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

  • You certainly got a wide variety of excellent shots ... Thumbsup. The young Redstarts and the Swallow feeding shots are wonderful. Did you see the Skipton tourist attraction that is one of the most popular, opposite the castle. The Celebrated Pork Pie Establishment. There would be a crowd outside with pie juice running down their chins ... Yum

  • Looks a brilliant trip. The swallow shots are fabulous

    I've learned that I still have a lot to learn...

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramble67/

  • Many thanks,
    I did see the Celebrated Pork Pie Establishment, one of many pie shops we saw in Skipton, they must truly love their pies in Skipton.
    Trevor
  • Wow, Trevor - more fabulous photos. I love the one of the Wren. I would never have recognised the very young Wheatear, not something I have ever seen. Thank for sharing your trip

    Cin J

  • Just what we needed to take our minds of all that spam!!!

    Absolutely brilliant as always Trevor and to capture all the young...lucky if I ever get to see the adult birds never mind their young aswell!!!

    Way too many fab pics to pick a favourite so I choose them all ;-)

    Thanks for sharing

    (Pardon the Scottish Accent)

  • Great selection again Trevor, I'm glad you managed to visit God's Own County, also known as Upper Wharfedale. I was based in that area late 60's /early 70's that track out of Buckden was part of my regular training run, I struggle to walk it nowadays. Those photos of Swallows on the roof are fascinating, you could look at them for hours and notice something different every time thanks for posting them.

    Pete

    Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can

  • Fantastic photos. Thanks for sharing them. What camera/lens combo do you use?

    Ed
  • Hi Ed,
    Thanks for the comments.
    Virtually all my wildlife photography is done with a Lumix G9 and Leica 100-400 zoom lens and occasionally with a Leica 12-60 zoom lens. Being a crop sensor means the effective focal lengths are doubled.
    I chose a Micro 4/3 camera because it's so much smaller, lighter and less expensive than full frame equivalents. I do most of my photography walking about and wouldn't have liked carrying a full frame kit around the Yorkshire Dales. The G9 was the best Micro 4/3 camera available when I bought it four and half years ago, Olympus now OM Systems has caught up now.
    Best wishes,
    Trevor
  • Trevor,
    Thank you so much for the details. I can understand the weight issues when out and about. I use the Canon EOS 7D Mk1 and a Canon EF 100-400 zoom. I confine most of my wildlife photography to my garden but on the occasion of going out and about with it, it is a heavy combo to use.

    Keep taking those fantastic pics and look forward to seeing more here on the forum.

    Kind Regards

    Ed
  • Stunning set of photos and all those special birds, wish I'd been there as even one of those would be a delight to see; thanks for sharing the photos and interesting post.

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    Regards, Hazel