A wet Leeshaw,a.m./ A very wet Mixenden,p.m.

 

LEESHAW                        Pink Footed Goose behind the Greylags.

                                      Up in the mist, centre bird.

                                        Pinkie, top left

                                   Quite a size difference.

                                                                   Top

                                          1st winter Common gull.

A very wet Leeshaw reservoir this morning with a calm SE>2 bringing drizzle and rain showers with mist on the tops at 9 degrees.

                                  Very few small gulls today and no Herrings or LBBs so it was down to the geese to keep the interest going. Peering through the mist over the water one of the Greylags looked smaller until a scope revealed it as being a Pink Footed goose which stuck with the Greylags throughout, eventually flying across to a field with Canadas and Greylags but just out of sight.

                               Otherwise, just a single female Goosander and Cormorant on the water.

By 100 hrs the fog rolled in.

                                Late afternoon and another check on Mixenden in horrendous conditions with heavy to torrential rain showers and drizzle throughout.

                              On arrival things looked grim with empty waters and no gulls present and the rain now coming down in stair rods. As I was walking along the west bank a voice called me from over the wall and there stood a very wet and despondent DJS. Dave was in the same mind as me with the conditions being good for a reservoir special but today it never happened. We went our separate ways and after a full circular of the water, plus bringing some away in my boots, I came away with very little of note and no sign of yesterdays Goldeneye or Tufted.

                          A last light dog walk over Foxhill produced a flock of 43 Fieldfare >NW very low and struggling into the now increased wind. Its impossible to say at this time of year if these were movers or just birds heading to a roost.  

Leeshaw

1 Pink Footed Goose

57 Greylag

43 Canada

1f Goosander

1 Cormorant

c 100 small gulls

+ usual sp.

Mixenden

1f Goosander

1f Mallard

5 BH gull

1 1st winter Herring gull

1 Sparrowhawk

Large flock of Starlings building up.

BS

Yet another Yellow Legged Herring gull .

 

MIXENDEN          Yellow Legged Herring gull, michahellis,  foreground.

                                      Herring gull,argentatus.

                                                   

                                          argentatus, pink legs

                                        michahellis, yellow legs.

                                                        michahellis.

A morning at Leeshaw reservoir was a washout with slight improvement mid watch with a moderate SW>5 and very heavy rain showers and drizzle in between.

                               More gulls today with a few LBBs but mainly small gulls all >W over the water with several around the fields. A single female Goosander was on the water whilst goose numbers continue to increase.

                A bright but breezy afternoon when a planned visit to Fly Flatts was abandoned after a scan of Mixenden from the top road revealed Herring gulls plus a text earlier from DJS with a possible Yellow Legged there in the morning so Mixenden it had to be.

                  Around 100 small gulls were present , 75% being Commons which is unusual, whilst 6 Herring gulls were in among them well out in the middle and bad to see with the sun reflecting on the water. The birds were very fidgety, busy preening but kept jumping up out of the water ,so it was a matter of patience waiting for each bird to show its legs to get on film. The one I had my eye on had a slightly darker mantle and wings and a real butch looking face but turned out to be a argentatus whilst the next gull to it was a michahellis.

                Good to meet DJS up there who was watching a female Goldeneye which I had missed with gull watching. The Goldeneye , which was possibly one of the birds I had last week, was found this morning by NK who also relocated one of the Black Redstarts this morning at the Soil Hill site in atrocious conditions.

                Only other bird on the water was a drake Tufted duck whilst a few Chaffinch were overhead.

An interesting talk to a local dog walker who showed us photos on his phone of 6 Ring Necked Parakeets on his garden feeder in the area where I had 2 last week. He says the birds have been around for quite some time.

Leeshaw

c 350 Small gulls

26 LBB gulls

1 f Goosander

14 Mallard

28 Greylag

46 Canada

Mixenden

1 Yellow Legged Herring gull

5 Herring gull

c 100 small gulls, mostly Commons

1 f Goldeneye

1 m Tufted

+ usual sp.

BS

                               

Leeshaw a.m. / Mixenden p.m.

 

    LEESHAW                                       Common gull

                                           Black Headed gull

                                       Plenty small gulls to sift through.

Another of those awful low cloud mornings at Leeshaw with drizzle and rain showers until mid morning when it dried and brightened up. A moderate SW>5 increasing >6 at 6 degrees. By late afternoon the sky was bright and the wind dropped to a cold SW>4. 

                                       Small gulls kept the job going this morning with a near continuous flow of Black Headeds and Commons all >W with some stopping on the water and others flying low over the water but continuing through. Strangely there were no big gulls through whatsoever and no wildfowl on the water. Apart from the usual corvids etc the small gulls were the only species seen throughout the watch.

         Late afternoon and even with conditions improved Mixenden reservoir was also mega quiet with just around 50 small gulls and again no Herring or LBB.

        The water held a single female Goosander along with a Moorhen and a pair of Mallard. A Grey Wagtail was in the NW corner and the highlight was a small tight group of 12 Siskin dropping into the plantation.

                Another early finish so stopped off at the Soil Hill Black Redstart site to find the red trailer of manure where the birds hung out has been removed with no signs of either bird although the cold wind could have been keeping them down or they may have relocated nearby.

A task for hill watches NK an JJL.

Leeshaw Reservoir

c 300 BH gull

c 50 Common gull

+ usual sp.

Mixenden Reservoir

1f Goosander

1pr Mallard

1 Moorhen

1 Grey Wagtail

12 Siskin

+ usual small gulls etc.

BS

A double dose of Leeshaw reservoir.

 

                                        1 Grey Wagtail present

                                        Single Snipe up in the gloom

                                          Greylag numbers building.

                                       Plenty Black Headed gulls

A gloomy morning at Leeshaw with dark clouds and light drizzle with rain mid morning on a moderate SW>5 . By late afternoon the wind had dropped to W>4 with heavy to torrential rain throughout. I stuck it out in the afternoon because you never know in these conditions and as my old Grandmother used to say," Tha nobbut gets wet once and tha'll noan melt".

                                                     Much quieter than yesterday with a lower number of gulls through although there were plenty in the surrounding fields. A check of the Herring gulls, as best I could in the conditions, failed to find any more Yellow Legged and nothing outstanding in the small gulls.

                                                    Goose numbers are building with hopes of previous years Brent and Barnacle as well as grounded Pink Footed. Very little else but the kind of weather when you need to be watching a reservoir, just in case!

Leeshaw Reservoir

1 Snipe

27 LBB gull

c 100 BH gull

13 Herring gull

28 Greylag goose

19 Canada goose

38 Lapwing

12 Mallard

+ usual sp.

Lower Laithe reservoir

c 50 BH gull

2 LBB gull

16 Lapwing

BS

38 Mallard

4 Canada

BS

Gull watch at Leeshaw Reservoir.

 

   LEESHAW                     Greylags

      1 of 2 Yellow Legged Herring gulls,   Michahellis

                                        Herring gull,  Argentatus

                                           Herring                    Lesser Black Backed

                                                   argentatus.

What started out looking like a big Woodpigeon day soon got stubbed out when I arrived at Fly Flatts early morn. As I set off from home Woodpigs were heading >S in big numbers showing well in the bright sky to the east but Fly Flatts was its usual hazy and drizzle with a very low cloud base. By 0930 hrs the fog rolled in and the rain came with nothing bird wise other than the usual geese etc.

                                    Late afternoon and heavy drizzle on a moderate SW>4 looked good gull moving tackle so I headed to Leeshaw reservoir where I was,nt disappointed.

                                   Not brilliant visibility with the banks of drizzle piling through with periods of heavy rain until half way through the watch when the sky cleared showing blue areas and some sunshine.

               Gulls were lively with about 150 Black Headeds present along with several moving through.

Common gulls, Herring and LBB all came through >W with some stopping off briefly on the water.

                 During a particularly heavy bout of rain a Yellow Legged Herring gull flew straight over my head whilst about 15 minutes later a second michahellis landed on the water briefly before moving off >W. I,d high hopes of a Kittiwake or Tern but that will have to wait for another day.

Leeshaw reservoir.

5 Greylag

15 Canadas

15 Herring gull

2 Yellow Legged Herring gull

8 Lesser Black Backed

26 Common

c 200 Black Headed gull

+ usual sp.

BS 

Goldeneye arrive back at Mixenden Reservoir.

 

 Mixenden                    2 female Goosanders present.

                                           Single Herring gull

                                                Cormorant

                                   First 2 returning Goldeneye

                                      New in so very flighty.

Another of those horror mornings with a trip to Leeshaw reservoir with heavy horizontal drizzle on a moderate SW>4 increasing 5 with a low cloud base.

                                                                      Two Snipe over >SW was a good start  but that turned out to be the best feature of the morning with just a few gulls and the usual species to keep me occupied.

                                                                    Late afternoon and a look at Mixenden reservoir with the drizzle still coming over in waves and low cloud improving as the afternoon went on.

Plenty small gulls on the banking and water with just a single Herring and 2 LBBs.

                                                                    Two female Goosanders were on the water and a small diving duck was at the north end of the water which I expected to be Tufted but as I got part way along the banking I could see there were 2 female Goldeneye which were very flighty moving from one and of the water to the other which is usual for birds just newly arrived. These are the earliest Goldeneye I,ve had with the nearest being a single on Ogden 23/10/2016.

                                                                 So a poor day was rescued at the last minute with a nice early record. You can always depend on Mixenden Reservoir to bring in the Goldeneye.

Leeshaw Reservoir

1 Cormorant

2 Snipe......>SW

c 70 BH gull

6 LBB gull

5 Common gull

1 Grey Wagtail

+ usual sp.

Mixenden Reservoir

2f Goldeneye

2f Goosander

1 pr Mallard

c 80 BH gull

18 Common gull

1 Herring gull

2 LBB gull

1 Cormorant.

+ usual sp.

BS