Mid afternoon and with the nasty rain and mist clouds moved over it was a quick check at Mixenden Reservoir before moving on to Fly Flatts.
With the dogs with me I could only peer over the wall at Mixenden but soon picked out :-
2 Moorhen
1f Goosander
1m 2f Goldeneye
Several small gulls plus 1 Herring gull
Driving down the track at Fly Flatts I came face to face with a Short Eared Owl sat on the fence post very close to me. I anchored on and threw myself out of the car grabbing the camera as I went just as the bird was taking off. Why does the camera strap always wrap around the gear lever when you,re in a panic trying to get out fast which yanks you back in the car cracking your head on the door frame?
Luckily the bird flew a circuit around me before it headed off over the moor but with no time to check the settings I had to make do with what came out on a slow exposure of 800 and ISO the same. At one point the bird flew so close over me I could,nt get it in the frame or get a focus on it. All this happened in about 2 minutes and then is was gone.
All was quiet down by the water and after a walk of the west bank I went back up the track to where the owl had been, setting up the tripod and camera at the ready but of course the owl never re appeared. After another 15 minutes watching the horizon beyond the western ridge for any signs of skeins of Pink Footed geese moving, which should be happening anytime now, I headed for home.
BS