A short stroll with the hounds

Yesterday I took Sybil and her friend Meg, a yellow Labrador, for a good walk around Scholes and Keppel's Field. We do this walk fairly often, but yesterday I decided to take my camera as there are usually a few interesting birds around.

It wasn't a great day for photography as it turned out as it was rather overcast, but we still enjoyed the walk. We headed up across the fields and into Scholes' Wood, where Sybil chased her usual squirrels and Meg trotted along rather faithfully by my side.

Pine cone in Scholes' Wood

Leaving the woods, we walked alongside the cow enclosure. There have been several cows, the Highland breed I think, on Keppel's Field for quite a while now. They don't cause any trouble, but at first I was a bit peeved that they take up a good portion of the field. There are several footpaths running through the cow enclosure, but we never venture inside unless the cows have been moved elsewhere.

The Head Honcho

Breakfast time

I also spotted the kestrel in with the cows. With the long grass, Keppel's Field must make a fantastic territory for a pair of kestrels, and I certainly see at least one bird everytime I'm here, either perched in a tree or hovering low over the grass. This time, it was a female:

A rather bad kestrel photo

Then the dogs did some posing. Meet my friend Meg, and of course you all know Sybil.

Meg

Sybil

Meg proving she can move just as fast as Sybil:

Labrador attack!

And we found a bit of snow to play in.

We went back down the other side of the large field, and met up with our kestrel again.

Another shockingly bad couple of kestrel photos.

I stalked the bird for a good twenty minutes, trying to get close enough for a decent photo of her hovering. However, everytime I set my tripod up and zoomed in, she would wheel away and carry on hunting even further out of shot. These are the best photos I could manage. It is now my mission to get a decent photo of her, even with my limited camera skills. Watch this space!

A random photo of grass poking through the ice

And a rather surprised-looking Sybil.

See you soon :)