Foxhill today

A bright red sunrise although short lived with cloud cover the rest of the day and heavy rain after dark.
A good move of LBB gulls all >N up the Aire valley at midday along with 3 Pied Wagtails heading >NW.
The Foxhill Common gull flock just has,nt materialized this winter with usual January numbers averaging 70 but still only getting twos and threes which is obviously due to the mild climate. A large moth was on the back door last night and there are still midges in the garden.
Just got back from the hospital where Lynda is out of intensive care and into recovery and though still very poorly is alert and writing on a pad.
BS

The longest day

Up early to get to the hospital to see Lynda before the op so was up Foxhill park at 0500 hrs where a Blackbird was singing its head off in the dark and a Little Owl was calling from the Harp Lane area.
Lynda went into theatre at 0900hrs which was later than planned due to problems getting her a bed for tomorrow in the Intensive Care Unit and I,ve been hogging the phone all day waiting for a call but they said no news is good news and the surgeon will ring when they,ve finished after about 12 hours with a team of 16 in the theatre working on her.
A beautiful day with clear blue skies  although quiet at lunchtime when I was out with the dogs.
A pair of Blue Tits were in and out of the nest box by the garage and 2 Herring gulls went over >W.
Better go scrape the burnt peas from the bottom of the pan now and whip round with the duster.
BS

Ogden Jackpot, Shelduck

                                    First sight, peering through the fog

                                          Fog lifts, birds do the same

                 Heading >SW down the Calder Valley

  Strange to see an ad Cormorant in breeding plumage

Ogden  0830- 0945hr Heavy rain, thick fog lifting 0930ish.

With an hour to spare and the fog down I thought it was worth checking Ogden for grounded Whoopers or Pinks. On arrival the fog was thick but from the prom I could make out 3 white dots in the middle of the water, my first thoughts being Whoopers but peering through the murk they were Shelduck.
As expected, and predicted through a phone call to NK, the minute the fog lifted the 3 flew a circuit then off >SW down the Calder valley.
Also present was a Cormorant in breeding plumage ,which seems odd at this time of year, and also 1 male Goldeneye.
BS

Queensbury South

                                   Pied Wagtails love muck piles

                                        Always plenty Jackdaws, pre roost

                                          Some of NKs Greenfinch flock

A walk around Shaw Lane, Corporal Hill and Green Lane at 1500 hrs produced very little in the dull, misty damp conditions though the mist began to clear as the daylight dwindled.
Only 2 Lapwings in Tracys field and no signs of Snipe although I did,nt disturb them in the poor conditions.
Shaw Lane fields were alive with Rooks and Jackdaws whilst a Pied Wagtail had the muck pile to itself.
NKs flock of Greenfinch at the bottom of Corporal hill counted at about 20 but keeping low in the Conifers whilst birds were coming in constantly from Shibden valley which would have made an impressive roost.
No sign of the Little Owl but a Kestrel was hunting overhead.
Back at the trailer park a single Herring gull came over >W. A final scan of the field saw a movement which caught my eye then suddenly a Meadow Pipit lifted up followed by several more totalling around 30 which dropped back down in the quarry field over Cross Lane.
Light till 1615hrs now even on a dull manky day.
BS

Raggalds Flood and Designer Nest box

                       Designer Blue Tit box.

                                            Raggalds Flood , looking good but bird less today

A drive past Raggalds Flood at lunch time found it looking good water wise but no sign of bird life other than several Common and Blackheaded gulls in nearby fields.

The local joiner/undertaker next to the garage put up his hand made nest box, after a re furbish over the winter, and within 2 days a pair of Blue Tits are visiting it and checking it over inside and out. This box has been successful now for several seasons.

You may have noticed that my blog was not up dated last night, the first time in 3 years, but the reason being I was up and down to the hospital from 0700 to 2145hrs getting pre op checks done on my wife Lynda.
Lynda was found to have advanced mouth cancer in November which has affected her jaw bone, lower mouth and tongue and after having fitted a stomach feeding tube yesterday faces a 16 hr major mouth operation this coming Monday.
If all goes to plan she will then spend 2 days in intensive care,  3 days in recovery and around 4 weeks in hospital followed by a course of radiation and chemo at Leeds after which it is down to speech therapy etc so we have a long rocky road ahead.
I have only put this out as several people that know Lynda have been enquiring and others may wonder why the blog is not up to scratch.
My first thought was to scrap the blog and forget the birding but a rousting from Lynda saying she wanted things kept as near normal as possible and it would be a switch off from the trauma we,re going through so I,ll keep updating the best I can , although it will be later on an evening after hospital visiting and birding will be restricted to Sunday mornings plus to and from work.
I,ll try to keep it as interesting as possible and of course keep you updated on Lyndas progress.
Many thanks to you all for sticking to this blog, its amazing how many people visit it nightly.
BS

Watching for Whoopers

Some on 2013 Whooper Swans

                Fly Flatts Whoopers in to land   17/02/2013

                                 8 Swans stayed most of the day  BS

                                    You always get 1 show off.

                 Whoopers in dense fog on Ogden,  08/03/2013 BS

A report from a customer today of 2 Swan sp. flying up the Aire Valley late morning could have been Whooper, Mute or even Bewicks, but its just a reminder to start watching the local waters from now. Although a little early the mild weather seems to be getting birds fidgety and on the move with several small passerines already up singing and checking out nest boxes.

2013 was a good year for Whoopers with several local records during February and March , some of these being :-

8 Fly Flatts.....................17/2/13  BS
46 over Lee Mount..........20/2/13  DJS
6 Ogden.........................8/3/13   BS
1 Ogden.........................18/3/13  SE Drake
7 Ogden.........................20/3/13  SE Drake
15 Ringstone...................21/3/13  Hx Birders
1 up the Aire valley.........13/10/13   BS

BS

Queensbury Tawny Owls

                                   4 Images courtesy the garden owner

Another bright and dryish day with a light W>4.
After drawing a blank on the last 3 visits to the local Tawny Owl spot for me, the garden owner sent me the above photos this evening.
He saw 1 Tawny come out from the roost just after dark so ran for his camera and took the shots on full zoom using flash, coming up with these amazing results.
Thanks very much for the photos and the constant info on the owls, unfortunately I will have to leave you nameless to keep the location as an undisclosed site.
BS

Same day as NK, Dismall

After yesterdays mega today was the opposite even though we had clear blue skies and good visibility and keeping dry till after dark.
Lunchtime up Foxhill park looked like a certainty for geese but not to be, just a few loose Fieldfares moving around the fields over the station and 2 Pied Wagtails on the top pitch.
Robins, Dunnocks and Wrens are now beginning to get very vocal which sends us into a false sense of Spring being around the corner forgetting that we still have some winter weather to face first.
Magpies in the park are already beginning to re furbish last years nest whilst a pair of Blue Tits were examining one of the garden nest boxes.
At least the daylight is lengthening noticeable now .
Hopefully we,ll be getting some Whoopers Swans on the local reservoirs shortly.
BS

Queensbury Pinkies and Coley Church

                                                          Coley Church

                                                                  Redwing

              Hundreds of Redwings

                                       Distant Fox.

                Pinkies over Queensbury air space

                                             And how they came

               As near as possible to the full skein   257.

Whilst typing up this mornings report from Leeshaw the phone went at 1120hrs with NK shouting PINKIES COMING YOUR WAY.
I grabbed the camera and shot out in the back garden and watched and waited. As I didnt know where NK was at this time I didnt know from which direction to expect the geese but suddenly that magical sound of geese approaching getting louder and louder.
Suddenly from over the houses I saw then some distance to my south and flying across the sun heading >W meaning the skein had altered direction slightly or they would have come straight overhead going by NKs blog report of WNW.
The sight and sound was amazing with at least 257 geese counted from the photographs, and my first of the year. Many thanks Nigel and sorry you had to sacrifice some photos to ring me.

The late afternoon session was a venue problem with fog over Queensbury getting thicker by the minute so I headed towards the trailer park where I could just make out about 50 Lapwings through the mist.
Driving lower down to Northowram where it was slightly better I checked A.C.s gull fields but nothing there but Jackdaws, where now ?
Trying a new venue I stopped by Coley church and walked down the bridleway to the fields which were full of Redwing and just a few Fieldfare and Mistle Thrushes, the same unusual mix as NK found today at Shelf Moor.
The same field held Pied and Grey Wagtail with several Robins, Dunnocks and Gt Tits in the hedges.
A good looking area which I shall be trying again in the future in brighter weather.
BS.

Leeshaw/Roper Lane/ Old Guy Rd

                                  Greylags and Canadas but no Pinks

             Swarms of Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush and Starling

                  Most fields holding birds

                                                Fieldfare

A beautiful morning at Leeshaw with clear blue skies and hazy sunshine with mist rolling in by mid morning.
A treacherous drive there with icy roads and frost on the grass.
The whole area was buzzing with winter thrushes, Starling, and small gulls but again no Pinkies.
The long staying Curlew has been absent for 2 weeks now so looks to have moved on.

A stop off at Roper Lane watch point on the way back with hopes of geese across the valley found nothing with mist moving in and a check on a report from a resident via NK of Grey Partridge off Old Guy rd also drew a blank.

Raggalds Flood was frozen over.

Leeshaw
28 Greylag
21 Canada
c70 Goldfinch
400+ Starling
c150 Fieldfare
c20 Mistle Thrush
1 Meadow Pipit
+usual sp.

Old Guy Rd
32 Common Gull
113 Black Headed
BS