Bank holiday pt. 1 - On the Moors

So, despite the confusion by some on here, yesterday did turn out to be a Bank Holiday and, what's more, a sunny one! It was also quite a busy day for me, so this is part 1! To avoid any crowds, I just went up on the local moors. Once again, I heard the Cuckoo on the opposite side of the valley but it never called again. I had a few sightings, including a Stonechat collecting heather for the nest, a Kessie and a Grey Squirrel on the hill top. He must have been re-locating or gone specifically egg-hunting up there. Either way, he was a long way from any trees and a group of Mipits and Skylarks were mobbing him.

As I was having a break by a tiny reservoir, a group of Swallows came in. There is a nest site in the farm below and it may have been them. Photographing them in-flight is always a challenge but when they are circling back and forth taking on water, you have to have a go, don't you. The first one seems to picked up the water splashes as much as the Swallow but ... 

A shame I couldn't get any eyes, but that's just an excuse to have another go next time! You'll see a theme developing for the day later in part 2 Slight smile After a three hour walk over the grassy moor, where did I drop the camera - yes, on a small stretch of road! Fortunately, it fell practically parallel and seemed to be without a scratch! I later found it had jammed the lens hood, which took some effort to unjam later but no real damage - phew! It was definitely working on the next subject, anyway.

I could hardly believe how close and relaxed this deer was. Luckily, I was using the zoom so I could rein it in. Some of these are at 200mm!

She's obviously mid-moult and the new coat is decidedly redder than the old. I'm not sure if she's another raspberry blowing mammal that we seem to get on here thanks to WJ.

Or maybe there's a gurning competition going on

"Right, you've taken enough photos, I'm off. I suggest you go home, too!"

I did go home for lunch after that, but then went back out in the evening. More of that later ...