seen recently, fingers crossed for a good day on Sunday 15th!