I recently visited Yorkshire for my annual visit to Studley Royal Deer Park. It was dry and cool with no sun but ideal for photography. I found the deer herds in the usual part of the parkland and they were in groups of reds, sitkas and fallows. I spent a couple of hours or so stalking and photographing the groups of deer. The reds were mostly inactive chewing the cud and were very approachable with care.
The sitkas were on the move and can be seen in the fifth image below. I always think they are an odd looking deer a cross between reds and fallows with reds antlers and fallows spotted coats. The fallows were best and suddenly appeared scampering into view. There were a good number on view and they gave me some very nice images.
My second visit to Yorkshire was to the village of Harewood to the north of Leeds were it is possible to see red kites which were introduced to the area a number of years ago and they are thriving with good numbers now present. The well known spot visited by photographers is at the rear of the Muddy Boots Cafe in the village. I could see kites in the air as I approached the cafe.
It was warm and lunch was taken at the picnic tables to the rear of the cafe and the kites would periodically drift over the area and gave some very good photographic opportunities. It had been two excellent days in Yorkshire and I was pleased with the results.
Hope you also enjoy the images below and thanks for looking in. It looks like a cold weekend is on the cards with a blast of Arctic air on it’s way so wrap up well and enjoy the weekend.
Brian Rafferty
I am based in Preston. Lancashire. This central location enables me to travel easily to a wide variety of habitats in the North of England. I tend these days not to travel very far as I find that there is plenty to see not very far from home. On my own doorstep are a wonderful variety of habitats - natural woodlands, open fells and hill country, unspoilt river valleys and I have easy access to the delights of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. As you will see from my bird images much time is spent at the wonderful coastal sites forming part of Morecambe Bay and the Ribble Estuary e.g. Marshside and Leighton Moss. In recent years Digital Photography has taken over from Video and as time has moved on I have acquired more and more equipment - as you do!!
Leave a Reply