AWESOME !!!!!!

                                      Its snowing Whoopers

                Gt Crested Grebe present

Back to Mixenden late afternoon to get some more photos and a recount which produced 244.

Nice to see  Dave and Jen Sutcliffe, Pete Grba and Nigel Oliver and his young lady partner whose name I never got and Odsal birder Tony Thompson. A good turnout throughout the day.

Other birds present were 1 Gt Crested Grebe, 2m 1 f Tufted, 1 pr Goldeneye and a Sparrowhawk.

Just after we left PG reported they had flown and thanks to a call from HC reporting them over Oxenhope >N seen by Rod Proctor.

Fly Flatts report to follow tomorrow which will seem pretty boring after today.

BS

Whooping ell !!!!!

                                                239 of em

                                  View from the top of the hill

                                           Too many to fit in a frame

After a 0700hrs start at Fly Flatts , report to follow, I got back to the car when a phone call from AC reported Whooper Swans >N over Northowran towards Queensbury. This was followed by a call then a text of several more over Lee Mount >N.
These were forced to pass Fly Flatts but after a wait nothing although HC picked up 30 from the Oxenhope end that had gone through the Causeway Foot Col to the east of me low down.
Thinking this number could,nt get past my position unseen they had to be on Ogden or Mixenden so it was full steam ahead to Mixenden. Great minds think alike with a message from DJS suspecting Mixenden.
As I pulled up and got out of the car the call of Whoopers could be heard from the reservoir so after leaping the 6ft high wall, can,t usually do that, it was up the banking for a jaw dropping sight.
It looked light it had been snowing on the water with 239 Whoopers there.
After putting the word out it was photo time which was difficult to get them all in.
Well done and thanks to AC and DJS for the calls.
BS

Red Throated Diver and Meadow Pipits

A pre work check this morning of the Wheatear hotspots, Old Guy Rd, Raggalds Flood, Roper Lane and Shelf Moor trailer park produced no Wheatears in the cold NNE>4, just Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Lapwings.
Back at work a call from HC, B.O.G. reporting a Red Throated Diver circling Fly Flatts and looking like landing until it gave up and moved off >SW, well spotted to HC and thanks for the call.

Another early morning call from Cllr Paul Cromie with 2 Canada geese on his garden pond which is unusual.

A late afternoon trip to Soil Hill was a damp squid  with a nugget on a scramble bike on the summit so thinking I could get my first Teal of the year on the NK pond off I strode only to find the farmer down there digging trenches and a birdless pond.

With time running short it was off to the next nearest venue, Ogden, which was full of people but low in birds.
Yesterdays Tufteds had gone leaving  Mallards and small gulls plus 5 Canada geese and the Barnacle showing itself up again by coming out of the water to accept bread, it obviously enjoys the easy life.
Passerines were none existent in the cold wind.

On a good note, a flock of around 60 Meadow Pipits were around fields by Syke Lane looking fresh in.

Looking at the weather it may be 6th time lucky for me to bird Fly Flatts in the morning unless the fog decides differently.
BS

Eclipse of the Sun and pre weekend dash

  Eclipse just visible through the cloud

   Zoomed in, eyes just stopped smouldering

 We,ve an advantage at Queensbury because we,re nearer to it.

   Raggalds Flood dried up

   Good visitors for Ogden, Tufted Duck

                A newcomer with the Mallards

Started the day with a viewing of the eclipse of the sun which they said was life changing to watch but it did,nt change mine, I,d still a shop full of cars to mend.
Dinner time dash took me on a Wheatear hunt checking Raggalds Flood, Roper Lane and Old Guy Rd to no avail.
The flood held 5 Lapwing, 2 of which were holding territory.
Roper Lane and Old Guy Rd produced Skylarks and Meadow Pipits.

After a rushed tea it was throw the dogs in the car and get to Ogden before the daylight went.
Very quiet on the water with the usual Mallards and 1 BH Gull although 3 rarer visitors with a pair of Tufted duck and 1 Greylag goose.
Several LBBs were moving overhead >N to roost.
Hope you all have a stonking weekend.
BS

Spring like day but no Wheatears for Queensbury yet.

  A Wheatear -less cricket pitch

           West towards Hunter Hill

                                   Sun dropping into the cloud

A real spring like day with a slight E>3 and hazy sunshine.
All quiet on the grapevine today and little in the skies at lunch time.
Sainsburys night so a detour down Old Guy Rd for a Wheatear check on the cricket field but this only produced 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipits and a Skylark giving a half attempted song.
The Wheatears should start to appear over the weekend if the weather is kind. My first last year was 2 males at Fly Flatts 23rd March followed by 2m 1f on Raggalds flood, 26th March but Old Guy Rd did,nt produce until 11th April when 7 turned up.
Another Coot for Ogden today, NK , not a common sighting, my last being 1 - 9/12/12 and 1 - 6/9/14.
BS

Wheatear check and Nostalgia.

  Queensbury, Mountain disused underground reservoir

  Wheatear country, looking towards Old Guy Rd cricket club

                       Empty wall tops today

      Fleet Lane snicket to Glazier Road and Old Guy Rd.

A miserable grey day still with the cold E>4 with poor visibility due to haze.
A quick check over the Mountain around the Wheatear hotspots but very quickly ran out of light so had to return to base before I got as far as Roper Lane
DP reported disturbance on the Old Guy Rd cricket pitch where they were painting the walls white ready for the new season, no consideration for Wheatear these cricketers.

Skimming through some old reports last night and found one for Shibden Valley in 1962 compiled by Clifford Lees for the Halifax Scientific Society which was the year I started birding.
A dawn chorus survey reports several singing Redstarts, Tree Pipits, Yellowhammers and Cuckoos , all of which I remember being common in the area.
The old Queensbury Station always had Redstarts and Yellowhammers present, how things change.
We were nobbut young uns then but had some good field trips out with HSS and learnt a lot of our birding from Clifford Lees, Frank Murgatroyd, Vernon Crapnell and Irvine Morley.
Clifford Lees used to write a birding article in the Halifax Courier each week, happy days.
BS

Wow ! What a sunset

                                    Amazing sunset

Did anyone see the bright red ball in the sky this evening as the sun was going down around 1800 hrs.
I got dragged out to Dunhelm mills after work which was as interesting as a foggy Sunday morning at Fly Flatts but it had its benefits.
Went via Old Guy Rd to see if any Wheatear have appeared on the cricket pitch yet but only 3 Skylark, 2 Meadow Pipits and a Pied Wagtail were present.
On the way down to Halifax the setting sun was a big red ball in the sky which me and several other cars pulled up to take photos although the unzoomed ones would,nt show it up as red for some reason.
Strange to see so many people stood by their cars holding up their mobiles taking pics.
The roof of Poundstrecher ( yes, we ended up in there as well,) held around 12 pre roost Pied Wagtails.
BS