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| Pied Flycatcher (male) pic courtesy of D.Cookson |
Out with the lads at
Strid Woods (nr
Bolton Abbey) recently I was thrilled to see up to 15 or so
Pied Flycatchers. One of my favourite 'small birds', they bring back happy memories of my first forays into birding during family holidays in the Lake District when used to wander off into the woods for hours on end and cause my parents much anxiety!
Smart birds, they seemed quite numerous back then and still hold their own there and in Wales but in common with so many insect eating birds habitat loss both here and in their sub Saharan wintering grounds due to de-forestation has seen their numbers decline by 25 - 50% in last few decades. To my knowledge,
Strid Wood is about the only place in Yorkshire where they breed nowadays.
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| Redstart (male) Strid Wood. 8/06/15 |
To my chagrin I didn't manage a single decent shot.. poor light down I the gorge is barely half an excuse, but we all marvelled at their aerial prowess as they darted hither and thither over the river catching
Damselflies. Plenty of
Spotted Flycatchers there too along with
Redstarts, Grey and
Pied Wagtails all feasting on as many winged insects as I've seen this year so far.
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| Redstart (male) Strid Wood. 8/06/15 |
Strid Wood itself is a smashing and invigorating walk. The path meanders through the woods and along a section of the
River Wharfe that has narrowed and deepened into some dramatic gorges, and eventually ends up at
Bolton Abbey. The tea rooms at
Strid and the usual tourist trappings of the Abbey have made it a popular place even on weekdays so my to would be to go early!
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| Strid Wood & River Wharfe |
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| Dipper, Strid. 08/06/15 |
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| Kingfisher, Strid. 08/06/15 |
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| Meadow Crane's Bill, Strid, 08/06/15 |
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| The lads (Mikey & Nick), Strid. 08/06/15 |
At some point along the walk there's some stepping stones across the river to negotiate and I was devilishly looking forward to taking a pic of Mikey trying to cross with his dodgy knee but we took a detour so it never happened ... but this young
Curlew with legs akimbo reminds me now of that missed photo op!
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| Curlew, Strid, 08/06/15 |
Same Mikey was after a
Mandarin Duck for his UK list, and he got several, but he needn't have gone so far - a couple of days later I spotted this female on the
River Derwent at YWT reserve
Jefrey Bog!
Yet another
YWT reserve ticked off and visited (that's 62 out of 98 now).
A tranquil place this one and for once the sun shone and there was warmth. Should have brought the butterflies out but it was late in the day so I had to settle for some reasonable pics of
Chimney Moths amongst the
Ragged Robins, Yellow Flag Iris and
Marsh Marigolds .....
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| Chimney Moth, Jefrey Bog, 09/06/15 |
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| Chimney Moth, Jefrey Bog, 09/06/15 |
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| Ragged Robin ... interestingly backlit, Jefrey Bog, 09/06/15 |
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| Marsh Marigold, Jefrey Bog, 09/06/15 |
A few more early Summer snippets from round and about and in no particular order to round things off before the Solstice tomorrow - I'll be on
Hatfield Moor again and praying for good light!
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| Red Campions, River Seven at Normanby, 20/05/15 |
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| Speedwell, River Seven at Normanby, 20/05/15 |
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| Dog Rose, Askham Bog, 14/06/15 |
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| Lastingham with the NY moors beyond, from Normaby, 20/05/15 |
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| Marsh Orchid, Askham Bog, 13/06/15 |
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| Marsh Thistle, Askham Bog, 13/06/15 |
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| Singing Yellowhammer, Wykeham, 10/06/15 |
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