As i had a few hours spare after returning home from our visit to Ingleton and as it was only a few miles from the cottage,i left Mrs R chilling and i travelled up into Arkengarthdale to look for one of my favourite birds up here,Black Grouse.
I parked up at the usual spot i park at when visiting here and began to scan the surrounding area around the little hamlet of Whaw and it wasn't long before a spotted my first Black Grouse of the evening feeding away in one of the hillside pastures.
These upland pastures are really productive for birds,with a nice sized flock of at least 350 Lapwing,with many juveniles in the flock,good numbers of Starlings,4 Common Buzzard,5 Kezzies and a few distant Red Grouse dotted about.I fealt sorry for the latter,as it would only be a matter of a few days before they are all blasted out of existance on the moorland deserts close by.When you travel up here and see what potential habitat there is for Hen harrier to breed it's heart breaking and very,very sad.I do hope one day,that this beautiful bird can return to the uplands in the numbers there should be up here,but it seems a very long way away.
After much more scanning,i managed to find another 4 male Black Grouse and this was a fitting end to what has been one of our best holidays and certainly my favourite visit to this beautiful area of Yorkshire.
Stunning Evening Light,For Our Final Evening Here.
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| A Lovely Scaly Juvenile Lapwing,The Product Of A Good Breeding Season Up Here. |
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