Frosty Morn at Ogden.

 

                                    Several Goldcrest present.

                                    Plus usual tit flock

                                    Poor count of gulls today

                                2 CY Herring gull playing fetch ball

                                    Kept dropping it in the water

                                    Then retrieving it. 

                                        East bank, 1 LBB

                                    Few Black Headed and Common gull.

A nought degree morning with blue clear skies and sunshine with a good covering of frost on a light N>3. Luckily Ned Hill had been gritted after a good coating of ice on the road.

    A lack of wildfowl once again with just the local Mallards whilst the gull count was well down in the fifties. Amazing to watch a 2 CY Herring gull playing ball as it kept flying up to a height then dropping the ball down into the water before diving down into the water to retrieve it. It continued this throughout my visit.

    Nothing in the Alders other than 2 Bullfinch but the waterside trees were very active with a large tit flock, several Goldcrests and around 40 Chaffinch along with 2 female Brambling and a few Goldfinch.

The usual 2 Jays were down on the beech nuts whilst a Raven flew overhead.

      Another day of the same tomorrow with clear skies and sunshine on a light WNW turning west kicking off at 0 degree.

BS

    

    

None birding day.

 

                                Nice sunrise over't mill, Black Dyke, Queensbury.

                                    Sun going down over Foxhill.

A bright clear sunny day wit a light NE>3 starting at 4 degrees with no sign of fog and good visibility.

    It had to happen that the first fog free morning for days had to arrive on a morning when I was snagged up with a hospital appointment so no birding possible other than, a first light, dog walk up Foxhill Park.

   A good show of 32 Common and 12 Black Headed gulls on the football pitches whilst a group of 12 Magpies flew over >W. A mixed flock of around 50 Fieldfare and Redwing came out of their usual winter roost, down in the disused Queensbury railway station, flying up over the Dailie Fields and disappearing >SW. Several Herring and LBB gulls on the roof of St Lukes hospital, Bradford.

    A bright sunny day given for tomorrow on a light NW breeze with a frosty start of 0 degrees and peaking midday at 5 degrees.

BS

Ogden buzzing.

 

                                Ogden early morn below the fog.

                                Song and Mistle Thrushes

                                    Fieldfare and Redwings

                                As good as I could get on Redpoll

                                        Bullfinch

                                    Redpoll

                                    West Bank

                                Mediterranean gull east bank

         Dense fog on the tops this morning with, once again, Ogden below the cloud with just some mist patches then broken cloud and short bursts of sun on a light NE>2 at a cool 4 degrees.

    Still a shortage of wildfowl on the water with just the Mallards as well as 2 Cormorant with around 150 post roost gulls coming in from the direction of the TMR roost. The gulls were spread between the north, west and east shores but very mobile between the shores and the water.

     The Lodge House trees held a single Song Thrush and several Mistle Thrush as well as Fieldfares and Redwings whilst the west bank waterside trees and Alders were alive.

    The Chaffinch flock were sticking to the Beech trees this morning ,to avoid disturbance on the track, with at least 1 pair of Brambling among them, but still too many leaves on the trees as yet to get decent views of them.

  The Alder trees held a mixed flock of Siskin, Redpoll, Bullfinch and Goldfinch, whilst a good size tit flock was moving through the waterside trees comprising of  the 4 common Tit species, Goldcrests and Treecreepers whilst Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens and Dunnocks were raking through the fallen leaves on the track along with 2 Jays.

    Back round on the east bank the Med gull was in with Commons and Black Headed, once again, spending most of its time sleeping. It was reported by an Oxenhope birder to be asleep on the west bank at 1300 hrs.

    Tomorrows forecast is as todays with cloudy sunshine on a light NE at 4 degrees and early hill fog. The good news is that tomorrow should be the last day of the easterlies for a while so hopefully the last of the fog.

BS

     

A rewarding morning at Ogden.

 

                                    Adult Mediterranean gull

                                    Found yesterday by JJL, Bradshaw Birds blog.

                                    Yellow leg ring, from Germany

                                    Jay enjoying beech nuts.

Dense fog on the tops this morning but Ogden was hazy then clearing to a spring like morning with clear skies and sunshine on a very light NNE>1 at 6 degrees.

     The water at Ogden was void of wildfowl other than the Mallards, as far as I could see, along with 2 Cormorant whilst around 150 gulls were on the west bank but none on the nearer east bank. The gulls were very hard to sort through with the low sun lighting them up so it was a matter of checking them each time a cloud blanked the sun out.

     The adult leg ringed Mediterranean gull, which was ringed in Germany, sighted yesterday by JJL, was present but spent most of the time sleeping, which I suppose you would if you'd just flown from Germany. Most of the Black Headed gulls I've seen with rings at Ogden were ringed in Germany, Sweden or Norway.

    Plenty Chaffinch around but very flighty with the usual disturbance whilst a good sized tit flock was in the same area along with 4 Bullfinch and at least 3 Siskin plus Blackbirds and a Jay. By the time I'd finished along the west bank it was knocking off time so never got along the east bank. 

     A mix of cloud and sunshine tomorrow starting at 4 degrees but still the dreaded fog fetching light E turning NE.

BS

      

Dodging the fog banks, Fly Flatts.

 

                                    Fog creeping up out of the valley

                                    Mirror reflective still water

                                    Low tide

                                3 Pheasant in the boat viewing area

    3 Meadow Pipit present                                                              

                                Few Herring gulls >SE

                                    1 of 5 Reed Buntings

                                    3 Greylags >NW in the fog

                                    1 of 2 Stonechat

                                    Rare find for this site, Robin.

                                        Probably continental.

Full cloud with light mist and occasional fog banks moving through on a calm NNE>1 at 5 degrees.

Dense fog lower down in the valleys.

    Luckily for me the fog hung low leaving Fly Flatts with reasonable visibility so I was able to avoid the Ogden Sunday morning running track and head for the solitude of the hills.

    Nothing special but more than I expected and enough to keep the interest flowing. Just 8 Canadas on the water with 7 LBB gulls on the north shore and a steady trickle of Herring gulls >SE. A Buzzard headed towards Castle Carr but was soon lost in the low cloud.

   Small passerines were livelier with 5 Reed Buntings, 1 Meadow Pipit and a rare sighting for this site of a Robin which looked slim and pale enough to be a continental. Otherwise 3 Pheasants, 2 Red Grouse and the usual Carrion Crows.

    Due to very little breeze todays sailing had to be cancelled.

Another day of the same tomorrow with fog on a very light NE turning E at 6 degrees then cloudy with a chance of some outbreaks of sunshine.

BS