In previous years the early part of the year has seen us heading up the slopes of Cairngorm in search of Ptarmigan. When the Funicular Railway was working it was relatively easy to reach the summit and I was once stood on top before 10.00am!! Those days are long gone with the railway out of action together with my injured knee! It is still the best place in Scotland to film Ptarmigan but beware – in winter the summit of Cairngorm is covered in ice and you will need crampons attached to your boots to avoid sliding down the mountain. I once slid twenty foot, together with the camera, and thought I had come away unscathed until I noticed later that the front element of my 300mm lens was chipped, effectively reducing its value by more than a grand! Photos from my last successful trip are in the Gallery. www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife

Despite covid, bad weather and finally injury its not been a bad year for the camera. Thousands of photos were taken and it is always a difficult job to pick ten of the best. However, pride of place this year goes to two of our rarest Grebes. I finally got photos of the Black Necked Grebes in Yorkshire and then the big surprise of the year to come across a family party of Slavonian grebes with young by a public footpath in Inverness.
It is always a privilege to be granted a Licence to photograph breeding Hen Harriers so two photos from those sessions are included together with a passing Golden Eagle!
The year started with Photographing a Jack Snipe in the snow – something I have been after for a long time. April’s snow and frost brought hunting Barn Owls and by May most evenings were spent with Long Eared Owls – the photo included shows the fabulous plumage of this most nocturnal of the Owls.
The final photo is of the best Sparrowhawk to visit our garden in fifty years and he still visits most days!
To all my readers – Best Wishes and Good Health for 2022. www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife

The Mistle Thrush is Britains largest song-bird and is also known as the Stormcock. This name emanates from the Thrushes habit of singing at the height of a storm.
Unfortunately,. from a photographers point of view it has a very annoying habit – it stakes its claim to a berry-laden tree and chases off all other birds. This is all very well if you only want to photograph Mistle Thrushes but when Waxwings, Redwings and Fieldfares turn up they are all chased away. I have lost track of how many times I have cursed Mistle Thrushes over the last fifty years!! www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife

When we have a High Pressure in Winter it is the best time to go out and film temperature inversions. These occur when the temperature in the valleys is colder than that on the hill-tops. Mist and cloud is formed in the valley bottoms with glorious sunshine above. It is a fabulous natural occurrence and this week was the best I have ever seen. The blog photo shows the valleys of river Calder and Ribble in dense fog but high above the top of Pendle Hill is bathed in sunshine
I only saw my first Fieldfares of winter this week and never before have I seen more Jack Snipe than Fieldfare by this time of the year. Ten Jack Snipe in a remote bog on the 20th October was an exceptional count.www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife

Still with mobility problems so I have spent most of the last two weeks watching the feeding birds in the garden. On most days we have had twenty or more different species taking food which for the size of the garden is amazing.By far the largest bird has been the male Pheasant who first appeared last year – but is it the same male as last year? Nuthatches come regularly and the immaculate male Sparrowhawk finally perched facing us thus giving a great view of his orange breast.www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife

Monday’s snow and ice was perfect for catching up with feeding Redwings. So far this winter there have been very few about but I managed to locate half a dozen feeding on Haws on one of Rochdales busiest roads. In-between passing buses, lorries, cars and people they fed and provided me with the photos I was hoping for. I then went stalking Roe Deer and fell into a snow-covered pot hole damaging my left knee – but don’t worry the camera was OK!! See Gallery www.facebook.com/gordon