This afternoon I wanted a few minutes with wildlife so walked along Heygate Lane down to Moorside then to Tong Park Dam and Ghyl Beck. At least this time I got sight of a Common Dipper, one flew past me within just a few feet; far too quick for a photo.
There were plenty of butterflies around, lots of Ringlet, but this one doesn’t have any spots/rings?? Is it still a Ringlet?
Meadow Brown
and Skippers. A 150-500mm zoom lens is not the kit to use when photographing butterfly or flowers but I think they have come out reasonably well.
There’s quite a lot of colour out at the moment. Large patches of purple, white and yellow. This one is Self Heal
and this Betony.
Up at the top of these Thistles is a Goldfinch. I think it has a little while to wait before it can start eating the seeds. When they open I expect there to be flocks of Goldfinch on them. At the moment the Goldfinch can be seen and heard doing their undulating flight between the tops of trees.
Down on the beck it looked as though at least two parent Wrens were very busy feeding young. They were flying off into the field by the beck and then coming back to feed their young that were hidden in the grass overhanging the beck.
It was while I was watching the Wrens that the Dipper flew past me. It went up stream. This shot shows as far as I could see from where I was – no Dipper. I’ll be back.
When I got back to the path I spotted this Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn beetle.
This Teasel still has a stripe of purple around it.
Down by the dam a couple of Moorhen chicks were rummaging around in the grass.
I think I might find myself down here again for these too. When these open up I hope to see lots of Goldfinch.
I heard the loud noise of a woodpecker call and saw one fly to a tree. The light was fading so I am quite pleased that I managed to get this view of it.
And then the last thing before closing things up and trudging up the path was a Rabbit that, of course, was soon flashing its white tail at me as it hopped away.
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