The glories of the Aphin Brook have been put aside for 3 days as I find myself in West Yorkshire for a day or so. My Kingfishers can take care of themselves without me I'm sure but I can't wait to get back to them. I have some good ideas taking shape including trying to get that elusive under water shot ………….. lets say I have a plan.  This time last year, in fact almost to  the day, I had a magnificent view of Short Eared Owl  on the nearby Saddleworth Moor so Later I am going to give that area a look again. Also, whenever I am here, Twite are another species that I try constantly to photograph. So, plenty to be going on with, even Tree Sparrows are worth a look so check back later to see what I managed to see today. In the mean time here is a photo of a Carder Bee that I took the other day. These bees are worth looking out for at present. Lavender is a plant, in flower at present, that bees are very, very attracted to and yesterday I saw a large "bush" with dozens of large bumbles and carders coming to feed. The Carders have foxy tan, hairy thorax, the only bee species with this colour. In addition they are quite long with black and white stripes on the body. 

Look out for Common Blue Butterflies, they are on the wing at present. They are a pretty wedgewood blue with interesting patterned markings on the underside of the wing as you can see in the photo. I have seen them on the Alhin Brook in the bankside grass, a typical place to look.