Agitated lapwings and hysterical redshanks...

You can't walk far on the fells in Weardale at this time of year without causing a stir amongst the nesting moorland birds. About a dozen pairs of lapwing tried to see us off the premises when we walked up onto Chapel Fell, above St.John's Chapel, yesterday morning. When the camera freezes their wings in mid-downstroke like this it emphasises their extraordinary length and width, which allows them to perform those dead-defying aerobatics during courtship.

There were redshanks nesting near the footpath too. Both parents took to the air with hysterical piping calls and flew slowly overhead, trailing their legs and attempting to draw us away from their nest.