Kinder Scout

Today is my last full day in Sheffield prior to my homecoming. Its sad to say the least. Since 'Le tour' was causing chaos on the roads of Yorkshire, I decided to venture into the peaks a final time, and climb Kinder Scout again. The day started with grim rain, but by the time I arrived in Edale the sun was breaking through and it had the look of a nice day.

I made my way through the small village, and on the way found a delightful family of 4 Pied Wagtails, one adult and 3 juveniles. They came quite close to me as I watched them from over the wall, so I was able to get some decent photos of them. The juveniles were hunting insects with the exception of one individual that was more interested in harassing its parent.

-Pied Wagtail

I climbed the hill making it up the top slower than last time, but still fairly quickly. The only birds I saw were Meadow Pipits, and one Kestrel. On the whole I had not expected many birds, and so it was surprise when they were in short supply.

There were a few more insects, including Small Heath and Meadow Brown on the butterfly front. The real noteworthy beast from the top was this caterpillar which I found crossing the path. For a caterpillar it was quite a monster. Sadly I had the wrong lens, but I did the best with what I could and the results are not bad. So far as I can tell, this is an Oak Eggar caterpillar, but don't hold me to that.

-Oak Eggar Caterpillar

I carried on round and came to the region where I had seen the hares previously. Sadly I failed to find any today, and the moor was very quiet. There were quite a few Meadow Pipits, also a couple of Swifts and a solitary Red Grouse.

Back on the edge of the peak the sun decided to come out and with it came one of my favourite animals, the Green Tiger Beetle. Again I lacked the lens for a good photo, but they were not very approachable, flying away if you got anywhere close. There were at least 3 in this area, but it was difficult to tell due to the flighty nature of the beetles.

-Green Tiger Beetle

Continuing round I found more of the caterpillars, with 3 in one area. These were on a more natural background than the one previously, so I tried again to grab some photos but it was difficult given the nature of the lens I had. 

-Oak Eggar Caterpillar

I finished the walk with little more wildlife. There were a couple more butterfly species with Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral added, but there were no additional birds and no more beetles were found.

But with a walk like this it is hardly about the wildlife and more about the scenery and stunning views. Having done it before I knew just how good the views were, but I had not brought the camera last time. This time I came prepared, hence the lack of the macro lens. As a result I was able to photograph the stunning views. Due to the bright nature of the clear sky, many of the photos were quite dark. But those that came out Ok I have included just to show how simply stunning a walk it really is.

-Kinder Scout Views

So not much wildlife, and no hares, but an incredible walk none the less. Sadly the wind and the clouds made it less pleasant that it had been before, the wind being a real issue in places. However, it was still a lovely morning, and a great way to spend my last day in Sheffield.

Species List:

Kinder Scout: Kestrel, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Red Grouse, Swift, Swallow, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Carrion Crow, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Oak Eggar Caterpillar, Green Tiger Beetle

lakeland day 3

Okay, So Today was the day that my dad and I decided that we would climb a mountain. We had decided to climb helvelyn, because there are some glacial features on the top that could help me with my geography exam. But before we even got started on the mountain I found a moth in the toilets. I had to bring it outside for a photo. As usual I have no idea what type of moth it is, because I dont own the book!!
-Moth
so we begun our walk...It started well ,with a red squirrel scurrying in front of us as we walked in the wooded bit. But then the climb started and it was not fun. There were good numbers of male wheatears on the hills, as well as mipits, but the best bit was the view, which was spectacular.

-A small mountain stream

-Thrilmere
As we reached the top there was a feirce honking call which heralded the arrival of some ravens, dancing in the thermals produced by the sun. It makes up for the distinct lack of ravens on Arran, I can now say that I have a raven photo.

-raven
As we reached the top we got even better views of red tarn, striding edge and thirlmere

-Red tarn

-Striding edge

-Striding edge

In case anyone was wondering from the photos, we did indeed walk across striding edge and back up swirllel edge. Secretly I was hoping for water pipit or ring ouzel but neither appeared. What we did get were more great views of ravens. I can only imagine how good the photos might have been if I had my big lense. I took my small lense to make the most of the stunning views.

-raven

-Red tarn

-Red tarn from swirrel edge

-Red tarn from the top

-Me at the top!

our descent had to be speedy so we could catch my mum and brother in good time. Ironic that all the wildlife began to spill out about this time, starting with the ravens that had been the highlight of the whole day!

-raven
The next bird we found was a skylark, but it was some way off and in song flight so I could not really stop and waiot for it to come down! At the bottom I spotted my favourite beetle, the imfamouse green tiger beetle! little I could do in the photo department as I diddnt have my big lense, but you can tell what it is, and it could tell what i was, Its black, evil eyes followed my every move, so we left it in peace!

-Green tiger beetle
Back the caravan site, I set up to try and take some photos during lunch, but the only bird that came was a chaffinch, so I took a few quick shots!

-Chaffinch
That afternoon we decided to go for a row on the reservoir and see if we could see any unusual birds, that would be the usuals. The weather was ideal, a cloudless sky and the water was completely flat. The first bird we encountered apart from the mallards and usual werethe barnacle geese, they had moved islands to a private island, which implies that they had got fed up of being on a none private island and therefore being harrased.

-Barnacle geese

Further round we encountered the mergansers fishing as usual and giving me another oppertunity to photograph them.

-Red breasted merganser

Back at the boat station I decided to try and get some interesting shots of the ducks, like the one below dabbling!

-Mallard

It was a tough day but well worth it for the view. Sadly it diddnt get any easier that evening! After a game of frissbe with my family I walked to listen to the game, which was a draw! I was really hoping that Spurs would do the double over arsenal, Never mind!