More Tits

Well I've been itching to get out with the camera all week, but unfortunately a combination of work commitments and truly awful light conditions have laid to rest any plans I may have had to get out there and satisfy my desire.

                                                                                                                                       

 

I'm pleased to report that all as not been lost though and I've spent the last couple of evenings processing some photographs which have remained overlooked for the last few years.

I've actually got an archive of unprocessed shots running into the tens of thousands and its actually been a pleasure looking and sorting through some of those.

 

Today I'm going to carry on from where I left off at the last post and present you with some portraits of a few different varieties of Tit.

All these images were taken in the Derbyshire Peak District on a lovely late winters day in March 2010...

 

 

 

                                                                         Blue Tit

 

 

Coal Tit

 

 

Great Tit

Red Grouse In Snow

Following on from the other days wintry post, I thought I'd share a couple of shots of Red Grouse taken on a very cold but sunny morning in the Derbyshire Peak District...

Dark Peak Grouse

I was up and out at first light this morning for a first trip in several months to one of my favourite locations, the Dark Peak region of Derbyshire.

The ice on my car windscreen was a bit of a giveaway, but I'm experienced enough to know that clear Sky's and sunshine don't make things any less harsher at one of the most remote and hostile places in Britain...It was bloody freezing up there!!

I was hoping to capture the elusive Mountain Hare today and walked deep onto the moors to an area which is always a decent place to spot them...Sadly I had no luck though, despite finding plenty of tracks in the soft peat bogs.

One creature that was a lot easier to find was my old favourite, the Red Grouse...

Did I say easy to find? They can be pretty aloof too when they want to be...

Unless of course you start to get too close...

Interested in photographing Red Grouse?  Then please visit my website... http://www.ajdixonphotography.co.uk/page11305.html

The Famous Grouse

The usual mixture of four seasons in one day in the High Peak yesterday morning and a first visit in over a month to see the Red Grouse.

The golden rule when walking in this region is to be prepared for anything, but nothing could have prepared me for the sight of a Weasel drinking from a small pool only yards from where I had parked my car...Needless to say, he didn't have the manners to wait as I hurriedly unpacked my camera equipment!

This was my first trip out with the camera for several weeks, due to a combination of family commitments and ill-health and I must admit that I felt a little rusty...
I had forgotten the golden rule about being prepared for anything...Forgetting my wellington boots meant I was limited mainly to the crude paths that wind through the region because the moors were at their most boggiest!

Despite being a little disappointed about missing a few shots of smaller birds, I did alright with the target species for the morning, the Red Grouse.
There were very good numbers of the birds about, but they did seem even more jumpy than normal.
I had no luck with the females yesterday, but there were one or two males that allowed me to get close...

Winter Photography Workshops

I'm please to announce a couple of new Workshops for this upcoming winter...

Following on from the popular August Red Grouse Workshop, I'll be conducting a number of Winter Red Grouse Workshops where I'll be sharing my fieldcraft knowledge and techniques on getting close to these very shy birds.
The Workshops will take place in the stunning surroundings of the Derbyshire Peak District at what I regard to be a very reasonable £45 for a minimum 4 hour session.
The second Workshop will take place in Cheshire and the focus will be on another shy creature...The Red Deer.
Price again for this one will be £45.


Both Workshops will be taking place between October 2010 and April 2011.

For more information please contact me via the main website... www.ajdixonphotography.co.uk

Full details of these and other Workshops are also available on the site.

What is Happening With The Red Grouse Study?

Quite a few people have asked me recently"What is happening with the Red Grouse Study?"
Well the simple answer is it's still ongoing!

Just to elaborate slightly...
I haven't stopped studying the Grouse of the Derbyshire Peak District, in fact I've made a good number of trips to the moors in the last few weeks and I have hundreds of shots of the birds.
The truth is I'm looking at the bigger picture and I've been compiling an article on the birds which will hopefully be published in the near future.

It wouldn't be wise to publish everything I find on this blog, but I will do a brief update soon.
In the meantime, here are a couple of recent shots of a male...

What Have They Done To The Rain?

If anybody out there (and I know some do) still have their doubts about the validity of the hosepipe ban that was introduced to North West England last month, please read on...


Last week I posted a couple of shots I had taken last year at the Ladybower Reservoir in the Peak District and I apologies now for reposting them, but I feel they are relevant.
On Sunday, I visited my favorite spot on Ladybower for the first time in a couple of months and I was shocked at what I saw.


Here is the scene taken last year of Ladybower towards Castleton...

Here is the same viewpoint taken on Sunday...

A scene of Ladybower towards Howden Dam taken last year...

The same viewpoint taken on Sunday...

I've been visiting Ladybower for many years and I've never seen it so low.
The story is the same at the majority of the regions reservoirs and even after the rains we had last week, there seems to be little or no impact on water levels.
I suggest it may be many months before there are any real signs of recovery.


So if you meet any 'Doubting Thomas' (and I have met a few recently) who question United Utilities decision to introduce the ban, please direct them to this post, or better still tell them to visit their local reservoir...I'm sure they will find it an eye opener.

Surprise Mountain Hare

One of the most wonderful things about photographing wildlife is of course that you never know what you're going to find...
Over the last week, I've been conducting a number of Red Grouse Workshops in the Dark Peak area of Derbyshire and on yesterdays final trip we encountered one of England's rarest mammals...The Mountain Hare.

Having spent many hours last winter, trying to find and get close to these exceptionally shy creatures, it came as a huge surprise to be able to get fairly near to one on open moorland with a minimum of effort...


The Mountain Hare, although fairly common in the Highlands of Scotland is only found in this area of the Dark Peak in England and they are not at all easy to find.
They usually bolt as soon as they see you, but yesterday's Hare which was a youngster in summer coat seemed fearless.
I'm quite sure that we could have got even closer to this Hare, but after getting a few shots we decided to leave him be and carry on pursuing the Grouse, which were playing very hard to get.




The Mountain Hare is notably smaller than the much more common Brown Hare and is Britain's only true native Hare.
They are thought to have been around since the Ice Age, with the Brown Hare being a relative newcomer in comparison after being introduced by the Romans.

The Mountain Hare retains it's brown summer coat from May until October, before it transforms into it's white winter coat which is perfect camouflage against the snowy backdrop of the high Peak District habitat.

I photographed this Mountain Hare below, last April just as his winter coat was starting the change to the summer one...

Postcards From The Peaks (2)

I've not been out much in the last few days, so if you don't mind I'd thought I'd share a few more shots of the Dark Peak area of Derbyshire.

First Light At Ladybower...
An early morning shot using a ND Filter of the Ladybower Reservoir from Derwent Valley.
Sunrise At Cave Dale...
Another early morning effort, this time the location is the spectacular Cave Dale near the village of Castleton.
I used a red Skylight Filter on this shot to give the scene an eerie feel...Which is the feeling I always get at this place when alone early in the morning!

Castleton...

A vista from the beautiful village of Castleton, featuring the lovely limestone cottages which are a feature of this part of Derbyshire.

Winnats Pass At Dawn...

The other day I posted a view of the Hope Valley from Winnats Pass, so I'd thought I'd show you a shot of Winnats itself.

After a climb to the top of one of the peaks, I set up my camera and took this shot just as the sun was beginning to creep over the hills...Providing some interesting light and shadow effects.

Postcards From The Peaks

Following on from yesterday and after some very nice comments, I'd thought I'd share a few more images from the Peak District.
I do count myself very lucky to live only a few short miles from what I regard as one of the most beautiful places on earth and while I wouldn't regard myself as a landscape photographer, I do like to try and capture the scenery from time to time.

The first two images are of the Ladybower Reservoir in the heart of Derwent Valley.
The interesting thing about these shots is the first was taken in April and the second in May...All be it April 2009 and May 2008.
What I think is interesting is the huge difference in colour as the last throws of winter transform into early summer...

A few miles from Derwent Valley is the village of Castleton and nearby is the spectacular Winnats Pass.
I climbed to the top of Winnats early one spring morning a few years back and captured the view overlooking the Hope Valley just as the sun was rising.
On the hill in the distance you might be able to make out the chimney of the cement works...

Although the heart of the Peak District is firmly in Derbyshire, it does touch the counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire.

This image is of that famous tree I told you about a while back and was taken one early winter morning in Lyme Park in Cheshire on the edge of the Peaks...

Colours Of The Moors

I spent a couple of hours in the Derbyshire Dales this afternoon, walking in the moors above Hathersage.
The village of Hathersage itself is a beautiful little place and legend has it that it is the the birth place of Robin Hood's right hand man Little John.
In fact the parish church has a elongated grave in the cemetery which is said to be the final resting place of the English folk hero.

The moorland itself is typical of the Dark Peak area and the landscape is dominated by large limestone outcrops...

The moors are at their most beautiful at this time of the year with the purple heather in full bloom...
Today was very typical of the Peak District and the early afternoon sunshine soon gave way to much more threatening conditions...

The Moorland habitat supports a diverse array of wildlife and today's highlights included this lovely female Stonechat and she was posing very nicely for me on a sprig of heather...

It's always worth scanning the hundreds of rocks that litter the landscape, because the birds of the moors like very much to secure good vantage points to oversee their territories and this Meadow Pipit was doing just that...

Last Night On The Moors

Summer on the Moors of the Peak District has a distinctive purple flavour to it...
In the next few weeks the landscape in some areas will be transformed into a sea of Purple Heather, but there is at the moment a taster of this colouration with the first Thistles coming into bloom...
Last night wasn't a good night for spotting Red Grouse, but there were plenty of other Moorland birds around.
Evenings like early mornings are a great time for watching wildlife and the birds were very active and in very good voice.

One of the most numerous birds on display was the Meadow Pipit, although as usual you had to look carefully into long grass for them...

Highlight for me last night and always a pleasure to see was the Golden Plover...

Red Grouse Study (6)

Last night I had a very pleasant walk up on the moors to one of my favourite Red Grouse sites.
It was a very warm summers evening and probably as hot as I've ever been in this normally very bleak location.

Unusually there were not many Grouse about and I only got a fleeting glimpse of a distant female bird flying off into the sunset.
Well actually, that's not entirely true...I did find another female bird, but sadly she must have been found by a predator first.
All that was left was a carcass, her bones picked dry by a unknown bird of prey...
Although Red Grouse are (as I've pointed out before) superbly camouflaged in this moorland landscape, they are also unfortunately slow, clumsy flyers and very easy pickings for any potential predator that spots them.
This part of the Peak District is home to Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk and even the odd Red Kite...Sadly the Red Grouse is no match for any of these formidable foes.

Up With The Larks

First visit in almost a month to the Derbyshire Peaks this morning and a very early start.
In fact you could say I was up with the Larks.
Well to be precise, I was up with the Skylarks and they were showing pretty well today...

The Peaks are a very special place at this time of year, full of birdlife and song. A close relative to the Lark family are Pipits and this Meadow Pipit was doing his best to provide the song...

He was posing very nicely in between bursts as well...

The Moors look very different at this time of year with plantlife recovering from the very harsh winters that are a feature of this high country.
The heather is starting to thicken and it will only be a few weeks before it's in bloom with it's beautiful purple flowers.

While we wait for the heather to bloom, I think we can be more than content with the lovely Hare's-Tailed Cottongrass that covers large areas of the landscape at the moment...



This singing Golden Plover seemed to be enjoying the change of scenery too...