Markers of Spring

 Last year the garden was covered in snow on March 21st and, 6 days later, none of these flowers except the plum blossom were in bloom (see previous year. What a difference this year

Fairburn Ings RSPB Reserve

Visited RSPB reserve at Fairburn Ings on way to lecture at Normanton on Tuesday. Extended views of 2 Kingfishers although distant. Great to see large numbers of Tree Sparrows - an increasingly rare species.

Nidderdale Yorkshire

 I spent a few hours in Nidderdale - parked the car by the first bridge and walked along the river towards Bolton Abbey to the second bridge. Landscapes taken with the 24mm TS lens - hence the large depth of field.  I saw all the characteristic species of the area Curlew, lots of confiding Robins, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser and Dipper. Lens (200 plus 1.4 ext) not long enough to do justice to the birds but a record of the trip. The Dipper was constantly dipping in and out of the water and showed the white eyelid in many images. Also saw Oystercatcher, Buzzards, Wren and, surprisingly to me, a very close Red Kite while driving.

Icelandic Horses and Dogs

 Still processing the images from Iceland. Here a few 'aah' images of the Icelandic Horses, Huskies and Collie.

Salts Mill Saltaire

 After a day talking with Yorkshire Monochrome Group, I made a brief visit to Salts Mill for some tea and a look at the David Hockney exhibition. I got intrigued by the collection of chairs and the views out of the windows.

Brimham Rocks Yorkshire

 A walk round Brimham Rocks yesterday on a very windy afternoon with Rowan, Bev and Alastair. Rowan is doing a school project to be photographed in unusal places reading a book. Alastair dusted off the Nikon and tripod after a dormant 6 years and loaded it with infrared film.

Birds in the Mist