A Trip to the Yorkshire Dales from Suffolk - Part 3

After parking at Crosshills we went for a walk up to Lund's Tower and Wainman's Pinnacle. Wild life wise is was quite quiet, first spot, one of a few Speckled Woods.

Followed by a Common Frog.

Then a Small Copper.

Later our first ever Wall Brown, luckily I spotted it in flight. Nearly lost it on the wall.

After a wait it briefly opened it's wings for us.

Looking somewhat out of place on top of some power lines, a Curlew.

After wet morning in Skipton and a relatively uneventful walk around the Castle Woods we went to Bolton Abbey and another late afternoon stroll along the Wharf.

A dozing Common Sandpiper.

Then some Mandarin Ducks.

Another Common Sandpiper.

After a few blue flash glimpses, a Kingfisher finally posed for a distant photo.

Another day and off to Buckden on a walk towards the Buckden Pike but turning away and back along the upper reaches of the Wharf back to Buckden via Starbottom.

Before we even set off from the car park we spotted a family Swallows on the roof of a nearby building. The parents were making regular feeding passes.

The early part of the walk out of Buckden rises up along a tree lined path and the trees were alive with bird life, it took us way over hour to cover about half a mile of track.

First spot, a Willow Warbler with a Hoverfly.

Some movement in the middle of a small tree, a pair of young Spotted Flycatchers.

Behind that tree a couple of Redstarts were catching flies, except for passage migrants we don't see Redstarts in Suffolk.

Then the adult Spotted Flycatcher turned up.

Higher up the path we came out into the open hillside where we saw some very young Wheatears.

A Meadow Pipit.

A Curlew in more traditional setting.

One of a group of 5 or 6 Wrens that flew across the path in front of us but were gone so fast I was lucky to catch one with the camera.

Reed Bunting.

Another Meadow Pipit.

Juvenile Redstart refusing to pose properly.

One of many Willow Warblers about.

Not sure if this is a Willow Warbler but it's a happy one of whatever it is.

On another day we parked at Stainforth and walked up to Stainforth Gill on a circular walk.

A more mature young Wheatear.

A Pied Wagtail in the rain.

Our first sighting of Chimney Sweeper Moths.

We ended the day with a short walk out of Malham along a beck, not towards the Cove.

Another young Redstart posing beautifully this time.

And very close by a female Blackcap.

Finally the young Redstart again.

That concludes our adventures in the Yorkshire Dales, at least for wildlife, I'll add some scenery shots later.

We'll probably be back again next year.

Best Wishes,

Trevor