Peak Week.

It had been two years since I was last in Derbyshire, and it was good to be back. This was to be a family holiday with my wifes parents, or the outlaws as I normally refer to them! Though it was a family holiday, I obviously was taking the camera with me, and in fact would have been daft not to. I had two objectives in mind for this week. One was to try to get some better shots of Dippers, the other was to get up on the moors to see the Red Grouse and also to try to see if I could get a shot of any Mountain Hares. Little was I to know how well this was to turn out.

On The first proper day of the holiday, I saw Dippers while out on a bike ride. One in particular was obviously a cock bird as it was perched singing on a fallen tree trunk that was wedged over a little weir. He took no notice of us and I guessed that there may have been a nest nearby. Later that evening, I returned to the river but upstrem of where I had seen the Dipper in the morning. I soon found Dippers again, and this time watched a pair working some rapid shallows. They in the end went to their nest on the opposite bank that was in a tree stump. I got some nice shots of them as they hunted for food in amongst the shallow water and also of a Wren that was hunting for insects right in front of me.

The following morning I was out at first light and went back to where I had seen the first Dipper. Sure enough it was on the fallen tree again standing sentry over its territory and I was sure, a nest too. I had been there a short while when another Dipper came from upstream and landed on the fallen tree. It was clear that this was a pair and I wondered if they would go to the nest, and indeed they did. It had been right in front of me all the time wedged between two boughs of the fallen tree! It was so well built and camoflauged though, it was impossible to see untill they went to it! For the next hour or so, I was able to get some lovely shots of the cock bird in and out of the water looking for food along the weir and going to the nest to feed the hen bird while she sat incubating the eggs. At one point, he came right along the weir to within ten yards of where I sat and just seemed to accept me sitting there.

While I been photographing the Dipper, I had also seen and got a few shots of a Water Vole on the opposite bank. That after-noon though, I was to get some much better shots. It was at a place called Litton Mill. It is still a working mill and after looking around outside everybody wanted to go and have a look inside. I however decided to stay outside with the camera as there was a Grey Wagtail pair feeding young in an outsite drainage pipe they had nested in, and also Dippers again up and down the river behind the mill. I did get the shots of the Grey Wagtails and also of one of the Dippers, but before that I heard someone say that they could see a "Water Rat"! I went to see if I could see the Water Vole and indeed there was one heading upstream on a little side stream. I got ahead of it and sat there quietly as it made its way up towards to me. They have poor eyesight, and if you sit still they can come right up to you as this one did. It passed right by my feet and I got some really nice close shots.

Having got my pictures of the Dippers, and more besides, I decided to get up on the moors the very next morning as the weather forcast was set for clear skies and a bright start. As I have said, I wanted to see if I could get a shot or two of Mountain Hares and I couldn't believe my luck when just before I got up to the top of the moors, a Mountain Hare appeared on the path in front of me. Though the light wasn't great, I slowly got the tripod set rigid and got about five shots as  "bankers". This was at 5:15 in the morning and the sun was still not due above the horizon for another twenty five minutes!

I had already seen and heard quite a few Grouse on my way to the top. Once up on the tops, I had a good look around with the binoculars and was pleased to see not only a good number of Grouse about, but also several Mountainh Hares too. I could see four all together in one spot about half a mile away and could see that I may stand a chance of a shot if I used a dry stone wall as cover, and my luck held. So I set off. I closed the ground onto the Hares using the wall and then came to a break in the wall where I decided to get myself set and see if they moved up towards me. After a while, two of the Hares disappeared but the other two slowly started to make their way towards me, feeding as they came.

At one point, both Hares came through the wall on my side further down and I thought my chance had gone. Luck really was on my side though, for they both went back on the other side of the wall and first one, then a short while later the other, came right up opposite me about ten yards distance and sat looking at me! This allowed me to get a few nice shots of each of them in turn before they decided they didn't like the look of me and scampered off across the heather. At that point I was glad they did as I could no longer feel my hands as it was so cold. It in fact hit -5 degrees up there just as the sun started to show and I was very grateful to shove my hands into my pockets!

Looking at the shots on the camera, I realised how lucky I had been. Not only were both of them in different colour phases of their coats, changing from winter to summer, the first one in particular had its eye shone up red where the rising sun had hit it. You normally dont want "red eye" and its associated with flash, but this was natural light doing it so I was more than happy to keep the shots! I was to see several more Hares throughout the course of the morning in different colour phases and was able to get more good shots of them in the heather, including a half grown leveret, as well as nice shots of the Red Grouse too.

These moors are very well managed shoots for the Red Grouse. A lot of people have mixed feelings about shoots, but there is no doubt whatsoever that a well managed shooting estate of any description, is a superb wildlife and conservation site too. If we lost our well managed and well maintained shooting estates, we can all say goodbye to a lot of different and varied habitats and the wildlife that goes with it. It was such a pleasure to see the different stages of heather growth where the heather burning had taken place to encourage new heather growth, creating a patchwork effect on the hillsides. All morning long I could hear and see Curlew, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Snipe, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits as well as a Short-Eared Owl out hunting and then getting mobbed later on by a Merlin. If people look beyond the shooting, they will see a whole lot more besides.

When I got back down off of the moors, I also managed to get some nice shots of Common Sandpipers along the reservoir edge, by getting ahead of where they were working to and hiding up in some Rhododendrons. It had been a very good morning to be out and I had also got some much needed exercise in the process! With my two main objectives already complete, I spent the rest of the holiday doing the usual sort of touristy things, but keeping the camera handy just in case!