2016

Take off

Today I took an afternoon trip to Stanpit Marshes, Christchurch.  The day was a lovely December day with bright clear skies and not too cold either.  Stanpit Marsh nature reserve at this time of year is a nice place to go looking for Stonechats.  And today my luck was in as there were a few about posing on the gorse and brambles. I got a little luck with this next

Incoming

I recently purchased my first full frame digital Camera, and with good weather at the weekend it was time to try it out with my Canon 500mm Lens and another recent purchase a used Canon 100-400mm IS v1 lens. I am impressed with the noise handling of this camera – especially when comapring it with my Canon 760D.  Up to about 3200 the shots reveal very little noise, even when

Looking at Pooh!

I heard reports recently that there were good views to be had of three Short-eared Owls at Farlington Marshes nature reserve.  So I set out this afternoon more in hope than expectation of seeing them.  I was to be pleasantly suprised as I saw a pair of them fairly close up hunting over the fields. I took a short video of them flying and one later on sitting nearby in

Red Grouse in heather on Blakey Moor

Whilst up in the Yorkshire Moors I spent a couple of days photographing wildlife on the moors.  The first days results are in this previous post.  These wildlife images are of course, therefore, from the second day, which I spent walking locally around Westerdale’s nearby moorlands, and this day was much more productive. I’ll start though with another sheep image. This was not the first wild animal seen though, this

Looking across with walkers to Lingmell

The final walk of my trip to the lake district was a walk up England’s highest mountain, Scaffel Pike.  This mountain is situated next to Wastwater lake – which also happens to be England’s deepest Lake.  The summit of Scaffel Pike is 978 metres (3,209 ft) above sea level. The day started off cloudy but warm, and as I walked up to Hollow Stones, the summits of the Pike and the

Walla Cragg to Keswick

The day following the climb up Ulla Pike was much different weather wise – being overcast and wet.   Not to be perturbed though, I set off outdoor walking again – this time on a slightly lower walk, around the Walla Cragg trail.  Fortunately the weather did improve slightly after the start of the walk allowing some dry spots and less cloud. Here are the images from that part of the

Path up to Ulla Pike with Skiddaw in the background

Following on from the walk up to Red Tarn, the next day saw a walk up Ulla Pike.  I had seen the ridge walk before and wanted to do it.  So with tiring limbs and a hot day set off from Dodds Wood car park on the trail up to Ulla Pike. On the climb up those ridges, the worst thing was probably the flying ants.  They were constantly landing

Red Tarn from Swirral Edge

Having gained a summit albeit a small one the previous day at Catbells, I went round to Ullswater and a walk from Glenridding to Red Tarn at Helvellyn.   The forecast was mixed, with the day starting off wet and overcast.  However the afternoon was meant to clear to sun at Glenridding, and so it did when I arrived there.  The weather later on was supposed to stay dry, although some

Catbells towards Highscarth and Robinson

Having done a walk near Robinson, the next day of the visit say me take in a 9 mile walk around Derwent Water from Barrow Bay to the summit of Catbells and back.  It was certainly an interesting walk, which saw the first summit of the week. The first photo opportunity on the cloudy day was Lodore Falls. Then a misty scene from Mansty towards the higher grounds towards Borrowdale.

Walkers on High Snab Bank

A recent trip to the Lake District saw me go one several interesting walks – in mostly good weather.  These images are from the first walk there – a walk up High Snab Bank that if you continued up the track would lead to a summit on Robinson, and then back down alongside Scope Beck to the small lake. The weather on this day was very nice, and these are