Lisa G Saw • February 19, 2023

Last Light Along The River

We’d enjoyed a lovely late afternoon stroll along the River Ouse on a fairly sunny warm winter’s day. We’d been busy chatting, but all the while keeping an eye open for Short Eared Owls flying about. Sadly, it wasn’t to be today. On the return leg, we were more hopeful to see a Barn Owl. It seemed more likely as the day was drawing to a close and the sun was lowering ever closer towards the hills of the South Downs. Soon it would disappear from sight altogether, taking with it the gorgeous golden glow that illuminated the tops of the tall reeds and bathed the bare wintry trees. It’s such a beautiful time of day. It was so lovely having the opportunity to notice everything around us.

 

We dropped down off the bank onto lower ground and stopped talking, standing still for a while. Our eyes constantly surveyed all around us, ever hopeful Barnie would appear. Occasionally, the binoculars were lifted to see into the distance further, but still it was being elusive.

 

The sounds of human life were a distant hum, but ever present. I saw a bird fly down into the reeds to roost, just in front of me. I noticed the absence of twittering birds as the light was dimming and darkness was descending. Instead, I could hear the wind in my ear when I turned my head slightly. I pulled down my hat some more. The cold was starting to creep in, despite my layers. But the stillness, the calm, the peace, it kept me there for longer, enjoying the moment.

 

High in the sky, the entrails of a plane long gone to some far-off place, were breaking up into puffy fragments, still aglow from the last light – a beautiful soft pink set against an otherwise cloudless darkening blue sky. I like to capture these abstract moments. It’s the simple things that can please so much. It didn’t really bother me that much that we didn’t see the owls. There’d be plenty more opportunities ahead. You can’t be lucky every time. If wildlife watching were easy, the rewards would probably not seem so worthwhile. There was plenty to be happy about. We walked the last stretch of the riverbank holding hands, having enjoyed a wonderful afternoon together. These are the moments to treasure.

Brown Hairstreak

August 26

By Lisa G Saw • September 13, 2026
WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS It was the insects that were dominating my wildlife sightings again in August, with plenty more dragonfly and damselfly encounters, plus some fabulous moths and butterflies. Early in the month, Bob and I had a call from one of his friends who had a Striped Haw-moth in his moth trap that morning. So we headed over to see it, having to wait some time for the weather conditions to be just right. Needless to say, I'd never heard of it before, but as ever, I'm learning about all sorts of new species and I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to photograph this fairly large moth species. It was very impressive, especially when we were able to see the flash of pink on the hindwings. I do like to experiment with my photography, and not just take the standard back-of-wing shot, and so got down low to take a photo from the side, so I could see its eye peering at me.

Spring in Yorkshire - Other Wildlife

By Lisa G Saw • September 12, 2026
Our original plan for our trip up to Yorkshire, was to drive direct to Buckton, with rest breaks along the way. It wasn't until we were actually driving north on the A23 that Bob suddenly wondered about the possibility of detouring to Glapthorn Cow Pastures. It's a site in Northamptonshire that is known to be good for Black Hairstreaks - a rare butterfly species in the UK. As I was navigating, I had a quick look on my phone and saw that it would only add about 40 minutes to our journey. Since I'd never seen this butterfly species in its natural woodland habitat - the local colony in East Sussex is of questionable origin, and has most likely been introduced - I was eager to visit this new site. I like being spontaneous and I think Bob was surprised I agreed. In the end, it was the perfect place for us to stop for lunch and enjoy some time in a beautiful quiet woodland. Of the few people there, most were about to leave when we arrived. Bizarrely, I recognised one of them too from back home! It was quite easy to find the ride where the majority of Black Hairstreaks were nectaring. Since it wasn't sunny to begin with, it wasn't too tricky taking some photos as they weren't too flighty. I couldn't believe how many I was seeing. There were several flying around in one small area, and as we ambled up the ride we saw many more - about 30 in total. I saw more in that hour than I had in total prior to that occasion. For the majority of time it was just the two of us in this small stretch of the woodland. It was so peaceful. For the most part, only the sounds of the birds and bees could be heard. It was heavenly!

Spring in Yorkshire - Seabirds

By Lisa G Saw • August 31, 2026
At the end of May, when we had that first bout of warm spring weather, I headed up to Yorkshire with Bob for a week's holiday. We stayed in lovely self-catering accommodation in Buckton where I'd stayed before on a previous visit to the area, but in a deluxe static caravan instead of one of the cottages. The location was fabulous as it gave us wonderful access to the RSPB nature reserve, Bempton Cliffs. It was only a 30 minute walk to the coast, to the northern end of the nature reserve, or we could drive to the various access points not only at the visitor centre nearby, but further eastwards towards Flamborough Headland. Unfortunately, the good weather only lasted the first two days. Having said that, we were lucky the rest of the week because even though it was windy at times, cloudy mostly, and we had some wet spells, we managed to work around it. As always, we try not to let it affect us too much and we both had an excellent time away. Bob's back was still causing him some grief, having put it out a month prior, so we were careful not to spend too long out on walks, or avoid carrying too much equipment. It was actually lovely having a bit more chill time at the accommodation relaxing and reading. The seabirds were the main draw to the area, and there's a good number of them at Bempton Cliffs. They host over 200,000 breeding seabirds during peak season (March to October). Despite the crash in numbers last year due to bird flu, overall the colony seems to be doing well and bouncing back. It's one of the best places in the country to see Northern Gannets, as it is the largest mainland colony, with an estimated 11,000 to 15,000 breeding pairs.
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