Birthday weekend, lots of rain... but lots of Deer!!

Last weekend was my birthday...yes 21 again!! Traditionally now Sharon and I try and spend this time up in The Lakes, around our favourite mountain Blencathra. The forecast for the weekend was 'mixed' and that is how it ended up, Friday and Saturday were very nice, but as we slept in our tent Saturday night / Sunday morning the forecast change in weather arrived and it poured down with storm force winds behind it. But our tent held firm, and when the rain and wind eased on Sunday we escaped  into Keswick.
Due to our recent hospital stays we have not been walking properly for ages now, and it felt so good to be back out on the fells again, and Saturdays walk into Martindale was a mixture of a great walk with some wildlife thrown in, in the form of the wild Red Deer that roam this part of the Lakes.
Unlike the previous post where the Red Deer at Tatton Park are relatively approachable, these are truly wild and can sense you miles off, we didn't see any Stags but lots of hinds and this years fawns. All the shots I got were using the full 500mm, and a small crop as they were a long way across the valley from us, getting any closer was impossible.
Despite the weather the long weekend was brilliant, and it was with great reluctance we both returned to work!!









Blencathra from the Castlerigg Stone Circle, just down the road from where we camped



and looking the other way to the Helvelyn ridge

Red Deer

It is nearly that time of year that I enjoy so much, Autumn is slowly creeping up on us and that means the annual Red Deer rut will be starting soon. The stags have been feeding well all summer whilst growing a new set of antlers in preparation for seeing off other stags after their hinds. With this in mind I took a quick trip to Tatton Park last week to see how the deer were faring ahead of the rut, and they looked magnificent.

RSPB Conwy Godwit and a Latte!!

As I was over that way late afternoon I called into RSPB Conwy for a coffee and a brief look around. A little disappointing as there was very little about on the pools, whether this was due to the water level being extremely low or the fact that the tide was out in the estuary and most birds were out on the exposed mud out of camera range.
But a brief wander to the Carneddau Hide found a Black Tailed Godwit feeding close in, and a bit further round a Grey Wagtail popped in to view. Highlight was a tasty Latte in the coffee shop, nicely timed as the afternoon cooled off.
Next......... it's RED DEER time!!

Going Macro

A real change of direction for me, my Wildlife photography has always been dominated by my first love Birds, and then mammals etc, but more recently I have started to admire other photographers macro images and the interest has grown.... to the point where I have just invested in a new 150mm F2.8 Macro lens, and a whole new world of photography has opened up.
I have had a few efforts with it this week, and have quickly realised it is going to take some practice... what this space!!
No idea what these are, but for starters I was quite pleased.