This time of year is hard to beat for wildlife photography, especially on a sunny morning in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire. Both Eddie and Mark joined me on this particularly fruitful outing...
Reed Bunting, 26/04/15, Long Lane (between Scorton and Marshaw) Lancs. A favourite spot of mine, the dry stone wall and fence posts next to Long Lane boast many species of birds early in the morning.
Curlew, 26/04/15, Long Lane, Bowland.
Red Grouse, 26/04/15, Long Lane, Bowland.
Redshank, 26/04/15, Long Lane, Bowland.
Snipe, 26/04/15, Long Lane, Bowland. A combination of wishful-thinking plus residual alcohol from the night before, convinced me at first that this was roding Woodcock. It turned out to be a drumming Snipe. Never mind, nice to witness the display nonetheless.
Hitting the road again, we arrived at a favourite location for Pied Flycatchers: The wood at Marshaw Wyre...
Pied flycatchers, male and female, 26/04/15, Marshaw Wyre, Bowland. Same little wood as last year and the year before, good to see they returned safely.
Nuthatch, 26/04/15, Marshaw Wyre, Bowland.
Another five-minute drive brought us to the Langden Valley, time for a stroll...
Lesser Redpoll, 26/04/15 Langden Valley car park, Bowland.
Oystercatcher, 26/04/15, in the field on the right along the approach avenue of tall trees, Langden Valley, Bowland.
Song Thrush, same field. A cuckoo could be heard nearby too, but no show.
Carrion Crow mobbing a Buzzard, 26/04/15, Langden Valley, Bowland. (Also sighted were Kestrel and Sparrowhawk, no Hen Harriers unfortunately).
Meadow Pipit, 26/04/15, Langden Valley, Bowland. Ubiquitous along the ascending path.
Wheatear, 26/04/15, Langden Valley, Bowland. Lots of these too, especially by the old hut.
Ring Ouzel, 26/04/15, Langden Valley, Bowland. This is what we came to see, but it was only a brief encounter with one individual.
Next stop on the tour was Foulshaw Moss in Cumbria where we saw distant views of two Ospreys, far too distant for a decent shot (about half a mile!) but good to see this side of Hadrian's Wall.
Tree Pipit, 26/04/15, Foulshaw Moss, Cumbria. Also seen from a distance.
Green Hairstreak Butterfly, 26/04/15, Foulshaw Moss. Also seen here today: Orange Tip and Peacock butterflies.
News of a rare Pied-billed Grebe lured us next to Leighton Moss, but would we get decent views this time? No.
Willow Warbler, 26/04/15, path towards Lower Hide, Leighton Moss. Seemingly everywhere today, these chaps were conspicuous due to their distinctive song and the absence of leaf cover.
A walk down the causeway to public Hide yielded the usual Marsh Harriers and a short burst of noise from a Cetti's Warbler. Once in the hide, this guy flew in to give good close-up views, albeit for about 5 seconds.
Common Sandpiper, 26/04/15, Public Hide, Leighton Moss.
plonk! Right in front of us.
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