A milder day with a light NE>3 and some early drizzle. A burst of warm sunshine late afternoon.
The usual hike around Roper Lane, Old Guy road and Dailie fields which could start to get boring if this lock down goes on for long, Im starting to miss the gulls and waders.
More or less the same around old Guy Road but 8 Linnets present today along with 6 Skylark around the cricket field but still no sign of Wheatear, I think the cold spell must have put the stoppers on them. A flock of around 50 Starling but the large flocks of continentals have now moved on.
A new bird for the Dailie fields with a Coal Tit getting chased round with the Lt Tit, otherwise it was down to Linnets and the usual Tits.
A good scan of all the fields failed to find Grey Partridge , a species that used to do well down there, and Green Woodpecker, which bred there annually , were noticeable by their absence.
Half way back up the Dailies I sat on the hillside in the sun, partly to scan the sky and mainly to get my breath back , when 4 Buzzards came into view very high and distant over Thornton soaring and slowly drifting >N up the Aire valley. Shortly afterwards another 5 followed the same route but slightly further away over towards Baildon Moor, an obvious move going on with DW getting 3 over Stubbs today and Dan B getting 4 from Soil Hill, possible the same 4 that I got over.
April tomorrow when we should see the arrival of Warblers, Wheatears, Swallows, House Martins, and dare I say waders, which will be sadly missed. Last April CK got a Black Redstart at Oxenhope so something else to look out for.
Old Guy Rd
8 Linnet
6 Skylark
6 Canadas, ..............Bradshaw pond
c 50 Starling flock
1m Pied Wagtail
1 Herring gull
1 Pheasant
+ usual sp.
Dailie Fields
9 Buzzard..............>N
5 Linnet
2 Robin
1 Coal Tit
1 Lt Tit
Blue and Coal Tits
+ usual sp.
Stay safe, BS