Breezy Ogden

 

                                    Good visibility

                                    NW corner

                                    Parakeet pond

                                    A well overgrown Dipper Dyke.

                                    Few Herring and LBB gulls

A wild morning with a strong to gale force SW>8 at 39 mph, gusting strong gale SW>9 at 48 mph on the Beaufort scale, but ' nobbut a fresh breeze and a good drying day for t'weshing on the Queensbury scale. Full cloud and some early drizzle at 6 degrees.

    Luckily, wind is rarely a problem at Ogden other that it was very blustery across the promenade so a decent walk around the full circuit of the water.

    A bit of interest in the waterside trees with a small group of Chaffinch, which is unusual when the water level is up and their favourite weeds are covered. Also 3 Goldcrest which have been extremely rare this winter. Otherwise, a single Song Thrush and a decent count of Great, Coal and Blue Tits.

   A female and 2 male Tufted duck were on the water briefly but soon left in the direction of Mixenden.

Most of the Black Headed and Common gulls have now left for their breeding grounds with just 1 Common and 2 Black Headed on the water along with 7 Herring and 4 LBB gulls. A count of 32 Woodpigeons feeding on the grass bank below the promenade was higher than usual.

    Another blustery morning tomorrow with a gale force SW>8 at 40mph then dropping steadily after midday. A good chance of rain with a low temperature of 1 degree to start the day.

BS

    

Out of the wind, Ogden

 

                                    Several Treecreepers present

                                        8 Herring gull

                                    Only 2 Common gull

                                    7 Black Headed

A moderate to strong S>6 gusting 7 so headed down to Ogden where, apart from the Promenade, the wind was no problem. Near full cloud cover with a mix of sunshine and showers at 5 degrees.

    Nothing to get the taste buds going this morning with the west bank having the usual common woodland species, though a good count of Treecreepers was pleasing to watch.

      A group of 8 Herring gulls dropped onto the water on their was NE with 2 adults and the rest all

1CYs whilst only 2 Common and 7 Black Headed were present along with the usual Mallards.

    A deteriorating day given for tomorrow with a cloudy morning and low risk of rain, heavy rain by p.m. A Met office wind warning is out for near gale SW>7 at 34 m.p.h. with gusts up to SW>9 at 54 m.p.h. at 7 degrees.

BS

Not the sort of forecast to be walking Fly Flatts.

A livelier Fly Flatts

 

                                    Good visibility

                                    Water level going down well

                                    Shore starting to appear

                                Alive with frogs and frog spawn

                                    2 of 4 Oystercatchers

                                    1 of 2 Redshank

                                    Single Ringed Plover

Low cloud as I arrived at Fly Flatts early morn but soon cleared in the cold moderate SW>4-5 at 4 degrees with some broken cloud and a short blast of sun.

    Bit of a wader morning with 25 Lapwing, at least 18 Curlew, 2 Redshank, 4 Oystercatcher, 1 Snipe and a single Ringed Plover. The water just held the usual Canada and Greylag geese plus a few Mallard but no visiting Common Scoter today.

    A single Pied Wagtail was collecting food near its annual nest site and 2 Meadow Pipits were near the lagoon. A check of the Wheatear hotspots though a bit early yet with my first arrivals nearer to the end of the month, my earliest ever at this site was 17th March 2023.

   All quiet around the Nolstar fields and gulls noticeable by their absence now.

Cloudy sunshine for tomorrow on a moderate to strong westerly at 5 degrees.

BS

Scoter search, Leeshaw/Leeming reservoirs.

 

                                    A misty Leeshaw reservoir

                                    Little Owl in distant tree.

                                    Some of 23 Oystercatchers

                                    6 Curlew present

                                Around 150 Lapwing

                                Lapwings up in the mist

                                        1 of 2 Heron

                                    3 Redshanks arrived

                                    A quiet Leeming reservoir.

Thick fog on the tops as promised so down to Oxenhope which was just below the cloud base but dull and misty though visibility was good enough to do the job. A light S>2 at 6 degrees but feeling colder in the damp air.

     With finding a second Common Scoter in mind, first stop was Leeshaw with very quiet water holding just a few Canada and Greylag geese as well as 4 Mallard.

   A few Canadas and Greylags in the field but the bulk of the geese, including the long staying 3 Pink Footed would have probably been in the Upper Marsh fields. A good count of around 150 Lapwings, several of which are now sitting, whilst others are in the fields or on the waters edge. At one point, the whole shebang lifted up when a Merlin whistled over without causing any damage.

  Oystercatcher numbers are now up to 23, usually reaching near on 40 by April, whilst 3 Redshanks were present as well as a Grey Wagtail.

   A flock of 10 Herring gulls went straight through >W but no other gulls present making it look like the gull watching season is almost over this winter.

    A stop off at Leeming reservoir on the way home just produced 3 Tufted duck, a few Mallard, 2 Oystercatchers and a single Herring gull.

     A mix for tomorrow with some cloud and sunshine on a moderate sou'westerly at 7 degrees and no report of poor visibility as yet.

BS

Ogden in the fog

 

                                    A foggy start at Ogden

                                    Limited visibility over the water

                                    Cleared enough to do a Scoter check

                                    2 Canadas present

                                        4 Treecreepers

As expected, dense fog this morning so a trip to Ogden which was just about as bad but partially cleared by 0945hrs giving just enough visibility to see over the water. A light SE>2 at 5 degrees.

    The plan was to do a Scoter check of Ogden and then move on to check Mixenden with the same species in mind but with the fog hanging on Mixenden had to be aborted.

     The west bank was lively, though nothing special, with 2 Goldcrest, 4 Treecreepers and several Blue and Great Tits whilst the Alders held 10 Woodpigeons, which was an unusual sighting.

    By 0945 hrs the fog had lifted slightly and just enough to check the water with only 2 Canada geese, 8 BH gulls and the usual Mallards but no Common Scoter. A few are reported moving through at the moment but scare in this area.MC has checked several waters around Wharfedale and so far found 1 on Chelker reservoir and 1 on Knotford Nook. Gone are the days when we had 76 on Thornton Moor Reservoir one foggy day.

     A mostly cloudy day tomorrow with a light southerly breeze at 6 degrees and again showing fog

for the morning.

BS