Birds of Prey Near Lilley

(Somehow this item, did not make it initially to the Web,  sorry)

I had recorded the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka so that I did not have to wait till the evening for the scheduled highlights as I was hoping for an exciting race and an outcome that would extend the Championship lead for Lewis Hamilton by a greater margin than his mere three points that had simply made up for all the bad luck that had bedevilled him. The six o’clock live time was a non-starter, but a delay to a more manageable morning time was my intention, as I still wanted to be out for what might be the last good sunshine of autumn, so I had my breakfast in front of the screen.

The race was exciting barring the two forced waits due to the Phanfone Typhoon’s close pass, but after the result, there was a very downbeat atmosphere due to the tragic accident that befell Jules Bianchi who had aquaplaned at high speed off the circuit and crashed heavily into the very solid vehicle that had been removing the crashed car of Adrian Sutil from the previous lap. All the joy of the race was washed away by this sad incident. I sincerely hope that Jules can recover from his injuries, so my thoughts are with him and all his family and friends in the motor racing fraternity.

After that it was time I gathered my cameras and set off for Tea Green and Lilley Bottom in the hope of photographing red kite, and buzzards. I had spotted a kestrel hovering with intent by the end of Luton’s runway, but by the time I was out of the car, it had moved on! And again when I was on my way down Stony Lane past Tea Green, I spotted a red kite, but again once out of the car with the camera, it had departed for Lilley. I waited awhile, but in vain, so I then turned right at the bottom and drove along Lilley Bottom Lane till I could park below some woods where I knew from past visits the red kite frequented.

It was here that I met a couple of ramblers coming from the other woods and we walked over the road together chatting, and whilst climbing the hill we were graced by the presence of two soaring kite, and I got a couple of shots, we parted, and I thanked them for bring me those birds and asked could they order me a buzzard or two, as we parted and they headed into the woods – they were as good as their word for not two minutes later a couple of buzzards came a-circling, followed later by a female kestrel.

There followed a lull in avian activity, so I then entered the woods, and over into the far valley where I came across a man painting the fence around the cottage known as Butler’s Cottage, next to the Pilkington Estate’s Workshop; we chatted a while and I took a few shots there before returning the way I came, back to my car.