Bit of a Change

As some of the observant blogger's will have seen, the title has changed slightly from The Flee & Float to incorporate my other hobbies as I love the blogging side of things but not wanting to start a fresh blog to incorporate the other hobbies, so moving forward the blog will be The Flee, Float & Foto. 

I know it wont please some but am hoping that the vast majority will continue to drop by & see what's been happening in my little piece of the internet.

Yesterday was the 1st time since early December 2020,  I had been away from my normal routine of work home & a weekly shopping trip with the wife, with Covid restrictions easing. Wanting to make the most of the day I opted for an early rise in a hope that the sunrise would be a good one. 0330hrs alarm, on the road by 0400hrs & the sightings started almost immediately with a barn owl feasting on a road kill pheasant by the side of the road. Car parked & I was climbing the track leading to my destination by 0440hrs under torchlight.

It was great to be back out after all this time & the amount of birds calling as I started to ascend the side of the Dale was astonishing. Curlew, Grouse, Lapwings, Oyster catchers and a few others I was unsure of but it definitely boosted the moral as the sweat started to bead down my back from the weight I was carrying in my camera backpack, all I was hoping for now was a decent sunrise around 0630hrs.

I arrived at the point I wanted to photograph sunrise around 0600hrs, set up the camera & waited. It was freezing & a cold wind blowing across the tops. The sunrise never came it simply got lighter & lighter under the cloud cover overhead. 

Not disappointed in the slightest as it was great to be back out on the hills as you can probably tell by the smile on my face & my chosen chair I had picked out to watch sunrise, certainly better than the normal car seat on the way to work for sure. 

The light was better behind me in the west with this view up the Dale & over Great Whernside.

The old shooting house built into the crags starting to fall into disrepair.

At least the back wall built up on the crags gave a bit of protection from the wind. With a temperature of 3.4C & 6.5mph chilling wind

The walk wouldnt be the same if it didn't incorporate the obligatory waterfall, so I made my way across the tops and down into the gorge where I was being watched as I went.

A tawny owl watching me from his perch.

and what a view he had

A pair of grey wagtails were also out looking for food jumping around the riverbed looking for insects.

As the walk started to come to an end, the fields back towards the car were full of  lambs running around in the early afternoon sunshine,  one or two always looking for attention.

Fishing post next? who knows my license is renewed as is my club membership so water being right this week off I have,  you just might find me with a rod in my hands again on one of the Dales rivers. Happy Easter everyone.