A Hike at Ladybower

Last week was spent trying to figure out where the kingfisher would land so I could get some close-up pictures. As you can see, in the lack of a blog about it, I failed. The area its in is rather full of twigs and bushes, which makes it a bit complicated. Anyhow, the hunt continues.
Until then, you'll have to put up with some pictures from Ladybower where we were on Saturday.  A path that we have taken before, a 14km loop that starts by taking you along the reservoir, then turns right up the hills towards the dark peaks and back along the ridge.
Earlier that morning it had been snowing, and as its rather high up here, the snow was still on the ground. After a while the sun came out too and it almost became warmer. Actually only if you were hiding behind larger rocks, as the wind itself was cooling down to probably around -5 :)
Despite the weather earlier in the day, there were a lot of people walking around. Some better and some worse dressed. Actually saw few with just SHORT on!! Should not be so surprised as its rather normal here in England to underdress for the weather.
Until next time, hope you enjoy the pictures.
                                                                           

Early Morning Walk at Ladybower Reservoir

I have an annoying FLU since 2-3 weeks back so I haven't really been able to cope with strenuous walking or biking to my usual photo locations.
So early one morning, I had the good fortune that I got a ride to Ladybower Reservoir, to be there before the sun came up. I've only been there once so early in the morning and this morning I went to a small beech forest and hoped for nice autumn colors. Once on site I realised that it was not as I expected. The nice summer we had has postponed everything, not that I'm complaining :) 
Walking out there is anyway always nice and I was joined by 4 - 5 hooting tawny owls and once it brightened properly, I saw about 30 Mandarin ducks which was a bit surprising, did not know they every landed there. 
The sun began to rise over the hills and was shining nicely on to the other side where there is little larch forest. I took some pictures and just enjoyed the nice weather. After an hour, the light began to be pretty harsh and flat so I started walking back towards the bus but as usual had many stops along the way.

Heather blooming Peak District

Yesterday I, my wife and a friend went on a hike around Ladybower and Derwent Edge. We had chosen a loop of 14km where first 7 km are along ladybower reservoir so it is easy to walk.
But then it goes almost straight up to the top of Derwent Edge but once up it's also relatively flat. So the hike is fairly simple, although it's a bit to go.
I've never been up here when the heather is in bloom. It was nice to finally see how it is and it sure were some amazing parts with all the purple. Unfortunately the weather was not the best with a wind speed of 10-13m / s, showers and overcast. Still, it's nice to show you how the pictures can get when its overcast.
It's amazing to walk through the Peak District right now because of all heather blooms and you have to be quick as it suddenly is over.
But I'm not leaving it at these pictures, I will be look for other places where the heather is in larger patches. Will try to go out there in the late afternoons to get softer color of the landscape while the sun is setting down. Was planning to go this afternoon as the forecast was sunshine, but living on an Island it changes rather quickly and already now it's overcast instead. May try during next week instead.
Camera equipment: Nikon 3Ds, nikon 16-35mm f4 and Hitech Graduated soft nd filter 0.6.

Sitting amoung the high heather bushes

Winter in the Peak District NP

Yesterday I was out to Peak District NP. There is a lot of snow here now (for being England), so I wanted to take the opportunity before it disappears in a few days.
The day did not start well at all, I dropped my most expensive lens in the snow and because I had removed the cap it was full of it and not the easiest to get it off.
Luckily there where no major damage that I know of yet.
I wandered off to the place where the mountain hare is and it was not the most fun to plod (is this the correct english word for it??.. )in the snow, it sucked the life out me. Finally 3 hours later I came to where I wanted. Initially, I saw no hares, but soon saw some tracks that I followed. First I saw one and then suddenly a bunch of them. It was still hard to get close, and when looking at the pictures in the camera afterwards it looked as I chought them in the fog, but I realized it was water or condensation in the lens (from when I dropped it in the snow). It was impossible remove it so I have now permanent fog effect ;))

The landscape was nice as the wind had glued the snow on poles, stones, twigs and etc. 

After walking around and photographing a couple of hours it was time to go back down to the pub to take a well deserved cold beer :))

Camera eguipment: Nikon D90, nikon 200-400mm f4 and nikon 10-24mm f3,5

Road trip through Peak District NP

The day was spend driving around with the wife's parents in the Peak District to show a bit of the neighborhood. We started at Ladybower reservoir,

then continued along it for few km to Derwent. We wanted to show them the dam which is very nice with its falling water.

Next we continued to Hope Valley and Edale, where it was a lot of snow (for UK :)) ) It looked very nice with snow on the peaks and the green valleys.
The journey continued through the Winnats pass, one of the two passes through the Dark Peak area. The other one is the Snake pass, a bit more north, passing Ladybower.

At Winnats pass (Castleton), there are a lot of caves as it was an old mining areas. They quarried for  a stone called Blue John, a semi-precious stone blue in color :) (suprised? ;) )
After a few quick photos, we continued to Bakewell which is a nice little village with small shops, cafés and a lot of outdoor cloth shopping. After strolling around for a while and shopped the mandatory bakewell pudding, we went to the last place we would have time to visit namely Chatsworth house (http://www.chatsworth.org/). The house is amazing but today there was an awful lot of tourists, so we just took a couple of quick photos and went home.