Waiting for Spring and some pleasant surprises

So far winter has passed with no serious snow fall or freezing conditions, occasional flurries of the white stuff and the odd need to scrape the car windows before early morning journeys may be signs of a temporary change in our weather, we shall see!

Bright days have been all too few, we seem to get day after day of dull grey skies that do little to lift the spirits or the shutter speeds. Despite vast improvements in camera technology and the availability of processing software that can enhance an image there is still no real substitute for some real early morning or late afternoon good light.

I ventured over to Wharfedale one morning and managed to get a dipper in fairly close...

This caught me by surprise and I overexposed the shot, losing the detail on the white throat...must try harder!

A male goosander was having a wing stretch...

I spotted a distant kingfisher

At my raptor watchpoint a female sparrowhawk flew in and landed in a tree for a few moments before flying off

A short while later a young hen harrier flew through, distant but unmistakeable to the experienced eye!

Looks like a young male with the slim body, great to see.

We had a day at RSPB Blacktoft Sands, nr Goole and a great day if you are within travelling distance.

Plenty of ducks to see with some wigeon in close...

Stonechat in the reeds

A kingfisher landed close by but flew away before I got the camera on it, heyho :-)

A few marsh harrier shots, mainly juveniles as most of the adults migrate and will return over the coming months...

Back home and out on the moor on a sunny day, the red grouse males are challenging...literally at times!

Red kite are becoming very common sightings for us, happy days!

A peeping grouse...

My new hen harrier site has been visited with some success...

We had a couple of days up in East Cumbria, near the RSPB reserve at Geltsdale. What a stunning place, mile after mile of wild moorland and home to very special birds. A very kind local pointed out a good place to see black grouse so a pre-dawn set off and we found the location, and the black grouse too. They often spend time in the tops of bushes, a female demonstrated that.

We probably just missed the "lek" the males fan their white tails and parade and fight for the attention of the ladies. Male black grouse...

Another shot of a female...

Then it was on to Geltsdale, this was going to be a long day, long walks and lots of binocular checks and some cold fingers firmly crossed.

The reserve is huge with various options for walks, our own experience plus a healthy dose of local advice led us to concentrate on a few walks to good vantage points.

Distant male hen harrier, despite much hard work we were unable to get closer views but what a delight to see.

Scanning around for the harrier we discovered another treasure, a hunting short eared owl, with sightings scarce at home this year this was another delight!

The following day was notable for rain, rain and more rain, enough said!

Since seeing the young male hen harrier at my new location I have been hoping for some decent light to get some really good shots, maybe hope pays off...in the company of a great mate....what an absolute treat and reward for my patience...

Wow, what greater reward could I have wished for, a stunning bird and a delight to see.

The rewards for patience are wonderful, and it feels like almost like nature does reward patience.
I shall never stop preaching this way above the pay per shot hides where artificial shots and values abound, they alter the natural behaviour of wildlife by feeding predatory birds for the pleasure of photographers and the financial rewards that follow, they will say it is no different to garden feeders, believe me it is. The birds that use feeders are able to re-adapt to different foods, seeds, berries etc at different times of the year. Predatory birds need instinct and razor sharp reflexes, if the meal is provided too easily they lose that, and that is passed on in their genes. The young won't move away from an easy food source and so it goes on.

One of the best examples of this is the osprey feed ponds, tiny pools with hides close, these set ups are drawing more and more young birds which are disrupting nest behaviour of previously reliable parent ospreys. The young males, drawn by by easy prey will attack the nest site trying to attract the females attention, several nests sites have failed because of this in recent years...all in the name of photography, really...it saddens me.

If you see birds of prey while you are out at this time of the year it is a great time to watch out for "display" flights from them as they will soar up on thermals to attract a partner or to re-bond with an existing one. Sometimes locking talons and tumbling down together it can be an exhilarating sight.
If the tumbling continues to the ground or near it, this may well be birds of the same sex competing for a partner or territory but this is a much rarer sight.

Please support wildlife by staying away from artificial set ups and by not supporting photographers who use them.

Many thanks to all who read the blog, please don't forget if you do comment that they come to me first for moderation, the support of all readers is much appreciated.

Summer delights and an apology!

We have had a very busy time since my last update from our Scotland trip, sometimes domestic and family issues come before internet time.

I have also spent a lot of time "in the field" not any particular field but out enjoying finding and watching some rather splendid wildlife, more on this as the update continues.

Decent weather decided to bless us in the middle of summer and we enjoyed plenty of warm and sunny days. My love of wildlife gives me the impetus and enthusiasm to get the gear packed for early starts and I have enjoyed some wonderful sightings early in the day, but my first shots are from the end of the peregrine season at Malham.

Helping others to see the peregrines and other wildlife at the Cove is really enjoyable...plus I get to see and photograph wonderful sights like a tree full of young house martins!

The spotted flycatchers have been a delight once again, here one has caught a butterfly...

And of course the peregrines, we see little of them towards the end of the season fortunately one showed well on my last day of duty...

Whinchats are superb and delightful birds, a friend alerted me to their presence on a local moor and a short walk led me to the site.

The first shot is the female followed by two of the male.

The raptor watch I attend often involves long distance views through binoculars and/or telescope but occasionally we get lucky and a bird flies or lands close enough for photographs...that was the case with this female merlin which landed on a wall not too far away!

Sightings of marsh harriers are not unknown in our area but certainly not regular, one day we had three which was certainly exciting...a short walk on the moor got me near enough for a few shots.

Down on the river Wharfe I enjoyed some close sightings of goosanders

...and of course dippers!

A quick shot of a sparrowhawk

Buzzards are fairly regular sightings

A check on my kingfisher site produced some lovely shots

I love the little grebes that also show here

...and as a bonus there are little egrets too...

Efforts to get the blog up to date will continue, and I hope you will bear with me.

As autumn falls upon us the sightings will change, my love of being out there in amongst our treasured wildlife will never change though, watching wildlife behaving naturally is the finest enjoyment there is.

Many thanks to all who read, don't forget if you do add a comment that they come to me first for moderation.

Cheers everyone

Dave