The Lindley Wood reservoir, which I believe acts as an overflow reservoir to control river levels downstream, literally filled up in a week in October 2023. It was difficult to get a comparison picture since I would need a boat to get to the position I was in in August 2023. A happy accident in today's picture of the bridge...

After recent weather it was not surprising to find most tracks more like streams on this walk. At least the wild fowl seemed at home. In addition to some very vocal Canada Geese plus a few high speed Mallard Ducks, I had a nice surprise when a couple of Mandarin Ducks wandered by.

An early Sunday morning walk introduced me to an unexpected waterfall that was not there last week. This part of Yorkshire was relatively lightly touched by storm Babet, but there is still an enormous amount of water coming off the moors. This is also demonstrated by the fact that where I was standing to take pictures last week is now...

The sunny calm weather this weekend also allowed for some more drone practice. The Holy Stone HS720R is very easy to fly but as a still nervous novice I wanted to be out of way, and most importantly not disturbing any wildlife. This spot was perfect.

Autumn is my favourite time of year and this day was as cool and fresh as they come. Perfection in the early morning sunshine.

As it was too blustery to consider drone flying this morning I did a return visit to Lindley Wood Reservoir instead. Again it was fantastic exercise for the very unfit me, and I do believe that there was more water in it than last weekend.

A woodland walk near Lindley Wood reservoir provided a lot of exercise (for me). It is certainly a great place to stretch your legs and I will be back regularly.

A return to Ben Rydding Nature Reserve after a couple of months away revealed an ecology beginning its autumn slow down. Obviously less wildlife activity than in early summer but plenty of picturesque tree berries and the local squirrel population to get on camera.

The drone is a Holy Stone HS720R which has a 4K 30fps camera mounted on its own 3 axis gimbal. It has approximately 25 minutes flight time off one battery and can carry a 256GB storage card. They retail at £350 on Amazon UK but are often on discount offer. I was extremely fortunate to spot a 50% discount which is why I snapped it up....

An early morning expedition to flight test my new camera drone.