Just browsing through some photos from earlier this winter-this murmuration at Brough was quite dramatic until the floods came....
North and East Yorkshire
I had a trip up to North Yorkshire yesterday, initially I hoped to photograph waders at dawn but the fog scuppered that idea.A very brief visit to the car park at Holbeck yielded the usual mediterranean gull and a visit to the harbour only resulted in a single turnstone.
On then to Forge Valley and the usual and very co-operative selection of common woodland birds did not let me down although fog again was an issue for most of the morning.
I was very pleased with a close encounter with a treecreeper as well as great spotted woodpecker-two species whereby a photograph is not always guaranteed here.
I really wanted a nice shot of a marsh tit but unfortunately they were not so co-operative.
I then popped for an hour to the raptor watchpoint at Wykeham. There were a few distant buzzards, bullfinch and a large hawk that may or may not have been a goshawk but on the whole it was a bit quiet.
Last port of call was Tophill Low. I headed for the North Marsh Hide with the hope of a view of an otter. Unfortunately there were none, but I did see roe deer, grey squirrel and rabbit.I did get a very fleeting glimpse of a kingfisher and heard very vocal tawny owls in the nearby wood.
I don't know if its been an exceptional year for snowdrops (usually I don't really notice) but they seem to have been around for ages.
With an hour of light left I headed for the EA hide at Watton, nice light made for nice conditions, here there was plenty of common wildfowl-the highlight being a single pintail.
All in all avery long and very enjoyable early Spring day.
Red Squirrels
Its been a while since I last posted some photos but a reduction in workload, change in circumstances and a renewed enthusiasm has given me the kick up the backside I needed to continue posting photos and stories of wildlife in Yorkshire.
I have widened my horizons from birds to a more extended view of the natural world.
With that in mind I finally got myself up to Hawes today and the excellent red squirrel viewing site managed by Sarah and Simon Phillpott.
I had read and heard about it but when I got there it was even better than I was expecting, the set up there is fantastic, the squirrels are most obliging and the constant servicing of the feeders and general attendance by Simon to maximize the experience was first class.
As for the squirrels, there must have been at least a dozen with some of the bold individuals actually coming into the hide.
I took literally hundreds of photos and the dramatic weather only added to the day.
I would recommend a visit by anyone remotely interested in wildlife, this is a truly special place.
Simon can be contacted at Wild Dales Photography.Some of the many images below.
x
I have widened my horizons from birds to a more extended view of the natural world.
With that in mind I finally got myself up to Hawes today and the excellent red squirrel viewing site managed by Sarah and Simon Phillpott.
I had read and heard about it but when I got there it was even better than I was expecting, the set up there is fantastic, the squirrels are most obliging and the constant servicing of the feeders and general attendance by Simon to maximize the experience was first class.
As for the squirrels, there must have been at least a dozen with some of the bold individuals actually coming into the hide.
I took literally hundreds of photos and the dramatic weather only added to the day.
I would recommend a visit by anyone remotely interested in wildlife, this is a truly special place.
Simon can be contacted at Wild Dales Photography.Some of the many images below.
x