Not much birding in Yorkshire

So why did it take me three weeks to fix The Hornet's Nest anyway? Well, to be fair I was on holiday for most of the time, a week in Yorkshire followed by a week in Cornwall.

We visited a lovely part of Yorkshire, a village called Harden not far from Ilkley, Howarth and the moors. We have been here before, and there are some nice birding strolls - moors of course, plus the St Ives Estate with a particularly fine park and woodlands to enjoy.

Sadly, on this occasion there was little (ie no) time for 'real' birding. Instead we enjoyed a few family outings - to Ilkley (quiet, but a really nice place), Bolton Abbey (a beautiful spot), and the national photography, television and film museum in Bradford (go, I urge you - I love the place).

However, a birder is never off-duty, so on on our few family outings I managed to find a few decebt birds - a Dipper on the local stream, Nuthatch at Bolton Abbey, and on the St Ives Estate, more Nuthatch, a Treecreeper, plenty of Goldcrest and a tree-full of Coal Tits.

Nothing to write home about, so onwards and upwards to the main birding event, Cornwall.