…didn’t expect to see today.
It was raining and the light was c**p and I know it’s
a rubbish picture but this is my first ever Heather Ladybird. Shot in a
Churchyard on a gravestone and not on heather as I would have liked. If the
weather is ok tomorrow I will probably go back to see if I can do better.
And we don’t often get Pheasants in our garden but
today we did although it was shot through a rain-soaked conservatory window.
Yesterday I had a walk around Burdon Moor. It was bright and sunny and I thought I might find some Shieldbugs, alas no. What I did find was a Kestrel out hunting and after around five attempts it did catch something. I also heard and saw my first Skylarks of the year and a cracking male Bullfinch.
Kestrel out hunting.
I managed to get a couple of very distant shots of it
going into a dive.
After this dive it did catch something and landed on the
post to eat it. It was too far away to see what it was it caught however it
didn’t get to eat whatever it was because it was chased off by some Crows.
It circled around again but I didn’t see it dive
again.
Male Bullfinch.
My first Skylark of the year.
According to a dog walker I met there were four Roe
Deer in one of the fields but this is the only one I saw.
It must be getting on for a couple of years ago that I posted some of the sticks I make. I am still making them and still learning. Here are a few recent and not so recent sticks that I have made.
If I remember rightly the handle on this stick is made
of Oak and the shaft is Hazel.
This handle is London Plane and Hazel shaft.
This one is for ornamental use only as the handle, made
of Ivy, has cracks in it. The shaft on this one is Dog Rose.
Handle of Beech shaft of Hazel.
A Yew handle and Hazel shaft.
This is the stick I use when I am out for a walk. The
handle is Spalted Beech with a Hazel shaft.
This one is Buffalo Horn and Hazel shaft.
Another Yew handle but this time on a twisted Ash shaft.
Golf, along with football, was banned in Scotland in
1457 and again in 1471 and 1491. The Church of Scotland also discouraged the
game of golf on a Sunday. To get around this men would carry wooden sticks when
out walking which could then be turned upside down to be used as a golf club. This is
my interpretation of a “Sunday Stick” as they were sometimes known. The handle
is Mahogany the shaft Hazel.
I have just given this Beech handled stick to a friend
who has taken it for its first walk today.
I was in the hide at Lamesley the other day but most of the birds that were there were on the large pond to the right of the hide and too far away for pictures. I did not see much until I got my eye on a Buzzard sitting in a tree straight opposite the hide however, if you know the hide at Lamesley you will know how far the trees that the Buzzard was sitting in are away from the hide. These images are big crops but I liked the way things panned out.
This Buzzard was sitting in a tree a canny distance
from the hide. It got its eye on something
And flew down to investigate. It was there for a short
while eating something
Then flew back into the same tree.
It sat for a while
Then was joined by another Buzzard.
They both just sat there watching
Then the second one flew down from the tree. Unfortunately,
I did not see where it landed
But it came up with a worm.
It flew back to another tree
Landed
And ate the worm.
While it digested the worm it was still on the lookout.
It took off and flew down to the field
Once again I did not see where it landed but this time
it did not come up with anything. Both birds flew off after this and I did not
see them again.
I went looking for Dipper the other day in Causey Woods and was lucky enough to find two hopefully they will be pairing up soon. I probably went at the wrong time of day (morning) because for all it was blue sky and sunny the burn is in a valley and was still in the shade so I had to use a high ISO. Next time I go it will be in the afternoon when the sun is a bit higher.
One of two Dipper seen.
The second Dipper.
I only saw one Grey Wagtail this time.
However, there were quite a few Wren foraging along
the banks of the burn.
