Bempton

A friend of mine decided I needed a change of scenery, and so that was it a day on the coast at Bempton.

Of all the years I have visited Bempton I have only, now let me think, ok maybe once but no more than twice, have I ever got there and the weather was just right; the wind in the right direction, not too sunny and of course the birds doing their stuff within touching distance.....you know what I mean!!

And of course this particular day was no exception, once again the weathermen/ladies had got it wrong, apart from that bit in the afternoon when the sun did go in behind the cloud that eventually arrived!!!

It is also one of those places that when I get there it does not fill me with excitement and I sometimes think .....why????? But never the less out comes the gear and the photography starts.

I was drawn to a familiar song at one of the view points, one that unfortunately you do not hear very often in Derbyshire, and that was the song of the Corn Bunting, a few shots were got before the bird decided to go and perch on a barbed wire fence out of range.

After this we both started to photograph the sea birds of which we and 1000's of visitors come to see, unfortunately there was not a lot happening, you could see that the grass pulling for the nest's had taken place, although saying that we did find some birds still lining their nest's and they were taking the grass from further down the cliffs, but most of the birds were taking it in turns to go out to sea and sit at their chosen nest site.

A selection of Gannet shots

Fulmar

Razorbill

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Early Evening Harvest Mouse Workshops

Now that the nights are getting lighter I am able to do Harvest Mouse Workshops in the early evening, the start time would be 18:30, for more information e mail me on...........

alanheeley59@gmail.com

Here are some recent shots of the mice

Thanks for looking

High Moors

You know how it is, you cannot sleep so you get up and decide to take a drive!!!! This is what I needed to get out on my own and prove to myself that I can go out and stay out for a while and things will be ok. This is after being off work now for four months after my heart attack, it is strange how your mind works but this was the tonic and push I had to do.

So at 04:00 hours (yes thats right) I set off; it was already turning light when I arrived and the sun was just coming up, the first bird I photographed was a Red Grouse with frost on it's back, the cars temperature gauge was saying -2!! But this was not what I had come for; for around 8 years I have been coming to this certain area and have been on the lookout for Black Grouse but was never lucky enough to see them but not any more. I drove along this narrow road high up on the moors and there they were two groups of males displaying on their lek sites, their bubbling calls getting louder as I pulled up and watched this fantastic display. I watched for nearly an hour and knowing that there was not a remote chance of getting any photography done I decided to go and find other high moor species, but to my surprise 200 yds up the road there was a lone male displaying all by itself in the middle of this narrow road, I managed 4 pictures before it flew off and headed higher up on the hill.

Here is one of those picture's I managed to get along with a few others.


Male Black Grouse....you can just make out the gravel at the side of the road.

Golden Plovers

Red Grouse

Thanks for looking.

Common Lizard

There is one thing I look forward to in early spring it is the emergence of the Common Lizard, fortunately in Derbyshire there are a fair few places that you can go and study/count/and photograph these. So much so that I have found them in both upland and lowland Derbyshire.

They will emerge in late February or more typically in early March, when soon afterwards mating will take place. The young are born in July and August and are dark in colour.

 

Thanks for looking

Harvest Mice Workshops

As promised I shall run more Harvest Mice workshops in April, with one main difference this time; instead of me putting several dates out, you can email me with a date of your choice and I will do my best to fit you in.

I will try it this way as one or two people said last time that the dates that were available they could not make, and don't forget photographing Harvest Mice becomes very addictive and you can soon start filling up your memory cards so please bring spares!!!!!!

The all important email address is:

alanheeley59@gmail.com

If you need to ask me any questions please email me a contact phone number and I will ring you back

Thanks for looking

Feeding Station (2)

When I get the chance I will be back at the feeding station to concentrate on the Yellowhammers, but just to prove there are more than just one species coming to feed ..... here are a few others.

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Down at the Feeding Station

In between the workshops I have (with some help) modified the reflection pool down at the feeding station. As the 'pool' was on legs I have been able to use the space underneath enabling me to photograph some of the species that prefer to feed on the ground.

I was mainly concentrating on the Yellowhammer as I have noticed and I am sure a lot of other people have the sudden drop in numbers; so much so that the Yellowhammer's status has put it on the Red List.

It is one of those birds that cannot really be mistaken for anything else in its bright yellow plumage and the females are not that bad either, and then there is the song and if you don't know what that is well.............

It is estimated that between 1980 and 2008 there was a 93% loss of Tree Sparrows, more recent data suggests that they are on the increase albeit slowly

The Reed Bunting, here we have a male bird nearly getting his black cap, both the male and female in Winter have a streaked head pattern, this species is also in decline but is on the Amber List

Thanks for looking