Queensbury Today

                     Rooks marking territory

A sneaky cool day with little on the move but resident birds starting to get fidgety , some carrying nest material, mainly Blackbirds.
Rooks are getting very noisy and starting to refurbish last years nests down towards the station.
A Woodcock was reported half way down the Dailie fields by the new Hawthorns and 2 Snipe were seen by the same person down at the bottom of the track.
All ready for the weekend now which, fog permitting, something should turn up.
BS.

Old Guy Rd revisited

                                    4 of 7 Skylark

With a hospital visit with Lynda over lunch, time was limited so a quick dash down Old Guy Road on the way back to work found 7 Skylark on the cricket pitch along with 3 m Pied Wagtails.
Two fields away in the distance around 18 Fieldfare were present with a Mistle Thrush above on the wires.
A day of rain kept any sky movement to a minimum with 3 Meadow Pipits >N late afternoon over the garage being the only thing of note.
Nearly back to the weekend again so hoping the fog keeps at bay.
BS

Skylarks back at Old Guy Road.

             A dried up Raggalds Flood

                      Bradshaw pond

             West across the valley from Roper Lane

                      Fieldfares, Old Guy Rd

      Cricket field Skylarks back

A dinner time dash today, firstly to the Raggalds Flood hoping to clock an Oystercatcher but the flood held nothing, not even water. the farmer has really sorted it this year.
Next to the Roper Lane watch point where 2 Herring gulls were in the field but dropped down towards Bradshaw as soon as I pulled up.
Several Common and Black Headed gulls were also present with some nice plumaged 1st winter Commons which is a bit unusual for this area.
Swiftly on to Old Guy Rd thinking Skylarks would be back and sure enough there they were with 6 on the cricket field along with 2 Pied Wagtails and 5 Meadow Pipits.
Around 8 Thrushes were in a distant field feeding and going up onto the wires, my first thoughts were Mistle but the photos show Fieldfare.
Not a bad 15 minutes dinner time dash.
BS

Queensbury Today

                     Dunnocks everywhere singing

         Plenty House Sparrows but no Tree Sparrows

                                        Dunnock

                           Evening sky, Foxhill

Another bright clear day with a strong W>5 following a  keen early morning frost.
No big gulls on the move today after yesterdays Herring gull bonanza but plenty small gulls heading >N up the Aire Valley at lunch time.
Dunnocks are everywhere at the moment singing day long, I counted 13 seperate birds between the garage and Foxhill.
Otherwise a busy day at the garage with no time for any sky watching other than dinnertime.
Good to hear Oystercatcher numbers are building, see Bradshaw Johns report.
BS

Herring gulls on the move over Queensbury.

                                             Foxhill Common gulls

              Still the winter speckled head.

Of course, being Monday when we.re back at work,the fog clears and the weather takes a turn for the better.
Several Herring gulls were heading >NW well to the south of the village which will have been the birds DJS reported this morning from Ringby Top. Also at lunchtime Herrings were moving N> up the Aire valley out over the Baildon area.
Closer to home it was just the usual small gulls in the park and several Dunnocks up singing.
Good to get another Wigeon on Ogden reported by PS through the grapevine.
BS

Queensbury, Fogged out day

Still misty, murky late afternoon up here so took advantage of a bad job and caught up to some work on the stepmothers bungalow at Shelf Moor.
An interesting area which seems to right under a flight path with constant traffic above.
Pinkies are seen over regular and today there was always something moving with Canada Geese, Greylag geese, LBB gulls, small gulls and Lapwings.
Several Lapwings were going down in the pond field by Soper Lane along with 4 Mallard.
The bottom of the garden, which is well overgrown, and another of my to do jobs,held Collared Doves, Robins, Wrens and Dunnocks.
Back to work tomorrow and hoping for a better weekend next week.
BS

Fogged Off Leeshaw Res

                                 Lapwings appearing through the fog

                                     1pr distant Goosanders in the murk

                   Resident Canadas

                                      Plenty shoreline

With dense fog and visibility down to 20 yds in Queensbury it was a matter of hoping to get below the fog line.
Ogden was blanked out unable to see the water, as was Leeming and Lower Laithe.
Leeshaw was just on the cloud base with visibility part way across the water but no sky vision.
No sign of returning Curlew or Oystercatchers yet and the only thing of note was a pair of Goosander on the water.
A flock of c40 Lapwing were mobile, otherwise it was down to small gulls and Canadas.
Several Chaffinch were in the Alders but no Brambling.
Oh well, theres always next week.
BS

Canadas on the move

Another foggy murky day on the top of this hill clearing slightly p.m. then back to pea souper after dark.
No time for birding today with other commitments but as we got home from Halifax at 1430 hours 16 Canada geese flew over Foxhill >SW followed by another 5 shortly afterwards. Had an errand to run at Raistrick tea time and 11 Canadas flew over Hipperholme also >SW.
Shelf Moor fields were empty other than 15 Lapwing and a few corvids but 4 Canadas flew over Shelf Moor Rd after dark >S.
A resident at Shelf Moor said he watched a Buzzard soaring over Shelf roundabout around midday today.
Hope this fog clears by the morning.
BS

Queensbury Today, Fog and Rain

              From Wednesday, Woodpigeon waiting for the heavy morning Pinkie
    traffic to pass by.

A real non birding day today up here in the gods with dense fog all a.m. being moved on by heavy rain over lunch time only to return late p.m. Hope this fog clears for the weekend.

After JL reporting Oystercatcher back at Leeshaw yesterday I checked last years records for there and on the 2nd March I had 11 Oystercatchers and 58 Curlew new arrivals back.
Redshank were back by 23rd March and Wheatears were at several local sites by the 23rd March.
Just something to look forward to.
BS

Dinner time Dailies Dash

         Always BH gulls on the chimney pots

            A murky view east over the station

      Still a touch of snow, NE over Thornton

            Down in the Triangular station

    The old station chimney, Black Hill top right.

A grey cloudy day with very little happening and no grapevine messages for the area.
A dash to the top of the Dailies at lunchtime found cloudy visibility over the Aire valley with just a few LBB gulls heading >N.
Several Fieldfare and Redwing were down in the old station.
A Mountain resident reported today of 2 Snipe heading towards Soil Hill this morning flying over the top of Mucky Loine , as he called it.
Mucky Loine is an old Queensbury name for Perseverance Road which is still used by many old Queensbury gorbies including myself. All the lanes were called loines and still are, such as Chapel Loine, Pit Loine, Hill End Loine and many more.
Mucky Loine was just a track and the residents could,nt get the council to make it good so they all got stuck in and re surfaced it themselves so because of their perseverance to get the job done a stone was erected at the bottom of Mucky Loine renaming it Perseverance Lane. The stone , erected in 1871 is still there today. Its said that most of the workers spent more time in the Colliers pub , also known as the Foresters across the road which is now the big house by the Raggalds Flood.
What an educational blog this is!!!
BS

Take a gander at this, More Pinkies for Queensbury.

                Here they come over the mill watched by a
       Woodpigeon on the chimney        

                           Noisy increases as the get near

              Veering to the west of me

 These were a small break off skein behind

   The full mashing DJS got 119 at ogden, will have a count later

A dull low cloud, damp day which soon brightened up mid morning with yet more Pinkies over.
It started at 1000 hrs with a grapevine call from DF reporting c 200 Pinkies over Brighouse NW.
After a short wait I checked outside but not expecting the skein which would miss Qby if they kept NW.
A short talk to JL and Sue in the car park as he picked his car up then just as they left I got a text from my ever trustworthy observer at Shelf Peter Turner reporting a skein over Shelf heading for Queensbury.
Into the office and back out into the car park armed with camera just in time to hear, then see them coming over the mill and past the garage air space.
A quick call to DJS who luckily was at Ogden once again so I was hoping he would get them .
Another 5 minutes and a call from JL at Bradshaw who had just arrived home in time to get them over his house, and then another text from DJS saying he had got them over Ogden.
A real birding relay team effort .
Thanks yet again to Peter Turner at Shelf for his on the ball texts.
BS

Queensbury, a touch of spring

       Snowdrops appearing now the snow has almost thawed

                            Daffodils appearing from under the snow

A real feel of spring this morning at the garage with snowdrops and daffodils showing now that the snow has almost gone whilst Dunnocks and a Robin were up singing in the early morning sunshine.
By 0900hrs the mist rolled up from the valleys leaving a grey day throughout with just odd breaks in the cloud on a stiff W>4.
Hopes of a repeat of yesterdays Pink Footed Goose display soon faded with low cloud over lunch time leaving just the resident small gulls in the park and large numbers of Starlings.
The influx of Blackbirds is over with all but the usual resident few moving on.
A good report from Bradshaw John today when he turned up 3 Wigeon at Ogden, see Johns blog for report and pictures.
BS

Pinkies hit Queensbury

                                       Overhead

                      Heading >NE

              Started to veer direct >N

  Problem with photographing geese is they have to be
  half a mile away to get the full skein in

                   More or less full skein here. DJS says 215 from
              his photos from Ogden

                   Not had time to count them yet

                       Sky full of Pinkies

With conditions ideal again for moving Pink Footed Geese I kept a look out from work then checking the skies on the walk home at lunch time. As I got near home and given up hope I heard that familiar noise behind me and as I turned round dragging my jacket open for the camera there they were. Nearly overhead a skein in excess of 200 noisy Pinkies that had followed me up and flying then over Foxhill park >NE but luckily for DJS at Ogden they veered directly >N.
A few minutes panic trying to get a focus on them against a bright background and trying to get in the full skein for a count which I could,nt do until they were a good distance away.
All this and sending grapevine texts at the same time.
After a quick lunch it was up in the park armed with the big camera ready for another skein that never materialized.
Told you last night I,d get some soon Shaun !!
BS

Soil Hill Blackout.

           Glorious blue skies with banks of low cloud

             Ogden and the Calder valley wiped out.

              This massive bank over Fly Flatts had my name on it!

                                   Sun blanked out

                      Creeping across the Shay

                                     Lights out

             Still plenty deep snow drifts.

Spectacular weather front which approached from the NW.
On arrival at Soil Hill at 1445 hrs with some serious sky watching in mind for gulls and geese the conditions were perfect with good visibility in the bright blue sunny sky.
Below in the valleys a large bank of low lying cloud was moving in from the NW blanking out both Calderdale and Airedale and even moving over Bradford and Leeds.
Within 15 minutes a large bank of fog came over the moor from Fly Flatts with West Yorkshire Birding stamped across it and within another few minutes it hit, blanking out the hill and me with it.
With no sky to look at but some visibility on the ground it was down to plan B, Snow Bunt hunt but after a full zig zag search of both summits the only birds found were 2 Carrion Crow, 4 Meadow Pipits and 3 Grey Partridge. Plenty bird tracks in the snow as well as Deer, Rabbit, Fox and Weasel but nothing seen.
BS