The Bearing Sea

Whilst helping out at the Scarborough Spa for the engineering week I nipped out to take a few snaps of the rather lively sea.

I wouldn't fancy a walk next to the sea when the waves are coming in like that!

Scarborough and Scalby Snaps

 Sunday brought with it a new opportunity; we decided to go to Scalby Lodge Farm Pond and it surrounding beaches. We saw a surprising amount of wildlife and there were a few surprises on their way!

The hide was a little too well concealed by the plant life; autofocus occasionally decided it would take a look at plants instead...

My keen eyed cousin spotted this hare from an impressive distance, it blends in pretty well.

Then the fog started to roll in quite quickly, gave me the chance to get some dramatic shots.

And here's the guy that made my day; the beautiful barn owl. My auntie spotted this from a ridiculous distance, virtually impossible to see with the naked eye, but wow am I glad she spotted it!

Unfortunately the owl lived up to the stereotypes and was pretty wise; it kept its distance and wouldn't fly directly towards us, just avoiding the perfect shot...

 The last few leaves were just clinging to their branches this week, not long now before the last few bits of green are blown away until the spring.

The sea was impressively still, like a mirror, and the fog gave the castle a lovely haze.

And here is an uncle in his natural habitat, flicking through his latest shots.

The Oyster Catchers were out in force today, making a racket as usual.

The moth on this rock is near impossible to see, I only noticed it because I saw it land; look away and you lose it.

There was a couple of Curlews out as well, they fly pretty fast when they want to.

Two very different Oyster Catchers...

Grasshoppers in autumn!? Unexpected visits are often the best.

Poor Luke, he loves to be hands on; this particular Caterpillar barbed his hands, he was not best pleased!

On Route to the Pub

This is a selection from my recent trip to Driffield, taken on an afternoon walk.

The autumn colours were really beginning to come through, I love the red of the berries against the yellowing leaves.

The spiders were out in force; webs everywhere!

I didn't expect to see a ladybird out so late in the season.

The flies loved the yellow flowers, some let me get close enough for a decent shot, but some seemed camera shy. 

This particular Bluebottle wouldn't stop posing for me...

This rather unusual flower caught my eye, just look at the colour!

The lighting in the grass was just too good to pass up.



A Trip to Tophill Low

My first trip to Top Hill Low came with the hope of seeing the elusive kingfisher, no beginners luck for me! Though I did find a good few other critters...

 The small birds are the best to photograph, but also the hardest.

I accidentally captured a Tree Creeper in one lucky shot, my uncle wasn't best impressed! 

Long-Tailed Tits have to be my favorite; just look at its cute little face! 

Upon arrival at Tophill Low I could have sworn I could hear a tapping sound, then a few hours later the bird behind the sound appeared for a few fleeting moments. A Woodpecker; I couldn't believe my luck! That made up for the lack of a kingfisher without a doubt.

Being a "Hide Noob" I didn't want to mention a rather large looking bird flying towards us; the rest of the Twitchers noticed me snapping away and followed suit... They weren't too happy to find I had seen this Marsh Harrier first and failed to point it out for fear of getting it wrong. Oops, sorry Andrew!

There was certainly a lot of activity at the feeding station, it was almost a frenzy.  

Note the accidental falling leaf... Timing!

Here's a Bulrush...

There wasn't much more than some Ducks and Cormorants on the reservoirs.

This Moorhen was the closest I got to a kingfisher... 

So all in all my first (and hopefully not last!) visit to Tophill Low was quite successful, I was so surprised at the variety and quantities of animals there! I'll definitely be planning another visit some time soon, that Kingfisher can't avoid me forever!