Upsetting the Balance

For one reason or another my nature walks have been few this year. Today however I was under strict instructions from Mrs WoldsEnd to get out into the fresh air and enjoy what was a perfect spring day. 

There was hardly a cloud in the sky and a very light breeze. The early morning frost had gone and the temperature was rising. 

Off I went to Allerthorpe Wood.

On arrival I was met with this notice next to a bird feeding station with instructions not to feed the birds due to the food attracting rats.

It seems well intentioned people have upset the balance. I wonder where the rats will go now - they are only wild animals trying to survive so maybe they will find more food in the nearby piggery.

A little further along this Tree sparrow was fortunate enough to have found some food.

There was plenty of activity from the Grey squirrels

I carried on with my walk enjoying the warmth from the sun and the blue sky

I was not the only one enjoying the sun

There were quite a few birds high in the trees but this Goldcrest was lower down.

The peaceful day was interrupted by the sound of heavy machinery and it seemed some work was being carried out in the woodland. I headed back altering my route to avoid an area from which the sound of voices and chainsaws emanated.

First Visit

Carp Lake

It seems like ages since Mrs WoldsEnd and I had a nature walk. We were busy most of last year with our new cottage on the coast. It is only a few miles from Bempton Cliffs but we had little time for more than a couple of quick visits there and even less time to venture out to other places.

Seeing good weather forecast for Saturday we decided to get out and visit a new place for us - North Cave Wetlands . 

It is one of those places that we have been wanting to visit but have not got around to it. On arrival we were encouraged by the sound and then sight of geese.

Setting off to walk round we were met by a member of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and encouraged by him telling us what we may see (the Marsh Harrier managed to avoid us!) and also future plans to enlarge the reserve. Although it is free entry I was pleased that I was a member as it seems they spend the money well.

 Turret Hide

There are a number of hides and a new one being built. We gave these a miss as we wanted to explore the reserve and anyway they seemed rather busy. Walking along the path the sound of the birds was only occasionally interrupted by traffic on the road that runs along one side of the reserve. There were a couple of feeding stations attracting Tits and Finches together with some rabbits.

Sitting on a bench we saw some Long-tailed tits who stayed awhile until disturbed by a couple deep in conversation. It was such a peaceful day that any noise made the birds in the surrounding trees fly away.

Most of the waterfowl were well away from the public areas having a mid-afternoon snooze.

Occasionally however some birds would take to the sky.

With temperatures dropping we walked along the track at the side and stopped at The Wild Bird Cafe for some warming drinks.

The sun had decided to pop behind some clouds but as we walked to the Turret hide it came out again.

Some of the geese became restless and flew away to the surrounding fields.

North Cave Wetlands is a super reserve that we have been missing out on but after our first visit we are determined to return on a regular basis. If you do visit please consider joining the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust - you will see what good work they do.

As the sun went down we returned to the car and a friendly Great tit bid us farewell

Filey Bay Sunset

Filey Bay Sunset
Originally uploaded by Wolds End

As there wasn't a cloud in the sky where we live, Mrs WoldsEnd and I popped over to Filey Bay. Approaching the coast we found that the clouds started just out to sea and in the distance we could see heavy showers.

As the sun went down behind us the light reflected onto the clouds creating this effect. The colours were amazing - this is not a photshop effect this is what it was like for just a few minutes until the sun set and took the wonderful light with it.

In search of Tufty

As a small child I was a member of the Tufty club - a brilliant idea by whoever thought of it as they made children take notice of road safety using a series of animations featuring a Red squirrel called Tufty Fluffytail that were narrated by Bernard Cribbins. Sadly since those days squirrels are mainly grey and so am I.

There are still pockets of Red squirrels remaining and I do occasionally see them in the Lake District but in the last few years they have been encouraged to thrive in woodland just outside Hawes in Wensleydale. A Red squirrel trail has been created and although 9.5 miles in total the prospect of seeing Red squirrels had Mrs WoldsEnd and I driving to Hawes and setting off on the walk.

A Nikon D300s and 300mm F4 made the rucksack quite heavy but off I went with a Nikon P7000 hanging round my neck. We were soon enjoying the countryside views.

Stopping to empty the contents of a flask we were passed by a flock of sheep being herded up the country lane. I just managed to rescue my rucksack before the sheep dog cocked his leg!

The road was littered with sheep droppings so we thought it quite funny that somebody had thought a dog waste bin was needed in this spot - I wonder how much that cost.

Climbing up a hill the views got even better.

The route took us through a field with cows. 

Passing the main group of standing cows and calves we were a little shocked to see a large bull a few feet away from us. Thankfully he turned out to either be friendly or not bothered to do anymore than watch us pass.

On reaching some woodland we heard the noise of heavy machinery as tree felling operations were underway. Looking at the map we saw a footpath through the wood that would avoid this and soon came across the sign showing us the way. In the midst of the wood we found the path blocked by wind fallen trees with a notice telling us to follow the tape around - the tape had also suffered from the ravages of the weather and was not easy to follow but we eventually found the path again. On leaving the wood we were pleased to see footpath signs across the fields but they deposited us in a farm yard and we could not find the route. Thankfully the friendly occupants of the farmhouse were outside enjoying the warm weather and helped us on our way. We rejoined the trail crossing a stream and quickly crossing a field to avoid the horse-flies that tried to bite before we noticed them.

Shortly after that we reached the Red squirrel viewing point and were very pleased to see one near the feeder. As the squirrels appeared so did thousands of biting midges making it quite an ordeal to stand still with a camera. The light was not good and as I was using a 1.7 teleconverter on the lens (thereby loosing 1.5 stops of valuable light) I had to increase the ISO as much as I dared and use a slow shutter speed - it is very difficult to keep a camera and long lens steady when being bitten by thousands of midges. I endured the ordeal until I could stand it no longer and got some photos. I noticed the squirrels having a good scratch so maybe they were also being bitten. Midge repellent will be essential for our next visit!

 The feeder has been especially designed to deter Grey squirrels the sheep skull is for the squirrels to gnaw on for calcium.

With our mission accomplished we set off back - choosing the road to avoid the forestry work and bull and using Tufty's best road safety advice.

Holly Blue and a New Lens

Last year I noticed a species of butterfly that I had not seen before a Holly Blue. I have not seen many butterflies so far this year but today I noticed a bright blue fluttering and on closer inspection realised it was a Holly Blue (male I think).

As luck would have it DHL had just delivered a new lens and set of extension tubes in the morning - ideal for butterfly photography.

Have you ever put off a purchase due to rumours of a new product? I had with this lens ( a Nikon 300mm F4 ) but finally decided that my old Tokina 300mm F4 needed replacing as it just does not get on with the D300s requiring manual focus and exposure. Although there have been rumours of a VR version of the Nikon nothing has appeared and as I often switch off VR on the lenses that have it I decided that it wasn't a feature worth waiting for. Thinking that a lens in the hand is worth more than one rumoured on the forums I decided it was time to buy ( I am also of the opinion that inflation will be allowed to carry on as it favours a government in debt so lens prices will only rise - mind you I have just read the book When Money Dies so maybe I am worrying too much! )

I prefer to travel light and keep on the move so the Nikon 300mm F2.8 is just too big and heavy for my style of photography ( and also a bit on the expensive side) but the 300mm F4 is just right. As well as the extension tubes I bought the 1.7 teleconverter which gives just over 500mm at F6.7 (I already have a 1.4 converter which gives 400mm at F5.6 ) so with the lens and attachments I hope I have a versatile but reasonably light set up.

I tested the 1.7 converter in the garden and must say it gives better results than expected. The light wasn't good at this point but autofocus was as good as the 70-300 VR (it is very quick on the 300mm F4 without converters).

 A few Redpolls popped in.

The Tree sparrows have started to build their nests.

If a new version of this lens does appear I will still be happy with the one I have.

Cats, Dogs and a trapped Blue tit

Wolds-End Tom was showing rather a lot of interest in the area around our washing machine outlet. The drain has a grating covering it and I doubted anything could get through that (although I did once find a newt when clearing one out). Cats however should not be doubted. He lets me know when somebody or something is about before I hear them and once came and found me when some pitta bread got stuck in the toaster and the resultant smoke filled the kitchen.

As he would not be persuaded to divert his attention elsewhere I searched around the area and was very surprised to find a Blue tit hanging upside down from the grate. The poor thing had been into the water and looked to be soaking wet.

With Wolds-End Tom's good work now done he was encouraged to take a back seat although from the look on his face he did not appreciate being carried indoors wanting to see if the rescue was successful!

At first the grating would not come off. The bird hung on not moving and looking straight at me. I was concerned that any sudden jolt would cause it to fall into the water again. A screwdriver helped me get the cover off and the Blue tit hopped across the patio failing to fly. I could see it was soaking wet and although it had plenty of energy it needed to dry out before being able to fly. It climbed up into some nearby bamboo and I retreated a short distance. 

A short while later it started to call out and another Blue tit answered and landed on the fence above the bamboo. It then launched an attack on the rescued bird which surprised me but the Blue tit's feathers must have dried out enough for it to fly as they both flew over to a cherry tree. The second bird then launched another attack and I saw it pull a feather out with it's beak. They both then flew away out of view.

As there is a nesting box near the drain I wondered if they had been fighting and that is how one of them ended up in the drain.

When released Wolds-End Tom made sure there were no more down the drain by thoroughly sniffing around the area - he wasn't happy to have missed the rescue!

The morning had been cold and overcast but the afternoon brought sun and blue sky so our planned shopping trip was put off to another day and we went for a walk around Allerthorpe Wood. We were not the only ones and a profusion of dog walkers saw us use one of the quieter paths through the wood were we saw this Roe deer.

We did not see much more in the way of wildlife but it was nice to be out in the sun.

The Last Day of January

The first snowdrops have appeared in the garden and every day it seems the sun reaches places it has not warmed for some months. Wolds-End Tom has even managed to curl up in a sunny spot outside (although it is not long before he is once again in shadow and as his desire to be outside is overtaken by the feline instinct to find a warm place he retreats indoors).

Today started with a heavy frost and clear blue sky. I decided to pop down to part of the local canal where the surrounding fields flood in winter (from water backing up the canal from the river and the field drainage channels). This flooding attracts a variety of waterfowl at this time of year.

As often happens the clouds appeared as I set off and a combination of low lying mist and cloud cover reduced the available light meaning I had to up the iso on the camera to have any chance of sharp photos of birds in flight.

Not long after leaving the car I saw a Barn owl to my left. It is always nice to see these and even more so this year as I fear the harsh winter will have reduced their numbers. 

 I watched the owl for a while as it was not disturbed by my presence.  It was only lunchtime but the falling light levels made it seem like dusk.

This is the first time this year I have visited this stretch as an earlier attempted visit saw me driving to an access point a few miles further up as the floodwater was too deep to wade through.

I moved on but after the initial excitement of the owl there was not too much more to see. I passed a well occupied rookery and a little further on was pleased to see two Mute swans. The canal had been frozen for a few weeks and although recently thawed out the cold morning had caused a thin layer of ice to form. The swans are always a welcome sight on the canal and I was glad that these two had got through the difficult times of this winter.

Approaching the flooded fields I was disappointed not to hear geese and I soon found out why as I saw in the distance a large digger and van. The waterfowl are easily disturbed and whatever work was being carried out had made them move elsewhere. 

Disappointed I turned back but heard and caught a fleeting glimpse of some Wigeon. 

As I put my camera and wellingtons in the car the sun decided to come out again but at least when I got home the afternoon was very pleasant and I could enjoy watching the garden birds.