WEST YORKSHIRE BIRDING

BRIAN SUMNER.
WELCOME TO ( WEST YORKSHIRE BIRDING )
KEEPING BIRDING LOCAL.

BLOG UPDATED DAILY AROUND 2000 hrs.

FEEL FREE TO SEND ANY COMMENTS, QUERIES OR QUESTIONS DIRECT TO MY E.MAIL AT THE ADDRESS BELOW, OTHERWISE TEXT OR WHATSAPP. 07771 705024.


CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM.

ALL IMAGES ARE STRAIGHT FROM THE CAMERA WITH
NO PHOTOSHOP TUNING. TAKEN ON J PEG.

E MAIL ADDRESS :-
Briansumner51@hotmail.com

NOTE !!
No sightings of Roe Deer, Fox, Hare or Badger will be mentioned on this blog throughout the year and links will be removed from other blogs giving the whereabouts of these mammals due to the rising influx of poaching, long dogging and lamping by sick individuals.
BS




Friday, May 11, 2018

Return to Fly Flatts and a wozzer to greet me.

                A cracking Red Kite waiting for me.
  Not the best of pics, hand held in a howling gale.





                       At least 11 Common Sandpipers present
               Water level receding.
     Plenty Pied Wagtails but no Whites as yet.


Buying plants at Five Flags garden centre started the afternoon well with a nice group of House Martins over Denholme Gate, my first this year.
                                                              1500 hrs and driving up to Fly Flatts past Nolstar a group of birds caught my eye with several Lapwings, Curlews and Mipits mobbing a long winged raptor in the middle of them. Alarm bells rang seeing it was,nt a Buzzard so with thoughts of Osprey or Marsh Harrier I jammed on the brakes, threw myself out of the car and grabbing Big Bertha started firing away not sure what I was on . As soon as I got the settings something near, there it was, a Red Kite.
                                                        No chance of getting sharp photos in a howling south wind with the camera hand held and within 2 minutes it was all over with the Kite drifting south towards Mount Tabor, talk about right place at right time although it would have been better if I had been at Fly Flatts with the camera on the tripod.
                                               Fly Flatts was very windy with a S>6 blowing at 25.8 m.p.h. with 100% cloud cover and specs of rain. Most of the watch was spent staring skyward waiting for the Kite to retrace its steps but, as always, that failed to happen.
Otherwise it was down to a count of 11 Common Sandpipers, 5 male Pied Wagtails, 3 Redshank plus the usual upland species. Only 1 Wheatear present and still no Swift. Its either going to be a bad year for Wheatear or they,ve gone straight through to their northern breeding grounds.
BS.