A day out in Derbyshire.

Yesterday, taking advantage of what could be the last nice day this year I caught the train to Matlock Bath, then walked to Belper along the High Peak Trail and Cromford Canal. On my walk, I found a variety of unusual fungi and waterfowl amongst the scenic views. Here are some of the photos I took.

 

It was a very foggy start in Matlock. 

 

 A ruined building on the Via Gellia.

 There were lots of photogenic Little Grebes along the Cromford Canal.

Middleton Top Engine House.

 Views from the High Peak Trail.

A bridge on the Cromford Canal.

 The National Hen Racing in Bonsall.

 Some Jelly Fungus.

Batting for East Staffordshire.

Last Saturday, I was invited on a census with the East Staffordshire Bat group. Altogether we counted about thirty bats which consisted of five Noctule, eight Pipistrelle and twenty Natterer's bats. The group count bats in the same location twice a year and this was a very good turn out, as in the Spring they didn't count any at all. In the UK there are 17 species of resident bats and it is important that surveys like this are done so there is an understanding of how well bats are doing and if they need any help. I also saw a lot of wildlife and here are some photographs I took of the bats and the group carrying out the survey.
Here is a link to the West Midlands bat groups -  http://www.westmidsbats.org.uk/

 Bats being taken out one of the boxes.

 A Noctule bat having a good stretch!

 Some of the bat boxes.

 A Noctule bat.

 A Noctule having its wing measured.

 Dusters were put into the bottom of the boxes when people were

looking in.

 Another Noctule bat.

 Here's a empty birds nest which was found in one of the bat box. A wasp nest was also 

found in one of the boxes.

 A Natterer's bat.

 Weighing a Noctule bat.

Best badger footage yet!

At the weekend I decided to set my trail camera up to get some more badger footage. When I went to collect it the day after, I was surprised with how much activity went on during the night. I got about one hours worth of footage and I had recorded so much different amusing and interesting behavior, such as sleeping, playing, fighting, scenting and much more! On one of the videos I filmed, there was five badgers which is a lot more compared to last time when I got two at the most. Here are some of the best videos I took and you can see some more on my YouTube channel (click here to go to my YouTube channel). I hope you enjoy the videos.