Some excellent sightings as Spring progresses!

We plan and book our holidays a long way in advance, this is necessary to get properties in the areas we love to visit. As wildlife watching and photography have become more popular the more the difficulty of getting a booking in prime areas has increased.

So, a trip to Suffolk where we had great weather, great sightings and a superb holiday last year.....

The good old UK weather paid us back for over confidence, a week of strong easterly winds with little sunshine meant sightings were somewhat limited.

Sedge warbler ...

Avocets offered some nice reflections albeit in poor light...

Hobbys have returned, a wonderful small falcon that hunts dragonflies but will take small birds as well. Fast and agile they are wonderful to observe...

A brief but good sighting of a bittern...

Marsh harriers are plentiful around the reserves in Suffolk and we had some splendid sightings...

These are shots of males.

Smaller birds took lots of patience to locate, they sang well but more often than not from positions under cover from the strong winds!

However, a male blackcap showed himself...

Female marsh harrier...

A muntjac deer...

A true delight, a male bearded tit!

Movement in the water near the reedbeds alerted us to the presence of an otter, not visible for long but wow!

and a sighting of a male sparrowhawk

While we were away news came through that a male pallid harrier was not far from my local patch, fingers were firmly crossed that it would hang around until we got home.

At the first opportunity we made our way to the location, success! Distant but UK sightings, certainly this far north are quite rare. Of the same general family as hen harriers but a distinct separate species.

The harrier was alternating between hunting and display flights, carrying nest material in a desperate attempt to attract a female. It seems the attempt failed and it has moved on.

We called at Malham to check on the peregrines, great news...three chicks visible!

Pied flycatchers are back in a local wood...

We had super views as a great spotted woodpecker delved for insects along some fence posts and moss strewn boulders...

An intriguing scuffle between a male cuckoo and a meadow pipit was witnessed...

 Female ring ouzel during a moorland walk...

Exciting news that an osprey was showing locally drew my attention!

and a stoat showed while I was on duty at peregrine watch, magic!

And a taster for next month?

Yesterday I witnessed and photographed a food pass between the adult peregrines!

Tomorrow we head for NW Scotland for a couple of weeks, pine marten, golden eagles, white tailed eagles...fingers crossed very firmly!

Many thanks to all who read my blog, it really is appreciated. Don't forget if you do comment that they come to me first for moderation.

The end of winter and the beginning of spring

Hi folks and welcome to another update on my wildlife encounters and sightings, each viewing of my blog is appreciated and as always I am open to answering questions on topics I have raised.

Following my last blog I was contacted by an osprey hide owner with regard to the accuracy of what I stated, he was polite but dismissive until I quoted the openly available facts that were the basis of my comments. Further proof from a respected wildlife trust resulted in him "blocking" me, so much for constructive conversation!

One place has a pond approx 36 x 17 metres stocked with over 2,000 rainbow trout...draw your own conclusions....

Anyway lets crack on with some wildlife, a little nature reserve near home has a stable population of linnets, wonderful little birds...

Teal are seen there regularly too...

Carrion crows with unusual white wing patches...

The juvenile male hen harrier continued to show well at another location...

I love dunnocks and this one showed in beautiful light...

Lapwings are back on my moors...

A nuthatch in the woods nearby...

As you can see I have been covering plenty of habitats and if asked to name my favourite I would have to say.....all of them! This area offers moorland, riverbanks, canal towpaths and some superb woodlands. All of them have brought me some very treasured sightings over the years so each are treated with due respect.

This time of year is close to the start of my peregrine watchpoint volunteering, we called up for a look at Malham Cove and found a peregrine on sentry duty what a great start to the season!

The viewpoint, co-funded by the RSPB and Yorkshire Dales National Park opens on the 1st April and is manned from Saturday to Wednesday with powerful telescopes to help visitors see the birds. Lots of other wonderful wildlife to be seen around the area including green woodpeckers, house martin, redstart, spotted flycatchers and stoats and weasels...

RSPB Leighton Moss is a favourite of ours, good habitat and always something to see...including an otter with a catch, a bit distant but super to see

And a wonderful view of the secretive bittern

Nuthatches abound there too!

Back in my local woods I found a siskin...

We love the east coast, particularly RSPB Bempton Cliffs, a stop off along the way brought a stunning binocular and scope view of a goshawk, too far away for my camera but a treasured sighting nonetheless.

A crossbill was more confiding :-)

Scarborough Harbour provided a great northern diver!

First sighting at Bempton was short eared owl, what a day!

We saw kittiwake, fulmar, razorbill and guillemot and loads of gannets too, more on them plus puffins later in the year.

A bonus on the day...a lovely if lethal weasel!

Regular readers will know of my love of dippers, they are just fascinating as they dive into fast currents searching for food. Now they are paired up, tidying nest sites and preparing to breed again...

Taking a rest occasionally though, but always alert...

The great spotted woodpeckers have been showing well in my local woodland areas, female and male respectively....

In amongst some chaffinches I found a brambling, they will soon be departing along with the waxwings, redwings and fieldfares that have graced our shores in winter. The great season of spring migration is upon us with many favourite birds back or on their way.

 My first wheatear of the year...

And finally...a lesson in patience, the most vital skill in a wildlife photographers kit. My raptor watchpoint has yielded some super sightings of the UK's smallest bird of prey, the merlin. Last year a female perched on a wall not too far away, great but catching one in flight? A couple of days ago all the patience paid off....

I can only try to direct people and photographers to the rewards of patience, after all people have the options there before them. I can only say that this way has no detrimental effects on the wildlife we all love...busy days ahead the first osprey flying through my area has been spotted :-)

Many thanks to all who read the blog, comments are much appreciated but will only appear after coming to me for moderation.