Recently I made a couple of trips into Bowland looking for some opportunities to photograph Red Grouse in amongst the purple heather. It didn’t quite work out as there was much activity from grouse shooters with guns and dogs.
The large estates in Bowland are very busy at this time of the year with shooting parties who pay large amounts of money to kill a few brace of grouse. I would much rather shoot the grouse with my camera and have a permanent record of my day out leaving the grouse free to fly another day.
The grouse in Bowland were keeping their heads down and although I managed a few shots I was not satisfied with the results so I decided to visit the Yorkshire grouse moors between Wensleydale and Swaledale.
Wednesday of this week promised some better weather so I made the two hour journey to the moors up above Reeth and Redmire. It proved to be a good decision and I enjoyed a four hour session photographing the good numbers of red grouse that were showing well up on the heathery tops. This part of the moors is well known amongst photographers as being a good location to see the grouse.
There is a military rifle range nearby but I got the impression that maybe these moors adjoining major roads connecting the dales are not shot over too frequently. It was cool and windy on the tops but all my photography was done from the comfort of the car. Shown below are some of my better efforts at grouse shooting.
I was particularly pleased with the flight shot that heads this post. Hope you enjoy the images I have shown of the grouse and the magnificent scenery in this part of the Yorkshire Dales.
Thanks for looking in and tune in again for more from my travels.
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!!
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