How Green is the Valley...

Yesterday I visited Old Moor RSPB. It was fairly quiet birdwise, but as I was leaving I noticed a hitherto unseen feeder. A short(ish) crawl put me under it and amongst the feeding birds. One bird stuck out as a target, a female Yellowhammer, a bird that in the past i've struggled to approach. However, this bird obviously didn't get the memo to be secretive and prefer the bushes to open ground for she actively moved towards me, until she eventually filled enough of the frame for me to start click click clickin' away...!

As well as this little stunner, I also had some good views of Reed Buntings...

...Long Tailed Tit...

...and Cowslip flowers. I haven't really done floral photography before and this was a nice surprise and was quite challenging...!

However, best of all was meeting the RSPB's photographer Andy Hay. It was very interesting to see his kit and to talk about photography, particularly about hides. I have been contemplating buying a hide to do dippers with but have so far been unconvinced, but looking at Andy's results and the simplicity of the hides available I think may have swung it for me! All in all a great day out, even if I did dip the Avocets on the reserve!