What have you seen

More lovely photos! Thank you Greylag.

I was thinking about our feeders, we attract similar birds including a woodpecker but sadly the Greenfinches aren't around here any more. 

Out for a walk this morning and saw a white throated dipper just below Folly Dolly falls.

Last week we were driving up a steep hill near home when I had to brake suddenly as a Sika deer ran across the road right in front of the car swiftly followed by a second one. The road has quite steep banks on either side and they seemed to just bounce on the road and off over the other bank into the woods. 

The last time I saw a dipper was at Silverdale some 40 years ago. The last time a deer ran across in front of me like that was in the North Yorkshire moors on the way to Whitby and that was a good while ago too.

Great photos greylag.  At Black Knowl at present had song thrushes and blackbirds 2 pitches away must have been something tasty on it and again a lot of redwings about and not really wildlife up to 6 new forest ponies on site a bit different, there is new fencing going around the site in the adjacent fields but there are a few holes in the hedge but have had the local agisters on site today to get things sorted no damage except for hoof prints and horse dung around the site which the warden has cleared up. 

Saw a flock of Long Tailed Tits this morning along the Ox Beck nr Harrogate, and then 4 Red Kites circling over the trees west of Ripley Castle this afternoon. 

The dipper was there again this morning.

Caught a fleeting glance of a Barn Owl last night when I took Flyte out for his last walk. Then today at Fountains Abbey we saw lots of Little Grebes on the lakes of the Water Gardens and then enjoyed half an hour in the bird hide with lots of birds on the various feeders....a pair of GSW; Tree Sparrows; Nuthatches; a Tree Creeper; the usual Robins, Chaffinches, Blue, Great and Coal Tits, and a Marsh/Willow Tit.

I seem to see dippers every couple of years but it is 5 years since I watched one under water using its body shape and wings to hold it down on a rushing stream. Magic

Black Forest in Germany is good place to see Dippers.  Spent half hour at Wolfach watching adults teach juveniles how to work under water to feed.

in the UK the beck in the bottom of High cup nick is another good spotting area

We have a small flock of Redwings and Blackbirds on a grass area 2 pitches form ours and I saw something land in the hedge behind next door's pitch is was a male Bullfinch then flew off before I could take a picture, quite a few grey squirrels here nothing about now due to the heavy rain. Hoping our ferry sails tomorrow as our original sailing was cancelled for last night, hence the wildlife watching from the van.

Try a visit to Loggerheads ET. They nest under the stone bridge near the entrance to the Leete just past the centre. See them along that stretch quite often.