5th November 2012, My first Monday off:-))

After some patient and well thought discussions with my boss I now no longer work Mondays, some cover for the holidays of a colleague will be necessary but essentially I now have a three day weekend.

A bonus too at this time of year is the free mid week parking in Bolton Abbey, Christmas holidays and half terms excluded of course, the estate isn't made of money, well it might be but rules that deter young families still apply for some ill thought reason.

I set off from the Cavendish Pavilion car park, walking westwards to try and get the best photographic conditions on a bright and sunny day. The trees were autumnal, golden brown and stunning..

 

 

This small desolate area was largely bare of leaves though, the frost and wind probably accounted for the leaves judging by the crunching beneath my feet!

 

The Harrison Ford shelter, named after a local ford not any mythical adventurer is a good spot to linger, many people put bird food around its edges and shelves, some lovely birds appear such as this nuthatch..

 



 

I tried a few shots, the low light in the shelter does not lend itself to great pix, especially with bright light streaming through the remaining leaves. A cute little coal tit was my only other decent shot...

 





I took a short break just before the aqueduct, here looking back down stream...

Crossing over I now strolled through shadowed woodland, pausing for a shot made famous by a JMS Turner painting..

There was a photographic workshop in place down by the Strid, the rocks were very slippery, their expensive lenses and camera bodies stayed clear of the classic shot of the gushing force!

To be fair my camera stayed short of it too, it gets slippier as you get further out...another day with drier rocks I'll get on the edge:-)

Wildlife sightings had been few so far, as I neared a stretch where I could get off the path I decided to try just that...it works, no surprise there, and I got a reasonable pic of a female goosander..

A small time sat quietly by the river paid dividends, this lovely dipper sang its squeaky yet exquisite song exclusively for me..............

Getting near to the water level allowed my camera to capture the colouring quite well, another splendid day:-)

3rd November 2012, Watching the kingfishers again!

The weather promised a bright sunny day so what to do.......go kingfisher watching was top of my list today, it turned out rather well! The autumn influx of birds is also under way so I had high hopes when I began my walk, the canalbank is not a pretty sight or an easy walk at the moment, deep and slippery mud everywhere and it is a good job the incentives were high.

The bright sunlight shows the male mallards off to their best, the magnificent colours gleam out:-)

Another favourite is the moorhen and again some sunshine makes the photography a whole lot easier..

The sounds of birdsong emanating from the canalside bushes was a real joy, I couldn't capture with the camera all the things I saw, some were too well concealed or just too quick! This blue tit obliged though..

The local thrushes and blackbirds seemed to out in good numbers, whether they were preparing to defend the berry bearing bushes against the incoming fieldfares and redwings I don't know...

Another bonus was small flocks of long tailed tits flitting through the bushes...

A superb day with all this happening around me, it was to get better. My patient tracking, logging and pursual of the kingfishers means I am likely to know where they will land after being disturbed. Seeing one in flight I followed slowly and carefully, even more carefully when I neared its likely perch...my reward:-)

The season of autumn brings the wonderful colours in the trees..

After a coffee stop and rest I set off on my patrol again, this time a newly arrived fieldfare was to be seen feasting on berries.

Another kingfisher sighting followed, this time it was fishing and it emerged with a fish and flew eastwards. I knew where to look, sure enough here it was with its prize, I felt like a prize winner as well:-)))

These are moments when all the miles walked in all sorts of weather, the days of not seeing much, being cold and miserable and footsore, all disappear and I feel just a sort of elation.....

I was careful not to disturb the kingfisher and left it to enjoy its tasty treat, good timing as it turned out, a kestrel appeared within reasonable range..

I was happy with my days sightings and hopeful the photographs would turn out well, heading for home I could not resist a shot of a juvenile swan though!

A tree full of nervous and edgy birds will always demand attention, fieldfares in a large group...

And now the walk was almost over, a great day...now what do you find at a rainbows end??

21st October, A sunny walk by the canal

We had a late start this Sunday, both a bit weary after the long day with the deer and some jobs to catch up on. Mid afternoon all tasks were completed and we took in a walk by the Leeds Liverpool canal, the sun was shining and the sky was blue.

I promised the chance of seeing the kingfisher as we strolled, I had been on my own for the previous sightings, pretty soon we spotted the little beauty peeping from a bush..

Unfortunately it flew a good distance away before we could get a better view, luckily it went in the direction we were heading.

This moorhen provided a lovely reflection..

We then approached the area we had seen the kingfisher fly to, walking cautiously and carefully, above all hoping no-one else appeared!!

We were in luck, first a slightly bashful look from the kingfisher before a more classic pose:-)

Eventually the inevitable happened, cyclists approached and off it went..

We did track it down again, a long distance zoom and not a great shot..

A lovely couple of hours in the warm sunshine, a good look at the kingfisher for us both, what a super walk.

The golden autumn leaves on the trees just added to the beauty:-)