5th November 2012, My first Monday off:-))

After some patient and well thought discussions with my boss I now no longer work Mondays, some cover for the holidays of a colleague will be necessary but essentially I now have a three day weekend.

A bonus too at this time of year is the free mid week parking in Bolton Abbey, Christmas holidays and half terms excluded of course, the estate isn't made of money, well it might be but rules that deter young families still apply for some ill thought reason.

I set off from the Cavendish Pavilion car park, walking westwards to try and get the best photographic conditions on a bright and sunny day. The trees were autumnal, golden brown and stunning..

 

 

This small desolate area was largely bare of leaves though, the frost and wind probably accounted for the leaves judging by the crunching beneath my feet!

 

The Harrison Ford shelter, named after a local ford not any mythical adventurer is a good spot to linger, many people put bird food around its edges and shelves, some lovely birds appear such as this nuthatch..

 



 

I tried a few shots, the low light in the shelter does not lend itself to great pix, especially with bright light streaming through the remaining leaves. A cute little coal tit was my only other decent shot...

 





I took a short break just before the aqueduct, here looking back down stream...

Crossing over I now strolled through shadowed woodland, pausing for a shot made famous by a JMS Turner painting..

There was a photographic workshop in place down by the Strid, the rocks were very slippery, their expensive lenses and camera bodies stayed clear of the classic shot of the gushing force!

To be fair my camera stayed short of it too, it gets slippier as you get further out...another day with drier rocks I'll get on the edge:-)

Wildlife sightings had been few so far, as I neared a stretch where I could get off the path I decided to try just that...it works, no surprise there, and I got a reasonable pic of a female goosander..

A small time sat quietly by the river paid dividends, this lovely dipper sang its squeaky yet exquisite song exclusively for me..............

Getting near to the water level allowed my camera to capture the colouring quite well, another splendid day:-)

4th November 2012, Leighton Moss a grand day!

A day on my own as the ladies were on a shopping trip, a sunny day in prospect and a day at RSPB Leighton Moss for me:-))

An early start beckoned, some research disclosed that the bearded tits are more in evidence early in the day. After making sure I had all I would need for the day I set off and enjoyed a hassle free drive westwards, my timing was spot on as I walked down the causeway and reached the clearing in the reed beds. The grit trays are placed there specifically for the beardies, their switch from eating insects to seeds at this time of year means they need to grit to aid digestion.

They really are stunning birds and I was almost reluctant to leave while they were still there, I had a schedule though of hides I wanted to be at by certain times so off I went. Regular visitors here will know the friendly robins...almost demanding their photo taken!

How much instinct plays a part in seeing wildlife I don't know, nor do I know what made me take a look down this channel part way across the causeway..

I called in at the public hide to see what was in view, not much apart from a wing drying cormorant enjoying the welcome warmth of the sun.

A short stint at the lower hide drew a blank and I wandered the mile or so back to the car for a brew and then I headed down the other side of the paths. In my second hide I found shovellers within range, well named...

It wasn't far from here back to the car and I decided to have my lunch and come back.

There are plenty of birds around the paths, this blue tit appeared in a lovely location...

A marsh harrier flew across before I had chance to settle in my first hide of the afternoon, the harrier did settle though in a nearby bush!

Soon it flew away out of sight and I decided to take the walk down to the lower hide again, this not very clear nuthatch was my only shot on the way.

Instinct again? I just had time to get the lens cap off after arriving at the lower hide and the marsh harrier flew by, not the greatest shots as it was a long way away, the reeds and scrub do not make for a good background either..

I then noticed a splash in an otherwise quite area of the water, the size of the splash dictated a large animal....otter! After alerting others in the hide as to its presence I then enjoyed a lengthy view of a big dog otter fishing and feeding in the water. Way too far away for a hope of a good photograph this is all I got that even bears any resemblance to an otter, and I am not sure which bit of an otter it is!

Another encounter with a demanding robin ensued as I wandered back towards the centre...

A kestrel flew in, it could have posed somewhere more photogenic than the electric cables though!

One last check on the other hides as the sun sank low in the sky, or more correctly as the earth tilted away from the sun! A large stag partially appeared from the reeds.

Cormorants flew in from all directions to roost in this sunlit tree, safety in numbers and even more safety up a tree!!

And as I turned my gaze westwards the sun disappeared, time I did too I have to drive home and my eyes are tired!

3rd November 2012, Watching the kingfishers again!

The weather promised a bright sunny day so what to do.......go kingfisher watching was top of my list today, it turned out rather well! The autumn influx of birds is also under way so I had high hopes when I began my walk, the canalbank is not a pretty sight or an easy walk at the moment, deep and slippery mud everywhere and it is a good job the incentives were high.

The bright sunlight shows the male mallards off to their best, the magnificent colours gleam out:-)

Another favourite is the moorhen and again some sunshine makes the photography a whole lot easier..

The sounds of birdsong emanating from the canalside bushes was a real joy, I couldn't capture with the camera all the things I saw, some were too well concealed or just too quick! This blue tit obliged though..

The local thrushes and blackbirds seemed to out in good numbers, whether they were preparing to defend the berry bearing bushes against the incoming fieldfares and redwings I don't know...

Another bonus was small flocks of long tailed tits flitting through the bushes...

A superb day with all this happening around me, it was to get better. My patient tracking, logging and pursual of the kingfishers means I am likely to know where they will land after being disturbed. Seeing one in flight I followed slowly and carefully, even more carefully when I neared its likely perch...my reward:-)

The season of autumn brings the wonderful colours in the trees..

After a coffee stop and rest I set off on my patrol again, this time a newly arrived fieldfare was to be seen feasting on berries.

Another kingfisher sighting followed, this time it was fishing and it emerged with a fish and flew eastwards. I knew where to look, sure enough here it was with its prize, I felt like a prize winner as well:-)))

These are moments when all the miles walked in all sorts of weather, the days of not seeing much, being cold and miserable and footsore, all disappear and I feel just a sort of elation.....

I was careful not to disturb the kingfisher and left it to enjoy its tasty treat, good timing as it turned out, a kestrel appeared within reasonable range..

I was happy with my days sightings and hopeful the photographs would turn out well, heading for home I could not resist a shot of a juvenile swan though!

A tree full of nervous and edgy birds will always demand attention, fieldfares in a large group...

And now the walk was almost over, a great day...now what do you find at a rainbows end??

27th October, Snow but not the sort I expected!!

The forecasted Arctic blast arrived, a covering of snow did not though and I set out on an early morning woodland walk at Low Wood near Riddlesden. It was certainly chilly and I was well wrapped against the freezing wind. My first circuit of the woods revealed little, a few birds were chirping invisibly in the treetops and well out of range for my camera.

I decided to check the canal to see if there was anything of interest, luckily the wind dropped to a gentle breeze.

As the photograph shows at least the sun was shining and it was much warmer here, the usual mallards were about.

We usually get an influx of canada geese and I soon encountered a large group, obviously newly arrived judging by their nervous and twitchy behaviour. A closer look revealed a stranger in their midst...a beautiful snow goose.

These birds have probably flown from Alaska or Canada to winter here, the snow goose often travels with other geese according to my books.

I returned to the woods for another circuit...

It was bright and pleasant now and devoid of photographic subjects! A  lengthy perusal through the binoculars brought me distant views of jay and great spotted woodpecker, attempts at getting near enough to photograph them were laughable, I had my clumsy feet on!

I was on the verge of packing it in for the morning when a jay appeared from the undergrowth, it was feeding on acorns on the ground.

A grey squirrel offered me another opportunity...this too was partially obscured by an offending twig!

Time for home now, our lovely grand-daughters were joining us for the afternoon and evening and we had decided to take them to the pumpkin hunt at Bolton Abbey.

I dropped them and Mrs Wildlife off at the turning to the Cavendish Pavilion and drove down to Barden Scale to park the car thus avoiding the dreaded and extortionate estate parking charges. The plan was for me to walk downstream to meet them and then we would walk together back to the car.

The autumnal shades on the mature trees were beautiful...

 

 

I soon found the team and they were enjoying the hunt, the witches were not too difficult to find!

 

The pumpkins were numerous and not too hard to locate, gaps in interest were filled with leaf kicking battles and lots of laughter:-)

 

What a grand way to spend an afternoon!