Stunning Accipiters And Beautiful Dippers.....Sunday 1st March 2015.

With a bit of a mixed forecast today,i headed for North Yorkshire in the hope i was at least going to get some sunny spells to look for today's target birds.It was just beginning to get light properly as i stopped briefly en route to my destination for the day,looking at the Forge Valley feeding station alongside the babbling River Derwent.Highlights here included a few expectant Grey Squirrels as they stared at me as if to say were are my peanuts!....but the real beauties were seen in the form of a couple of Marsh Tit,Nuthatch and a drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker in the riverside trees.
 Onward to my usual parking spot in Troutsdale Valley,i arrived just as the sun began to break through the cloud cover.Plenty of layers were put on as it was pretty cold and there was a heck of a breeze blowing from the west,making the temperature decidedly chilly.A quick look on the river revealed no Dippers,but a single Grey Wagtail dropped in from overhead.
 On the small ox bow next to Hilla,a nice surprise in the form of two pairs of Mandarin showed pretty well before flying around to the back of the pond and a few parties of Siskin passed by into the nearby Alders.
 I eventually walked up to my vantage point and began to scan the valley,but there were very few birds in the air and the wind was certainly not helping matters.A nearby Common Buzzard escaped into the nearby Pine forest as if to get out of the wind and 4 Kestrel and a local Sparrowhawk hunted nearby.Enough was enough and i decided to head back to the car and have a look along the river.As i neared the car,first one,then two Goshawks appeared and flew past me and along the valley to the west...at last i had some sightings in the bag of this stunning raptor species.
 A look along the river saw the local Dippers putting on a fine show,particularly the male of the pair,as he sang his scratchy song on some nearby rocks.The trees along the banks of the river saw a foraging tit flock being seen and included a couple of Marsh Tit and a Treecreeper which gave superb views.
 Back to the car saw me heading around to the raptor viewpoint at Wykeham to attempt to get some more raptor sightings in the bag for the day and it wasn't long before i was watching more Goshawks,albeit on the opposite side of the valley.A sparring pair of females were seen chasing each other before dropping into the forest and about an hour later a displaying male at a similar distance was watched putting on a great show...what a bird species they are!.Other sightings during my watch included 30 plus Siskins,with 1 male doing his bat like display flight around some nearby Spruces and a pair of Common Buzzards soared around over the forest.
 Today's visit wasn't in the best conditions to be fair and it was four seasons in one day,i will make another visit in a couple of weeks time in some better weather conditions.
 A good day out despite the rain at times.

Troutsdale Valley.

Troutsdale Valley.

Male Dipper.

Male Dipper.