Tuesday 21 February 2017

The Beautiful Dales,Saturday 18th - Sunday 19th February 2017.

Day One,Saturday.

A spare of the moment decision to visit this stunning area over this weekend saw Trace and myself heading up the A1 and into the Yorkshire Dales National Park for the weekend,this is where we visited and what we saw on our travels.
 The journey up to the Dales was fairly good and the weather pretty decent,a few nice sightings along the way included 6 Roe Deer along the M180 and a north bound flock of Pink-footed Geese near Bedale.
 We had booked to stay at a lovely B&B in Widdale,which is along the road between Hawes and Ingleton and as we had plenty of time before we had to check in,we decided to go over to Ingleton and do the waterfalls walk.
 The weather was a bit overcast,but at least it was dry and as always the scenery was just fantastic as we passed the iconic Ribblehead Viaduct.
 After arriving at the waterfalls car park,we got our water proofs on just in case and began this fantastic walk.The river was pretty full and as we came to the stunning Pecca Falls it was an amazing sight and sound as always.
 As always when we are away,i carry my binos and a couple of nice birds included the expected sightings of a Dipper and Grey Wagtail and i loved the mettalic 'zinc zinc' call as the Dipper zoomed past along the river.
 We managed to complete the walk in just over 2 hours,which i was pretty amazed at,but my legs and knees were telling a different story.

Day Two,Sunday.

 As yesterday had not been really looking for birds,i made up for it today as we headed over to Reeth and the brilliant Arkengarthdale.My quarry was mainly Black Grouse,but other species in the area including their commoner cousins would be most welcome also.
 As we headed through part of Swaledale towards Reeth from Askrigg,some point blank views of roadside Red Grouse gave me some fantastic photo opportunities and Trace just loved their little red eyebrows,it does make them look comical i suppose.
 We headed through Reeth and then up along the dale to Tan Hill for a quick cuppa before retracing our footsteps and stopping at Whaw,an area i had seen Black Grouse in before.
 It wasn't too long before i was watching 6 Black Grouse,albeit at a distance as they were on a hillside pasture above the small hamlet.Other birds nearby included a north bound flock of 42 Fieldfare with a couple of Redwing with them and a couple of Raven flying along an adjacent hillside,but despite the good birds,i just could not stop admiring the fantastic scenery around here,it just is a beautiful landscape.
 Sadly it wasn't long before we had to head back to Linc's as we were both at work on Sunday night and we reluctantly travelled home along the A1.
 A couple of distractions along the journey included 2 Red Kite near Wetherby and a couple of Common Buzzard.
 What a great couple of days away to this area again and i can't wait until we are back.
Thornton Force,Ingleton Water Falls Trail.


The River Twiss,Ingleton Water falls Trail.

Rival Falls,Ingleton Water Falls Trail.

Great Scenery,Ingleton Water Falls Trail.

Stunning Swaledale.

The iconic Tan Hill Inn,The United Kingdoms Highest Pub.

Red Grouse,Arkengarthdale.

Red Grouse,Arkengarthdale.

Red Grouse,Arkengarthdale.

Red Grouse,Arkengarthdale.

Dales Scenery Near Whaw.

Reeth.

Dales Scenery Near Reeth.

The Road Into Reeth.

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