By early afternoon we struggled getting back to Queensbury from Halifax with the road around Crow Point well covered so once home I thought it unwise to venture out again in the car and my plan B to walk down the old station was also scuppered with the dense fog.
After 30 minutes pacing around the house like a caged bear, I hate being stuck indoors, I harnessed the dogs up and walked over Foxhill to Pit Lane where 93 Lapwing could just be seen huddled together in a tight bunch braving the weather which was now slowly turning to rain. By the time I,m doing this blog 1717 hrs, there is still plenty snow and fog but the rain is still falling whilst the wind is increasing. Hopefully by morning it will be a different picture.
My daughter rang from Sowerby Bridge this afternoon and asked what I was doing, " snow shovelling " was my reply, to which she said "ok", to which by the tone of her voice I could tell she was thinking, my Dads finally lost it, snow is unheard of in Sowerby Bridge so I believe.
So here I was with no evening blog until my savior NK rang reporting Whooper Swans over Queensbury yesterday,DS, see Nigels blog for details, when I thought ,thats it, a Whooper Swan report in February and March from years gone by.
February , March and into April have always been the Whooper Swan hot months for this area so heres a run down of my sightings from previous years. All photos B.S.
13 Mixenden................23/03/12
8 Fly Flatts...................17/02/13
46 over Lee Mount.......20/02/13 DJS
6 Ogden.........................03/03/13
1 Ogden........................18/03/13
7 Ogden........................20/03/13
24 Mixenden................04/02/14
8 Ogden.......................03/04/14
42 Fly Flatts................14/03/15
244 Mixenden.............22/03/15
None seen in 2016 until October
at Mixenden one Sunday morning and came
across this lot, 244 Whoopers !!
For full report on the 244 Mixenden birds click on The day it rained Whoopers page at the top of the right hand column.
BS