Brothers In Arms

According to his various news feeds, Andy Rouse one of the worlds leading wildlife photographers, this week embarked on a new project for 2020 Vision...
The criteria is for Andy to photograph Red Kite and on Monday he paid the first of several planned visits to Gigrin Farm in Wales.
Gigrin is a wonderful place that myself and of course hundreds of other photographers visit every year and seeing a few of Andy's images from the day prompted me to look in my archives at shots that I have taken at this location.

It's not just Red Kites that are attracted to the Gigrin feeding station, there are also good numbers of Common Buzzard that wouldn't pass on the opportunity of a free meal also, so I thought today I'd post something a little different from the usual close-up and show you a shot of the two species flying in tandem over the landscape...

Lake District Red Kites

There was some great news reported on the BBC's North West Tonight show last night about the re-introduction of Red Kites to the Lake District...

90 juvenile birds are to be released over a three year period, starting with 30 youngsters in a couple of weeks time.
The young Kites have been bred at a site in Rockingham Forest in Northamptonshire and have been transported to a holding pen at their new home in Grizedale Forest in the Lake District ready for the big release day.
After the release, the Red Kites will continue to be fed until they have learnt to fend for themselves and special care has been taken so that the birds will not become accustomed with human contact.
All the birds will be tagged just like the one below so progress can be monitored.

It really is another great effort by conservationists who have worked tirelessly over the last 20 years or so to re-establish the Red Kite as a common sight in Britain...Up to a few hundred years ago the species was widespread.

Lessons have been learnt from the great success of the species in Wales, thanks in no small part to the team at Gigrin Farm in Powys.

Think once, think twice, think wildlife!

The Derbyshire Peak District is one of the most beautiful places on earth and as well as providing some breathtakingly stunning scenery it is also home to some globally important Eco systems and wildlife.

Every year the Peaks attract thousands of visitors from all over the world with the vast majority of people arriving in the spring and summer months.
Today I briefly stopped at Nether North Grain which is one of my favourite locations in the area and was disgusted at the spectacle that greeted me...
Now this area is often overlooked by tourists because of the harsh nature of it's steep rugged hills and ravines, but there is a layby here which is a popular stopping point for drivers on the Snake Pass.


I actually only stopped myself today at the layby to see if I could spot the Red Kite I had seen earlier and when I got out of the car I was more than a little unhappy to see the amount of litter that had been left there.
An elderly gentleman from London got out of his camper van and assessed the scene with me. "Makes you ashamed to be British" he said...An old cliche, but non the less very true.


When are people in this country going to learn?
Here we were in the Peak District, a place renowned all over the world for it's beauty...Imagine if a American or French or German tourist had stopped their car here and this was their first point of call?
Not that unlikely, because this layby is the first decent sized one if travelling from Manchester along the Snake.
I think they would have been rather disappointed.

Litter of course is a major threat to wildlife and the environment, but it isn't the only problem on the Snake Pass route...Speed is another.
At the height of the tourist season the road is a magnet for sports cars and motorcycles with boy racers testing their 'skills' on the Snakes infamously dangerous windy bends...

For Gods sake THINK!!!
Especially at this time of the year, when wildlife is more active.
On my way back home and just outside Glossop, there was a rather distressed looking lady standing by her vehicle, hazard lights flashing and a dead Sheep in front of her bonnet.

OK accidents happen and sheep are not the best advocates of the Green Cross Code, but when driving in the countryside too many people just don't seem to take into account the prospect of cattle and wildlife in the road and believe me, there were plenty of jaywalking sheep today...




The Mountain Hare is a species I've been trying to get near to recently and sadly I don't think I'll ever get a closer view than this...

One of half a dozen of the little beauties I saw that had succumb to road traffic in the last few days.

This is the most active time of the year for these Hares and they spend a lot of time on the lower slopes searching for mates...Unfortunately the road passes straight through.

Sorry for the rant!

I expect that almost everyone that takes the time to read this blog is a nature lover and doesn't deserve to be preached to...I don't want to teach your Grandmother to suck eggs!

I just hope that by writing this, that maybe somebody who perhaps does drive a little too fast in the countryside or just as bad leaves litter chances upon this post and THINKS...

Blackfaced Sheep, Alport Moor, Derbyshire Peak District...Just how I like them...ALIVE!

Red Grouse Study (4)

It was one of those typical early spring mornings today in the Dark Peak...

Mist clearing, leaving a dull overcast light, then rain, then bright sunshine and a cold breeze too!

I was hoping to capture the first of the spring arrivals today, but unusually there wasn't a great many Grouse about...Further leading me to believe that there is some egg sitting behaviour going on and the young must be due anytime now.

Of the 5 Red Grouse I did encounter in the hour and a half I chanced the changeable weather conditions in my poorly considered light weight jacket, only one was a female and she appeared to be still courting a male bird that seldom left her side.

It was very pleasing to be able to get some exceptionally close views of this loving couple and at times the two birds were only a matter of a few feet away as I quietly observed them.

The birds were getting so close I considering switching to a 300mm lens, but then the pair exploded into the air in blind panic and flew in opposite directions into thick heather.

I thought we were all getting along so well...What had I done to cause this distress to these beautiful birds?

I certainly didn't make any sudden movements or anything else that would alarm them.

I looked around and into the sky where a beautiful and rare visitor to this part of the world was making light work of 'lifting' every bird in a mile radius...A Red Kite!

I watched in wonder as this magnificent raptor scoured the landscape before flying off in a south easterly direction.

A minute or so later, the male Grouse returned, shortly followed by the female and both birds settled a matter of feet away from me again.

I was actually quite touched to think that these birds seemed to trust me so much especially after the fright they had just experienced or maybe they knew that the Kite would not return for them as long as they were in my company...

Red Kites

Yesterday my wife and I took a 260 mile round trip to Gigrin Farm, Powys in Wales to photograph Red Kites.

We left home just after 9am and had a pleasant drive through North Wales down to Powys taking in some beautiful Welsh scenery.

The weather was sunny although very cold and the remnants of a light overnight snowfall were still visible through much of the journey.

We arrived early so parked the car a couple of miles down the road from the farm, where we scanned the hills hoping for our first glimpse of these incredible birds and it wasn't long before we spotted a pair high above the rocks.

After a bite to eat we arrived at the farm to witness about a dozen or so Kites circling in the distance while the Buzzards, Ravens and Rooks were already at the feeding station eagerly waiting.

Feeding time at Gigrin is at 2pm prompt and by the time the farmer had arrived on his meat filled tractor the sky was filled with Raptors...Who says birds can't tell the time!

The birds seemed to wait patiently while the farmer shoveled the meat all around the ground and as soon as he'd finished the show began!

200 Red Kite competed with a couple of dozen Buzzards as well as Corvid's and even a Grey Heron for the spoils!

The aerial displays were magical with the Kites performing all wonder of mid-air maneuvers...Swooping down to scoop food from the ground and never once landing.

The Buzzards on the other hand were more than happy to stay grounded and gorge as much meat as possible!