Cowden

An early morning visit to Cowden paid dividends with lots of flora and fauna looking great in the sun (between showers).

Once I'd negotiated the mass of head height undergrowth and tangled thistles, nettles and brambles that tried to have me falling @rse over tit, it was an easy 5 mile walk. I'd put my waterproof overtrousers on though as I expected a bit of a tussle 😄

First up was a Barn Owl, drifting over the long grass towards the south.

over-exposed Barn Owl

As I had a look at the photo it looked to be over-exposed, and sure enough the ASA was taken at 2000 although the sun was out!? It was on auto ASA so I would have expected a value of 200 or 400 - must have been a glitch with the camera as I'd only just turned it on. All OK thereafter so just technology having a boo.

Whitethroats with young and Sedge Warblers kept me interested as I walked down the path. I  didn't really expect many butterflies as it was a bit breezy and overcast at times but I saw quite a few - mainly Ringlet, Meadow Brown and whites but a few Skippers were out and about too.

Small Skipper

Small Skipper

At the southern end of my walk a pair of roe deer were munching their way though the grass and a Brown Hare kept its eyes on me until I got too close.

Roebuck and doe

Brown Hare

On my way back the first sighting of the year of a Gatekeeper butterfly was a nice find. It was very flighty though and didn't settle often, and when it did it kept its wings closed so the real beauty of this butterfly couldn't be enjoyed to its full. The key id aid when a Gatekeeper has its wings closed is the two dots in the small dark spot on the underwing.

Gatekeeper

A phone photo was the only one I got with wings open

The place was alive with hoverfly and this sowthistle was a typical sight, attracting a good number of them.

Hoverflies on sowthistle (I think)

 Onwards towards the small pond to hopefully see a few dragonflies. The pond is quite well sheltered by tall bushes and the sun was out intermittently so I was optimistic.

No dragonflies I'm afraid, but there were a couple of fish to watch. They were yellow and quite small and looked like some species of carp to me.

As I was watching the fish, a raptor flew over. I got a glimpse of it between the bushes and got a couple of photos before it disappeared going north west. It looked to be a young male and could be the one from Hornsea Mere.

young male Marsh Harrier

A mallard came into sight suddenly, ploughing through the water making a real din. I thought it was being chased by somethng but it wasn't, so what it was doing I have no idea.

Mallard making waves

There are so many aspects of wildlife behaviour that just leaves me dumbfounded 😂

Over to the cliff top to check out what's passing by - a Gannet by jove!!

Gannet hopefully avoiding the wind turbines

The wind turbines generate a whole load of electricity but their location is a worry as they are on the feeding flight path of the Gannets from Bempton. They aren't small so can be seen easily but whether seabirds can avoid them is open to debate.

I mentioned earlier that white butterflies accompanied the whole of my walk so I'll finish with a photo of Large Whites. The second brood should be out now but these look a bit worn so may be hangers on from first brood. Small Whites and Green-veined Whites were also seen but the majority of whites were Large today.

Large White butterflies