A customer from work the other day asked me for directions for Stonechat at Fly Flatts, a bird he was wanting to see, and this tea time he rang me to say he had found 2 pair both with young which pleased him down to the ground but the interesting thing was he reported a single Twite on the top road, a species that used to be regular down at the feeding station but has been absent for almost a year now despite Nyjer seed being put down.
He thought it was just another Meadow Pipit at first but as it perched on a nearby fence post he could see the bright pink rump of a male and the stubby bill.
Lets hope we can pull some back in up there post breeding. Leeshaw reservoir used to be another strong hold for them before disappearing and I remember a number of years ago during a visible migration watch at Oxenhope a count of 76 landed on the reservoir wall seen by myself, HC and DCB.
Here are a few pics I,ve taken of them locally in the past few years,
Quiet over the village today but thanks to HC for the report of 2 fly over Yellow Wagtails at Leeshaw reservoir this morning.
BS
