A March Wheatear

A horrendous morning with torrential rain so Karen got caught up with housey jobs and got her Costa Rica lists printed ! The sun eventually broke through mid afternoon so we headed out. This wheatear was the highlight of the day but was distant in a howling gale. Glad to see one in March.  

Hatfield Moor Adders

Lots of snakes out this morning, warming in the sun.

This weeks bits and bobs

Great Crested Grebes

 Kestrel

 Redwing

and then we found two of these !  

Tawny Owls - one of our favourites. 

Wykeham Forest Goshawks

We have visited this site twice over the last few weeks. Its very difficult to get the flight time correct without having to stand literally, all day in ever changing weather. We had 3 birds on the first visit and possibly 5 on Sunday. Always very distant. Had some excellent company on Sunday, a good laugh helps to pass time between sightings. Quite a few sparrowhawks to add to the confusion. The supporting cast included merlin, peregrine, sparrowhawk, buzzard and kestrel. A fabulous day !

Red and Black Grouse

 Red Grouse

 Black Grouse

A fabulous day out in North Yorkshire in the Dales National Park. We had blue sky but bitterly cold strong wind that made our eyes water. There was the remains of winter's snow still on the tops. Our day was mainly to see black grouse and we did not fail with 7 around the Shaw Farm area. Red grouse were everywhere. It was a sorry sight though as that was all we saw on the grouse moors. There was not one other single bird to be seen. Not a raptor, crow or magpie. Nothing. Mile after mile totally devoid of birdlife. Plenty of shooting butts though. What a sad world we live in.  

Barn Owls

An evening of surprises tonight. We decided to go out and try and see some of our little owls. Had a lovely surprise at one sight where last year there was just one little owl. It made us smile to see two little owls emerging from the roof. Will be keeping our eyes on this pair for sure. Two barn owls were a bonus. One of them is in one of our little owl sites, two for the price of one !  Both photos taken at near dark.