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:-//





Saturday 17th December 2011 the sun came out!

There are various formulas for calculating the optimum settings for good SLR photographs, depending on available light, distance of shot and depth of field, clothing to wear to get the shots at this time of year is up to the wearer! Experience and gear collected fellwalking in all sorts of weather means I am not short of warm stuff and it was appreciated today, the drive to Barden Bridge was uneventful enough until the last half mile when I involuntarily did a 90 degree turn, fortunately no contact with anything solid.

Setting off on my wander with ice studs on the walking shoes I turned back for a look at the view. The studs are great for grip but not for stealth, watching loads of small birds fly away as I clip clopped towards them was probably equally as annoying as falling on my backside, the studs are marginally better for the dignity though:-)

There may be better places for an early morning walk, but not many.
Mandarin ducks winter around here, a pair were spotted on the far bank.

I tend to muse as I walk, pie are squared can be represented in symbols for those who like circular puzzles, square or round pies are good!

Herons are wonderful creatures to watch, study them closely and you may be lucky enough to see them strike for a catch. More often you see them like statues studying the water like this.

This dipper, sorry for the poor quality, was singing its heart out. If you have never heard one, and it is rare, normally the sound of the water overpowers the song, it is truly stunning, a joyous tune with occasional coarse notes that I can only think help carry the song above the crashing water.

Almost back to the car and I have a crisis, a lovely robin appears and the auto focus on the camera will not behave! A play with the settings and I switch to manual, not good for someone who enjoys a good Friday night out!

Time for home and a warm up then down to the canal, with the sun out and no wind it can be a stunning place.

Long tailed tits were aplenty on the next stretch, a half decent pic was the best I managed, they don't stay still for long but knowing where they are likely to be seen means better chances to come:-)

The light started to deteriorate badly at this point as I entered a stretch of the canal with lots of tree cover, just the place to encounter a pair of photo friendly goosanders!

Scraping the mud from my trail shoes at this point I was passed by a fellow walker heading the other way, "crap innit mate" he uttered as he wandered on without waiting for the courtesy of a reply. No actually it wasn't, just an accumulation of mud and the view was good too, Nab End our local high point.

Time to think about beer now, the first pint is never ever the best, that's a thirst quencher and the second one is perfection normally.

Just about to put the camera away a sparrow appears, once common now sadly all too rare for lots of people, the rascal of the hedgerows!

And now as Homer Simpson said...."I've tried religion after religion...and yet all along there was beer" bless:-)))

Have a great Christmas and New Year everyone.