20-22nd July 2013, A grey but fine weekend

I was looking forward to last weekend, a hot sunny week led to high expectations and I had a good walk on Rombald's Moor planned for Saturday.

With my camera cleaned and charged and a kind offer of a lift at both ends of the walk to save me some unnecessary road plodding all looked good. Some high white and grey cloud persisted but the forecast was for the sun to break through before too long and I began my walk at Keighley Gate.

Some days, despite all my fieldcraft practice, all I seem able to do is disturb wildlife no matter how much care I take! As I set out along side the wall red grouse took to the air in every direction, their noisy flight seeming to mock me, good job I was in an optimistic mood.

Eventually I found a willing model, a lovely meadow pipit, a theme that was to continue all the walk!

There is lots of cotton grass at the moment...

The conditions have been wonderful for butterflies, a small tortoiseshell...

The meadow pipits were either feeling sorry for me or oblivious to whatever clumsiness was making the grouse flee :-))

Some of the patches of cotton grass were so dense I could try some variations in focal length..

The sun was finding gaps in the cloud now and again, a gentle breeze blew and the day was far from unpleasant.

A rest break on a handy rock brought me a lovely neighbour, yes a meadow pipit again!

There are good markers to the strength of the wind up here...

I am gaining more knowledge about butterflies but needed help from a friend to confirm that this a wall brown..

A large white settled momentarily...

A hover fly...

Another small tortoiseshell...

And a ringlet and small tortoiseshell sharing a flower...

A good walk and I was happy with how I coped with the weight of the new camera plus backpack on a decent walk in warm conditions.

On Sunday afternoon we drove up to Malham to meet the RSPB team, it is nearly the end of their stint for the year. Three successfully fledged peregrine falcon chicks is testimony to their work, let alone the hosts of other birds they help people to see and identify.

On the way up to the viewpoint we spotted a grey heron near the beck...

Near the viewpoint a lovely redstart posed on a tree stump...

A grey wagtail gathered food for its family...

I spotted house martins taking a sip of water in the edge of the beck, although this first shot was a complete accident as the bird took off straight at me...

Another grey wagtail shot...

A greenfinch on the RSPB feeders...

And one of the adult peregrines made an appearance, the nature of the sky made my photographs silhouettes though...

The grey heron was still there as we returned to the car...

Family jobs limited my time on Monday but I had sufficient to allow a short moorland walk, perhaps my luck or skill with the red grouse would have changed....

Still finding meadow pipits...

Near the end of my wander things changed :-))

And that evening a fine moon too..........

The change in the weather and the ensuing thundery conditions have meant no further midweek expeditions but maybe things will improve again next week.

Many thanks to all who read and enjoy, thanks also if you wish to add a comment....don't forget though that comments come to me first for approval..........

13-18th July 2013, Getting used to something new!

Since I started my quest to improve my wildlife photography, both from a fieldcraft and photographic point of view, the question has lurked in the back of my mind...could I aspire to use some good quality DSLR equipment?

I have worked hard to develop my knowledge and fieldcraft, books and articles have been devoured and digested, and I have worked equally as hard on the technical aspects of photography. Joining a couple of forums where help and advice could be sought, and more importantly found, was really helpful and I have made some good friends. It was to a couple of them, names not necessary, that I turned to for advice when I decided to set a budget and do some internet exploring!

The advice was reassuring and the pointers towards suitable kit was remarkably similar, a short while later a large box was delivered and a new adventure begins!

A Canon 60d and a Canon 100-400mm IS lens are now my main photographic kit, the trusty SX40 will always be there for landscapes and longer zoom shots.

A period of trial and experiment is necessary, a cheap SLR I bought a couple of years ago in anticipation of this hastened things along though!

The journey begins in my Mum's garden and appropriately for me... a white rose :)

I decided to concentrate in areas I know well so that comparisons would be easy...so the canal towpath it was then!

A lovely moorhen...

And my favourite heron..

At this stage the camera and lens were on full auto settings and I was finding some difficulty coping with the near 4lb weight with hand held shots...

Another moorhen..

And heron..

A mallard mid splash!

A lovely swan paddled by giving the chance of a shot..

And a moorhen with chick..

And finally for the day a small tortoiseshell butterfly..

Some post walk reading allowed me the knowledge to manually set a couple of things on the camera (I won't bore you with the details) and how to use the lens to my best advantage.

Wharfedale the following day, the sun is shining and the woods are host to an invisible chorus of birdsong! Nothing will pose for my camera, occasional sightings as birds winged through the foliage only to disappear again...but I found a small copper butterfly..

And some splendid fungi..

Eventually a blackbird appeared...

And a black headed gull perched on a mid stream rock

I was working hard on better ways to hold the camera still...

I think this is a ringlet....

Sand martin chicks were spotted on a telephone wire....

And then a bonus as a lovely young dipper appeared, about 8ft below us down a sheer bank so not an ideal angle nonetheless beautiful :-)

Whenever possible I have been out for more practice....

Another canal walk...and a series of moorhen shots..

A couple of mallard reflections...

A daisy on our lawn...

And a lovely young blackbird with food..

We took a walk in the fields near home...

A dandelion..

A painted lady butterfly, not common evidently...

A wide open aperture gives a very narrow depth of field or focus giving a muted effect on all apart from the mallard in the foreground..

And finally in the last light of evening just the cutest duckling...

Many thanks to all of you who are following me through my photographic journey, I hope you enjoy the photographs even half as much as I enjoy taking them!

Don't forget that if you feel moved to add a comment, they come to me first for approval, can't be doing with all that Spam, Spam , Spam or worse can we!