Teal and Pinkies / Leeshaw

                                             Canada Goose flock increasing

                                                   5 Cormorant dropped in

                                             7 Teal on the shore line

                                      4 Pink footed geese over >N

                                                   The big bike race

A pleasing morning at Leeshaw with grey skies and a slight W>3 increasing mid morning with some sun.
Vis mig was quiet with Swallows and Meadow Pipits moving through but in small numbers whilst 4 Pinkies came over high >N ,seen shortly after an alert call from DCB/HC warning me that they were on their way past Oxenhope.    Thanks for the call Dave.
7 Teal were nice on the shoreline along with Lapwings whilst 5 Cormorant dropped in.
A bike event was a bit of a distraction when hundreds of bikes came past taking nearly 30 minutes to clear with the 3 dogs barking at every one.

Vis Mig
52 Swallows.........................................>S
128 Meadow Pipits..............................>S  several bloggers
4 Alba Wagtails...................................>W
2 Snipe.................................................>W
4 P.F.Geese.........................................>N

Other
7 Teal
11 Lapwing
5 Cormorant
c150 Canadas
2 Tufted Duck
Sev Goldfinch
+ usual sp.
BS

Ringby Top Skywatch, pm.

                                        Charms of Goldfinch

                                          A good year for juvs

                                             Wheatears moving through

                                              Spot the Wheatear

                                       Several in the fields

                                           Corvid v Sparrowhawk.

Two hours late afternoon sky watching from Ringby Top found no moving birds apart from 2 Goose sp. probably Pinkies but way out over Huddersfield >W.
The top itself was buzzing with several large flocks of Goldfinch, Linnets and Meadow Pipits along with at least 8 Wheatear plus the usual corvids plus a Sparrowhawk and 2 Kestrels.
The banking of wild flowers that was used by several Linnets and a Whinchat has now been bulldozed into a soil bank but there is still ample feeding areas up there.
No sign of vis mig over the village this a.m.
BS

Roper Lane watch point. pm

                 South down the Calder valley from Roper Lane

            South West towards Stoodley Pike

                         North West to Soil Hill

              West over Ovenden Moor

                                 Plenty Common gulls in the fields now

                                               Canon 7d     100-400mm

                                              Skies full of Corvids.

A poor start to the day with blue skies and the big dreaded yellow ball in the sky making it just the opposite to yesterdays mad Mipit day with empty skies. By mid morning the clouds had closed in bringing drizzle and a cool W>4 but too late to revive any vis mig.
One hour watching from Roper Lane this evening didnt bring anything special but there was something to watch all the time.
Old Guy Rd held 4 Lapwing and 2 distant Wheatears but nothing around the cricket pitch as groundsmen were working there. Several small gulls were in the surrounding fields.
Checked the Raggalds Flood for Pinkies but just 2 Pied Wagtails present although the field is just starting to hold water again.
Nice to see Denise S at the garage today bringing me her new mobile number ready for a quick alert when she picks out a Yellow Browed Warbler at Ogden, apparently there have been several sightings recently, no, not at Ogden, all we now is a good easterly.

Roper Watchpoint

c 200 Corvids, mainly Jackdaws..............>NE, roosting birds
11 LBB gulls...........................................>E
6 Goosander distant over Ovenden Moor.....>N
1 Jay.....................................................>N
2 Kestrels................locals.
BS

Queensbury Mipit Madness

       Common gull starting to get winter head streaking

                                                     Canon SX50  1200mm

                                     Numbers building in Foxhill park

The skies were alive with Meadow Pipits over Queensbury this morning all >S from first light around 0630hrs until 0830 hrs when it started tailing off then finished by 0900hrs as the clouds lowered and the rain moved in.
Wave after wave came over with several groups of 30 to 40 birds, estimating near on 500 Meadow Pipits during the 2 hrs watched. The birds were moving in greater numbers over the garage than more north over the house and by 0830 the waves had move further south still over the mill. An amazing sight whilst it lasted.
The big push hopefully will happen over or beyond the weekend during the high pressure.
A Heron went over >W at midday whilst 12 Common and 9 Black Headed gulls were in Foxhill park.
BS

Pinkies, Big Moving Day.

                                               Ogden, Little Grebe, juv

                       You,ve got to be fast with Little Grebe.

My phone was red hot today with a big move of Pink Footed Geese over the area with reports from
Oxenhope, Halifax, Huddersfield, Northowram and Shelf.
Unfortunately we were mad busy at work so no time for looking out and although I went up Foxhill at lunch time armed with the big camera the weather had broken and all I got was a good soaking.
Thinking Ogden could have attracted something in with the geese ,or even a late skein over , off I went full of hope. Skies were perfect but obviously the show was over for now but scanning through the Mallards, which I always do looking for strangers, a Litle Grebe was found in amongst them.
After a couple of minutes it swam out and dived never to be seen again, probably come up under the overhanging trees.
Nice to bump into Bruce and Alan on their way to the meeting in the Ogden classroom as I was leaving.

Many thanks to all who kept me informed throughout the day today.
BS

A look from the Dailies

                  juv Carrion Crows digging through the muck.

                                                     Canon sx50

                                Looking >E from the top of the Dailies

            The old railway station red bricked chimney now less its top.

                 Looking over the station to Yeadon airport.

Another windy damp day with heavy drizzle moving in on low cloud early evening.
Very little on the move this morning with a few Meadow Pipits >S and about a dozen Swallows in the same direction.
A flying visit to the top of the Dailie fields this lunch time found a good passage of Common gulls >N up the Aire valley whilst a very high Heron went >E.
Around 6 Goldfinch in the Ragwort field but no Linnets as yet.
BS

Washout day for Queensbury

         Common gulls returning.            Canon SX50 bridge.

                                   Sunshine, showers and rainbows

                                          Bombers moon this evening.

 Queensbury Little Owls. This photo courtesy Tracy Collier.

A real washout day today from start to finish just drying up slightly last light which is now rapidly getting earlier.
Meadow Pipits were moving over >S in small numbers at around 0615hrs but this had fizzled out by 0800hrs.
Swallows were the bird of the morning with a steady flow >S even in the pouring rain from 0600hrs onwards and still one or two over at midday.
Common gulls are now starting to get established in Foxhill park amongst the Black Headeds with 5 new arrivals present at lunch time where I managed to get another good dousing dog walking in my dinner time.
A drive down Old Guy Rd today found 2 Lapwings in the field above the cricket pitch but no signs of Denises weekend Goldies.
BS

Fly Flatts/Cold Edge Dams

                                 Fly Flatts in the fog,      North shore

                                       Looking south over the water into the fog

                                                 NW corner

                                                            SE corner

                        southern shoreline

                                           SE corner.

Fly Flatts 1430-1630 hrs. Fog then mist, strong WSW>7 gusting 8 Torrential rain throughout.
This has got to have been the worst conditions I,ve ever done Fly Flatts in with driving horizontal rain the whole time I was up there but thought it could be worth it at this time of year.
Started at the NE end working all around the shoreline to the SE corner which turned out to be where all the activity was.
The southern shore line was alive with grounded Meadow Pipits all sticking to the sheltered end of the water.
As I got near the se corner I got a quick wader call and a Turnstone, spooked by the Mipits that I had disturbed, lifted up from behind stones on the sandy beach and lifted over the wire fence to land again at the far side of the boathouse and out of site.  Also further along that banking was a single Black Headed gull and a single Curlew.
With visibility low and the rain still pounding at me I walked up the track and back along the top road to  the car parked at the northern end managing to get past all the druggy cars without a confrontation.

By now I was completely waterlogged to the skin so I thought, might as well check Cold Edge Dams out, cant get any wetter.
The mist had lifted when I got to the dams but still the heavy rain blowing across the moor so it was a quick check and away.
As I climbed the banking 2 Wigeon must have been right in the se corner of the water so as soon as I appeared they launched themselves and headed off down the Calder Valley.
Otherwise things were quiet although I didnt check the top dam and surrounding area, enoughs enough so back home for some dry clothes.
To make it worse, as I got home the sun came out, the rain stopped and the skies turned blue, so did the air!!!

Just had it pointed out to me that my comment box was on the blink but sorted it now, thanks HC.
BS