I took this photograph on Easter Sunday while it was actually raining. Most people seemed to avoid the Peak District Moors in grim weather but I braved it and was rewarded with this close view. I sat quietly in the lee of a drystone wall by a wind-stunted Rowan tree and waited for about twenty minutes for a Ring Ouzel to venture close enough. This young male flew right into the top of the tree and sat for about 15 seconds. Quick movements pointing cameras scare Ring Ouzels so I slowly turned with my camera pressed to my face and managed to take a couple of photographs before it flew off.
Taken with a Nikon D500 and a 300mm f4 lens with a 1.4x converter. 1/1000 second f8 ISO 1000 (16 April 2017)
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A super wary bird.
Love to see them on the high fells of the Lake District.
One of my favourites.
Managed an early one when I went to Upper Teesdale for Black Grouse lek in March.
‘Mountain blackbird’ really apt name and Tim is an exceptional photographer who always puts the wildlife first.
Sadly also much muir burn evident at the same time. You couldn’t help but wonder at the amount of wildlife put to the torch especially adders and lizards as well as invertebrate food source for many species.