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.

October 2016 - A Time of Transition

This time of the year is when we have to cope with a loss/gain factor, our swifts and swallows and martins, plus most of our warblers migrate to warmer climes after breeding here. Waders such as lapwings and curlews head to the coasts for winter, as do most of the meadow pipits and skylarks.

But there is a gain, finches like brambling overwinter here and we can expect plenty of redwings and fieldfares, who knows maybe the colourful waxwings may turn up after a couple of winters without them!

I have some regular patches I check near home, at one I had a really close encounter with a carrion crow...

Long tailed tits as well, always a delight to see

A kestrel with a kill, they usually use a post to tear open their catch - in this case a mouse or vole...

Another long tailed tit

My raptor watchpoint disclosed some hen harrier sightings, distant but great to see...

Chaffinches come in close the watchpoint where a mate puts some nutricious food on a wall for them...

We had a day up in Cumbria to see the red deer, the stags were roaring but we were probably a week early for full on rut action. Many visit public parks with captive red deer to photograph them, as wildlife photography has become more popular there have been instances of stags being surrounded by groups of photographers to the point where they lose interest in mating...I totally abhor this type of photography, instances of photographers being charged by the stags are a classic example of the intrusion that takes place nowadays.

Our preferred location means we are at a discrete distance, no disturbance and fair enough the shots are not close but they tell a story of wild red deer, no fences and not hassled by photographers who are trying to prove they have as much testosterone as the stags....

A lovely robin on a post the same day...

Stonechat as well...

And finally for that day... a stag so laid back he just roared as he rested :-)

A local nature reserve and a grey heron

Moorhen

Mute swan juveniles in flight

Little grebe

Mute swan preening

Black headed gull in flight

...and a jay in flight...

The first clear fieldfare sightings of the season...

Visitors from northern climes and a delight to see!

Our raptor watch chaffinch again...

An adult peregrine falcon with a very full crop i.e. food in its throat not yet digested...

and a majestic red kite

A closer look at a hen harrier, the light was very poor and it took a lot of processing to get the shots looking somewhere near right!

A red grouse in flight!

Kestrel

Answers on a postcard...why did the grouse cross the road :-)

and another graceful red kite

So, we lose and we win but life is like that and the seasons reflect life all too well, the trees will lose their leaves and our daylight lessens.

The young birds have a tough winter ahead of them, many do not make it through to spring but the majority do and they will be there to herald another year of exciting times. Meanwhile I eagerly await the first short eared owl sightings of the season, many have arrived around the coasts and hopefully will make their usual passage to my local moors.

The next blog will be about a short break in the Dumfries area, after that waxwings! Their arrival usually heralds a cold winter, visitors from Scandinavia and Siberia and there are flocks of hundreds arriving recently!

I got lucky locally, more later but one shot for now...

Many thanks to all who read the blog, and to those who make the time to comment, please don't forget if do comment they come to me first for moderation.

Cheers for now and thanks for your continued support.