Red and Purple

Red and Purple,two lovely strong colours.This was what I was looking for on a recent trip to North Yorkshire.It was early August and the heather had blossomed into that lovely purple colour which colours the high moorlands at this time of the year.It is also the beginning of the red grouse shooting season.I was off to the moors to shoot grouse armed only with a camera and definitely not a gun.

It was a lovely sunny and warm late Summer day although up on the tops it was cooler with a strong breeze blowing.At first the grouse were difficult to find and were keeping their heads down.Eventually after driving around a bit I found a track which ironically led to a grouse shooters hut situated on a sheltered part of the moor.It was very pleasant with lovely views down to the village of Reeth in Swaledale down in the valley. I managed to get lots of nice images along this section of moorland and the results are shown below.

The weather has since become more Autumnal with more rain and strong winds and temperatures have thankfully dropped from the high record breaking figures of this Summer.I hope you enjoy my efforts and images from this beautiful part of Northern England.Thanks for looking in and I will be back soon with more from my travels.

Longridge Fell...Roe Deer

Recently I have had two evening drives to the Longridge Fell area.After mixed weather during the day the evenings were better with warm sunshine,ideal conditions for looking for owls and deer. The owls didn't show but I enjoyed two super sessions with roe deer.The first encounter was special as the female brought along her two youngsters to feed on the rough grasses on the hillside.They were a few hundred yards away but I was able to obtain some nice images from the roadside.The deer knew I was watching but were not disturbed by the car.Apparently roe deer usually have twins and these two delightful young deer would probably have been born in May and were learning the ropes from mum.

My second outing was on the " glorious twelfth '" of August well known in shooting circles as the start of the grouse shooting season.It was indeed a glorious evening and I was lucky to spot a male and female roe deer feeding in and amongst the blossoming heather.It was a wonderful experience and a careful and quiet approach allowed me to take lots of images hidden behind a roadside wall.For me it was definitely the glorious twelfth and will live long in the memory.Thanks for looking in and I will return soon with more from my travels.

Lake District Ospreys...Update

The ospreys in the Southern Lake District have had another successful season.Apart from the well known  Foulshaw Moss site there are another five sites that I am aware of and there maybe more.The two sites that I have been visiting have had mixed fortunes.One site located on a nature reserve has only reared one youngster for reasons that I am not aware of.The other site was very successful rearing three young ospreys which have fledged and maybe now on their way to their winter quarters in West Africa.I visited a couple of times only so as not to disturb the ospreys during the incubation period.

I am showing below images from my visits.The bulk of the images are from the nature reserve site and show mainly the adult ospreys in the vicinity of the nest.The seventh image shows the one young osprey prior to fledging and enjoying the afternoon sun.The final seven images show a new site occupied for the first time this year and the female osprey on the nest with her three healthy youngsters.The images from this new location were taken from a public footpath probably five to six hundred yards from the nest and no disturbance was caused to the birds.

As previously mentioned the ospreys will possibly be on their way south on the long migration to Africa.Next year more ospreys will be returning to this part of the Lake District to enjoy the excellent accommodation and fishing provided by this lovely part of Northern England.Thanks for looking in and next time I will be reporting on the roe deer which recently have provided me with some memorable encounters and images.