North York Moors & The Dales - 11th June 2024

Time for my almost annual pilgrimage to Yorkshire and very lucky to have a Sister who lives there and a Brother-in-Law who is a keen birder! After lunch we took a circuit of Bransdale for some moorland birds including Lapwing.

Other waders included Common Snipe and one of my favourite birds, Curlew. 

There was also a pair of Oystercatchers who did not get on with the Curlews and were constantly chasing them. 

The road is very quiet so easy to stop and use the car as a hide. These Red Legged Partridge being a case in point.

Of course the prime gamebird up here is Red Grouse and I was lucky to get a couple of shots of this female before she ushered her chick away.

Meadow Pipits were very abundant.

A couple of pictures to give some context to the surroundings.

The deciduous woods and streams looked ideal habitat for certain species and sure enough, a female Common Redstart was a good find.

Stonechat, Cuckoo and Grey Wagtail were added to the list, but the star bird was certainly Pied Flycatcher.

A really fabulous afternoon! The following day allowed for a stop off at Thornton le Dale. This is a beautiful village bisected by a main road with a stream running through. Dippers are known to frequent the area so we went for a look. Straight away we had a brief view before one flew towards us, landing on the railings!

We then spotted a youngster and after a quick picture moved away so as not to disturb them.

Further down the stream we saw another bird which was very confiding, perhaps not unusual in such a busy environment. Interestingly, it appeared to only have one leg!

And for anyone wanting to know how it's done, here is the evidence.

No dipping on this occasion!