A walk in Derbyshire

Decent weather predicted for Derbyshire (White) Peak District area yesterday so packed the camera, rucksack with beef/tomato sarnies, flask of tea, cake and obligatory packet of Pom Bears  lol    and headed off for the start of our walk (5+ miles) parking up at the beautiful village of Hartington.  

Quick pic taken on old iPhone showing Hartington church

  From the village we headed across pasture where we watched a Hare scurry across the grass before we ventured on passing through a short track of woodland along a path that joined the River Dove and Beresford Dale,  a picturesque area which meanders slightly through wooded habitat and opens into steep limestone hills either side of the River;   this was an area back in time that mined for Lead and Iron and quarried for Limestone.   

a photo of the Hare which was a scurrying across the pasture -  didn't realise their legs were so long   !    ......

then for some reason it stopped  !      paused a while so I took another photo

an iPhone pic of the area of woodland just as we reach the River Dove

No sooner had we entered the banks of the Dove when we spotted our first Dipper, a favourite bird of ours to see although as is usually the case they tend to opt for the far dark shady banks and lurk at the edges blending into the rocks so you have to wait for them to start dipping in the river !   

It has to be one of the most difficult birds to photograph when it comes to camera settings with high ISO and trying to get enough speed;  sorry, these are the best I could muster.   Was much darker than you could imagine in the heavily shrubby/ wooded river area.

Two Mandarin ducks where in the same area but on the near bank !     Not sure if its male in eclipse, juvenile or female    lol

iPhone quick shot as the 300mm x 2 reach was too close - as you will see in 2nd pic   !

too close but cute !

On to Wolfcote Dale

a group of juvenile Mallards were huddled together like a load of stuffed toys on a bed   lol 

A female Grey Wagtail hunted for insects .....

a sheep baa'd for its Momma who was up on the limestone crag and then clambered up to join her after I took this photo

a very tatty looking butterfly sunned itself

a juvenile Blue Tit foraged from the Alder ?

another dipper, possibly juvenile,  flew along the river landing typically in an obscurred area close to its parent  !

I could hardly pick out the bird between the thicket of ferns, grasses and shrubs  

this was the adult nearby and a little easier to see albeit still in a heavy shaded area requiring high ISO  !

close view ............

I will put these photos up in stages as there are a few more to come yet and don't want to overload you in one go  !!        I have Kestrels to come, more Dipper shots and a few too many photos of a very endearing young Spotted Flycatcher fledgling who stole my heart     lol   

Will upload a few more later.