Askham Bog & North Cave Wetlands

Yesterday we went to Askham Bog and North Cave Wetlands nature reserves, both managed by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

First up was Askham Bog which was easy to spot from the road, with a YWT van parked there. The only other people there were a group helping out on a volunteer day so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Next up was North Cave Wetlands which is easily the best nature reserve I've ever been to. Loads of birds, comfy hides and none of those 6 foot fences some reserves seem to love.

I think we'll be revisiting both these places in the not too distant future.

Debbie.

Tropical World

We visited Tropical World in Leeds on Sunday, we've been a couple of times before but they didn't seem to have as many butterflies this time. In fact they didn't seem to have as much of anything, not many birds and no sign of any Meerkats.

On top of the dwindling exhibits, the heat in there was unbearable, it was hot and humid before but on Sunday we could almost swim round! Still, we did manage a few pictures before running off in search of an ice cream van!

Next time we're thinking along the lines of exotic butterflies, we'll stick with Tropical Butterfly House in Sheffield.

Paul.

Return To The Meadow

Had a quick wander round the meadow this afternoon, on the hunt for butterflies. There are still loads of those Six Spot Burnet Moths about but there was also plenty more to chase about in the sunshine.

Just to keep us on our toes, we had to be extra quick in getting any shot before Lucy came to investage what we were looking at!

Paul.

Return To Wyming Brook

We arrived at Wyming Brook on Sunday morning early enough to beat the crowds on a hot sunny day. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Dippers again with it being quieter but alas it wasn't to be this time. Despite the absence of our bobbing friend, we really enjoyed our walk, right down to the bottom of the brook and back up the track to the car park. Along the way we saw plenty of white butterflies, fast flowing waterfalls, odd looking nettles and of course, gorgeous views in every direction.

Can't wait to see this place in winter, I'll bet it's wonderful in white.

Paul.

Buttercup Meadow

I've been calling in at a meadow looking for birds on my way to work recently and couldn't fail to notice the great expanse of buttercups. On warmer mornings, I also noticed the odd butterfly dancing in the wind so on Saturday afternoon, in the glorious sunshine, I took Debbie for a visit to see if we could find some.

We didn't do too bad, certainly more butterflies here than we've seen anywhere else so far this year and one or two of them actually stopped still for longer than a split second!

Given it's close proximity, I'm sure we'll be dropping in again on a sunny afternoon to see if something else turns up.

Paul.

Flowers, Sunsets & Butterflies

We had a little bit of a chillout day on Thursday, or that was the plan but we couldn't resist going to the garden centre for some butterfly friendly flowers, Buddleia, Lupin & Cowslip. We've been that busy, we haven't chance to plant these out, that's a job for tomorrow.

The flowers we've already planted are doing well, like the Viola and Aqualigia below.

While Debbie was taking pictures of the flowers on Thursday evening, the sky slowly turned from blue to red and as the moon moved in for the night.

On Friday we headed of to Spurn Point on the East coast, the least said about this the better but if you must have the gory details, see them here. Just a couple of pictures by Debbie before we were chased off by the little hairy monsters.

The one good thing to come out of the Spurn visit was that we ended up at the North Landing at Flamborough head and this place is beautiful. The high cliffs are alive with sea birds, Swallows skim the lush green grass and Sand Martins ride the sandy coves like skateboarders with wings.

Debbie snapped away the whole time we were there but many of the seabirds were just out of reach of the 200mm lens, including the Puffins which we both saw for the very first time. Flowers and butterflies, Debbie's passion, were made for the little lens and there were photo opportunities for those too.

Debbie did get some nice shots of the Puffins, one of which I've posted at Little Brown Job. Bird watching is quickly climbing up her favorites things to do list, almost as fast as Twitter, another twittering twitcher in the making ;-)

Paul.