Bedburn beck

We were out on the bridle way near Bedburn Beck this morning taking part in the County wide otter survey. 

We heard a Blackcap singing as we walked down to the beck. 

There was otter spraint on one large rock in midstream. 

We saw drifts of Wood Anemones on the banks and lots of Gorse in flower. 

Osprey

I saw an osprey fly over the house this morning and a buzzard circling this afternoon. A good day for thermals! 

Wheatears and Ring Ouzel

We had a short walk at Bollihope this morning and managed to spot two Ring Ouzel, two Wheatear, a 

Grey Wagtail and a Buzzard. Not bad for 20 minutes. 

Bright meteor

The video camera  mounted on my astro shed caught a bright meteor with a long trail in the NE sky in the early hours of this morning.

Here is a composite image made from the still frames from the video:

Song Thrush

We have had a song thrush singing loudly in the garden for about a fortnight now. His favourite spot is right in the top of the large sycamore tree to the west of our garden.

This shot was taken from about 40 yards with the equivalent of a 1000mm lens so isn't the sharpest but you can see him calling.

Spring on the moors

We had a wonderful walk up on Bollihope Common this morning. Curlews were calling, Peewits soaring, skylarks singing and a Dipper nesting underneath the bridge over the Bollihope Beck. We didn't see the White tailed Eagle which all the twitchers were chasing. I think it's moved westward higher into the Pennines. 

We did find a lovely waterfall where a side stream tumbled into the beck. 

Later we saw a Peacock butterfly on the moor and several Small Tortoiseshell in our garden. 

At the end of a beautiful warm spring day I picked up my first Pipistrelle bats  of the year on the bat detector as the stars came out in a cloudless night sky. 

Perfect