With the changing season the North Pennines spring to life ... and monitoring raptors and waders there has occupied me in recent weeks ...
In these big landscapes raptors are very wary at this time of year ( sadly not wary enough in the case of two male Hen Harriers which 'disappeared' from active nests a little while ago, causing the nesting attempts to fail ). Typical views are very much like that of this Peregrine, perched up on a vantage point ...
... some of the waders are rather easier and Golden Plovers have been present in good numbers at some locations ...
... a little less frequent were Dunlin but this one was acting out its 'Plovers page' role ...
... while others were displaying with that amazing, almost electronic sounding song ... a drawn out 'chreeeeettt' that seems to echo across the wild expanses ...
Occasionally there will be a bird that gives unexpectedly close views, against all expectation ... and so it was this morning with this Woodcock that posed long enough for me to grab my camera from the back seat of my car and rattle off a few shots ...
... back onto the higher ground and the views of birds there were once again distant as this male Merlin
perched up having just plucked a hapless Meadow Pipit ...
