Picture Post 1 – The redwing

The redwing The redwing is a member of the ‘thrush family’ and is most likely to be seen in winter. It’s estimated that as many as around 8.5 million or so redwing will typically winter in the UK. Despite the numbers wintering here, there are actually very few breeding pairs in the UK – in […]

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Reddish Vale Country Park – looking for the kingfisher

Reddish Vale Country Park The last time I wrote about a trip to Reddish Vale was about six months ago – back in the summer of 2020. The contrast in the weather between the two visits couldn’t really have been greater. In August it was hot… on this visit it was below freezing.  The bitterly […]

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A week along the river – walking in the Tame Valley

A week along the river Another week of decent walking despite some dodgy and cold weather. I tend to take the view there is never really the wrong weather but there is sometimes the wrong gear. Despite this past week having been bitterly cold at times with biting easterly winds, a fair amount of rain, […]

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Winter walking along the River Tame

Winter walk I don’t think I will ever get bored of walking along any of my regular routes. Todays six mile stroll first along the Peak Forest canal and then down through a part of the Tame Valley was no different. Plenty to see Although a walk along the Peak Forest canal and in the […]

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Winter light on the Peak Forest canal

It’s all about the light It seems to me photography is nothing else if not about the light. It also seems to me that light is the single and most fundamental ‘component’ when taking a photograph. No light and there’s no picture. The importance of light is brought home to me every day I walk […]

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The Mandarin, The Robin and The silhouette in the tree.

An unusual title for a blog post I suppose the title of this blog post is a little unusual. The post follows a recent trip to a local haunt of ours –  Etherow County Park,  a nature reserve close to home and a place I most recently wrote about in November. You can read that […]

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Winter walks along the river Tame

Always the same and always different As much as there is to be said about walking in different places and in taking different routes, I would have to say, that one of the things I have enjoyed over the years is taking a familiar route along the river and canal on a regular basis and […]

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Grey Squirrels – a common sight some pictures and facts.

Squirrel Time Of all the wildlife I see when I walk in the Tame Valley there is probably no mammal as abundant and as visible as the Grey Squirrel. Of course, you don’t need to walk along the riverside or in woodland to catch sight of the common squirrel, they can be found in gardens […]

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The Great Spotted Woodpecker

The Great Spotted Woodpecker. A few weeks ago, in mid-December, I wrote about spotting the Great Spotted Woodpecker. Yesterday whilst out walking and in the same location, and that my wife and I call Woodpecker Gate, I saw him again and managed to grab a few pictures. I won’t write in detail about the woodpecker […]

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