Lets go Gulling. Thornton fields.

 

Thornton                                     Distant 1st winter Med gull

                                    Same 1st winter of 2 found yesterday by M.P.

                                                   Common gull in background.

                                                  76 Pink Footed Geese over Foxhill Qby 1550 hrs

With freezing fog and black ice early morning it was just a dog walk at Ogden with the fog so thick you could hardly see the water. A check of the duck corner for Mandarin and a Gt Spotted Woodpecker just visible on the lodge house feeders then a walk with the dogs up the moorland track with an early finish.

                                               Mid afternoon and the fog cleared, though still hanging over the Fly Flatts wind farm, with a NE>3 at 1 degree.

                                               The gulls in the Ten Yards Lane fields were very mobile today with the presence of  a Sparrowhawk constantly flying around and spooking them , making them move from one area to another throughout. Just time for a quick scope through them before they all blasted off and dropped into a field about half a mile away near to the Ring o Bells.

                                         With all the tackle thrown back in the car I drove round the Well Heads road and relocated them giving me enough time to scope through them and pick out a 1st winter Med gull which MP, who I met up there, believed it to be one of the birds he had yesterday.

                                           Once again the gulls flew off and a drive round the area failed to find them until they briefly returned to Ten Yards Lane but in a distant field too far away to view.

                                         Back home and a text from my early warning goose station at Horton Bank Top ( Peter Turner) reporting Pinks over Shelf heading my way. Grabbing the camera I shot out in the garden and after a few minutes I could hear the contact calls as they came into view over Foxhill heading >W. Thanks again for the call Peter.

Thornton fields

c 800 small gulls

4  1st winter Herring gull

1  1st winter Med gull

1 Sparrowhawk

c 200 Starling

12 Fieldfare

BS

                                        

Snow blizzards and possibly the last 2020 twitch.

THORNTON p.m.                                        A Med gull in there somewhere

                                   Around 1500 small gulls inc 3 Med gulls.

LEESHAW                                         2 pair of distant Goosander

                      Cormorant, white thigh patch for early breeding season showing.

                                        Bright clear skies to start with but short lived.

                        The Dippers babbling brook was a raging torrent this morning.

 A bright and breezy start to the morning at Leeshaw with a biting W>5-6 at 2 degrees . The clear blue skies were soon extinguished with dark clouds and snow showers.

                                Very few gulls around the water today with just 4 Herrings and a low count of small gulls. Goosander numbers had gone up to 2 pairs on the water as well as the usual Mallards and Canada geese. Several Redwings were mobile moving through the distant Hawthorn bushes but very poor on Fieldfare this winter so far.

                                 A trip to Mixenden mid afternoon was aborted for the 2nd day running with a grapevine text, as I drove through Bradshaw, from AC reporting 3 Med gulls at Thornton which resulted in a swing round in the road and ' lets go twitching'.

                                 By the time I arrived, the sky had gone jet black and the a snow blizzard blasted across the gull fields. Luckily the gulls remained but were spread across 4 fields with about 1500 small gulls and all very mobile moving around from one field to the other.

                                Good to see AC up there who had seen the adult gull but not the 2  1st winter birds.

As the snow blizzard passed over I set up the scope and picked out the adult near the back of one of the fields. The bird stood out surprisingly well being much more butch than the Black Headeds and the lack of black on the primaries made it look very white. It had just a hint of hood showing as a smudge behind the eye as it moulted into full winter plumage, see pic on Andys Northowram blog.

                               Try as I may there was no way I could get it in the camera at the distance with the problem of, every time I found it in the scope I couldnt find it in the camera and then it either moved or the whole shebang took to the air landing in the next field so I had to start again. This, plus the heavy snow blizzards passing through made be give up and just watch it in the scope plus try to find the 2 other gulls with no joy but 1st years are much harder to pick out from the Black Headeds, if , like me, you have not had much experience with them.

                              As the light faded the entire gull flock blasted off and flew over Keelham landing briefly in the shay fields below Soil Hill before moving off towards the TMR roost.

                             Well to MP for finding the birds and to AC for relocating the adult and getting the call out. Nowt like a good twitch to see the year out.

Leeshaw

4 Herring

3 Cormorant

c 100 small gulls

sev Redwing

1 Wren

2 pr Goosander

+ usual sp.

Thornton

1 ad Med gull

c 1500 small gull

18 Herring gull 

c 60 Lapwing

23 Redwing.

BS

Boxing Day Bash, Leeshaw/Fly Flatts.

  LEESHAW RESERVOIR                     Steady move of Herrings >W

                                                1 of 5 Cormorant >W

                                                     2 on the water
 

FLY FLATTS                Last strip of light before sundown over the western ridge.

Windy and wet at Leeshaw first light with a moderate W>4 turning SW>5 at 4 degrees with dark clouds and drizzle.

                   A single Great Black Backed gull lifted off the water as I arrived and headed off >W continued by a steady flow of Herring gulls also >W with just 1 stopping off briefly on the water.

                   Cormorants were also moving >W with 5 separate birds over very high and direct.

A pair of Goosanders were on the water along with a few Mallard and a good count of small gulls, mostly Black Headeds. A single Meadow Pipit dropped into the field whilst 4 Mistle Thrush were on a distant wire.

                    A mid afternoon visit to Mixenden was abandoned after a scan from the top of the hill found it very quiet and void of gulls so a continuation on to Fly Flatts in windy but otherwise decent conditions.

                 High hopes of a Gt Northern diver were soon dashed but there are several inland at the moment including one in MC country at Oxford and an amazing looking pure white albino in Devon, courtesy Rare Bird Alert. The last one seen at Fly Flatts was July 2014 and another, or the same bird, at Mixenden in December to February 2014/15. 

                   Another 6 Herring gull headed >W whilst 2 noisy Raven were interested in something on the Flat Moor. A male Stonechat was hanging around the original Twite feeding station eyeing up the seed.

                   At the moment (1950 hrs) the wind up here in the gods is up to gale force SW>8 at 42 mph

with lashing rain but its suppose to decrease after midnight leaving a moderate westerly for tomorrow with rain and snow.

Leeshaw

1 Pr Goosander

1 GBB gull..................>W

15 Herring gull...........>W

5 Cormorant...............>W

2 Cormorant blogging

4 Mistle Thrush

1 Mipit

c 300 Small gulls

+ usual sp

Fly Flatts

1 m Stonechat

4 Red Grouse

6 Herring gull..........>W

2 Raven

BS

Christmas Day bash. Fly Flatts/Ringby Top

 

FLY FLATTS                    Herring gulls moving through.

                                                    Icy conditions at Fly Flatts.

An icy cold morning at Fly Flatts first light at -1 degree on a biting W>4 with clear skies,30% cloud and sunshine. By late afternoon at Ringby Top the wind had dropped to W>3 at 2 degrees with hazy cloud to the west and slight fine snow flurries.

                                                          From first off this morning the gulls were on the move with a good count of Herrings >NE as well as Commons, the latter being an unusual bird for this sight. A single BHG headed >S whilst a Great Black Backed headed >W but most of the gulls were distant and out of reasonable camera range.

A single male Stonechat was present briefly as well as 2 Reed Buntings , which along with the gulls, brought a bit of my enthusiasm back for Fly Flatts.

                                                Late afternoon on a bleak Ringby Top but much livelier than yesterday with a nice flock of 24 Meadow Pipits as well as a single Skylark but ,after a quick fly around ,kept down in the grass.

Gulls were still moving but now heading west with 4 beautiful Great Black Backed , 2 ad and 2 1w,  which flew over Swalesmoor rd just as I arrived and was parking up. This coincides with several reports of GBBs around the region today.

                                                Todays big gull movement may be ahead of the strong weather front arriving with us tomorrow afternoon.

                                               Well, Christmas is all over now bar't shouting so just New Year to get out of the way and we can start to look forward to getting some birds back to the area.

Fly Flatts

133 Herring..............>NE

82 Common.............>NE

1 BHG.....................>S

1 GBB......................>W

2 Reed Bunting

1 m Stonechat.

Ringby Top

2 ad 2 1st winter GBB..............>W

21 Herring................................>W

8 LBB......................................>W

sev Common and BH gull

24 Mipit

1 Skylark

1 Pied Wagtail

+ usual sp.

BS

Birding the frozen North, Fly Flatts/Ringby Top.

 

FLY FLATTS            Christmas Eve sunrise towards Slade

                                       Across the valley to Emley Moor

                                      Bright, clear skies.

Zero degrees first light at Fly Flatts this morning with icy roads and the reservoir water freezing as it splashed over the banking. A moderate NW>4 was blowing but blue clear skies and sunshine.

By 0945 hrs the wind had turned N>5 and dark clouds from the NE brought light snow showers.

                                                            Very little about but at least I was,nt out for a duck like previous visits with a single Canada on the water plus 2 Herrings >NE along with a Black Headed whilst 2 Raven were cronking over the quarry.

                                               As I got back to the car the rope dog leads which were still wet from yesterdays rain had frozen and were straight like garden canes but with me and the dogs well wrapped up it was a pleasant morning for walking.

                                                Mid afternoon and an icy cold walk over Ringby Top with a real lazy north wind. Queensbury folk allus called it a lazy wind as it went through you instead of round you.

                                                    Despite that it was pleasant enough with clear skies with a promise of geese but that never developed as well as no Snow Buntings or Shorelarks in the top field. It was just

14 years ago that a Shorelark turned up in the top field on Christmas day 2006 and hung around until the end of the month.

                   Gull numbers were well down whilst 4 distant Cormorants headed high and >SE towards Brighouse. The usual 2 Pied Wagtails were present along with 5 Meadow Pipits but no sign of the Stonechats today.

Good to bump into local birder Ian whose patch revolves around the Ringby and Windy Bank areas. Ian also remarked how quiet things were recently.

Fly Flatts

1 BH gull............>NE

2 Herring gull ....>NE

2 Raven

2 Carrion Crow

1 Canada goose

Ringby Top

2 ad 1 1st winter Herring gull

3 Common gull

c 50 BH gull

2 Pied Wagtail

5 Mipits

+ usual sp.

BS                               Which just leaves me to wish all my blog watchers and families a very

                                                         MERRY CHRISTMAS and all the best as we hopefully look                                                                    forward to a better New Year..  Brian.

                

                          

Lower Laithe, Leeshaw. Ogden.

OGDEN                 Reduced to tame bird photography. Nuthatch

                                  Taken in dark conditions at top of the range 16,000 iso

                                          Coal tit

           Low shutter speed to gain light,hence wing blur. Taken at Exp 1000.

Fog and rain up on the tops throughout the day where fortunately Oxenhope was just below the cloud base but very dark and drizzly on a moderate NE>4 at 4 degrees.

                                                         First check was Lower Laithe reservoir with just a single Gt Crested Grebe and a pair of Tufted duck as well as the usual small gulls.

                                                        Next stop was Leeshaw reservoir which had misty views over the reservoir but no sky showing above with the fog keeping low down.

Very few small gulls today but 18 Herring gull stopped off on the water briefly before heading off >W. Only 2 adults came through, the rest being 1st winter birds.

                                                          Two Dippers were down in the beck before flying downstream towards the mill whilst a Merlin skimmed over the edge of the moor.

                                                         Late afternoon and Queensbury still in the fog but Ogden was reasonably clear but heavy rain throughout. A shortage of gulls at this site also but a walk around the perimeter managed to scrape together a list of species but nothing untoward.

                                      Blackbirds were the most outstanding with a count of 15 around the passerine alley area, probably continentals, whilst several Goldcrests were along the sheltered east bank but a Firecrest has yet to be found locally. Dipper and Kingfisher were down in the sluice gate area with Nuthatch and Coal Tits on the info centre feeders.

                                An icy cold day at 2 degrees promised for tomorrow with a NW then N moderate wind but hopefully dry and fog free.

Lower Laithe

1 pr Tufted

1 Gt Crested grebe

+ usual sp.

Leeshaw

c 100 small gulls

18 Herring gull

2 Dipper

3 Cormorant

1 Merlin

+ usual sp.

Ogden

1 Dipper

1 Kingfisher

1 Nuthatch

sev Coal Tits

sev Goldcrest

15 Blackbirds, continentals 

2 Moorhen

+ usual sp.

BS

                                                          

 

I,ve had better days. Fly Flatts/Ringby Top

 

RINGBY TOP.                               Strange place for a Robin on Ringby Top

                                                   4 Herring gull present.

                                               Several Common gull.

A terrible drive to Fly Flatts early morning with sheet ice on the top roads and all the puddles frozen over. A beautiful morning on arrival with well broken cloud and sunny blue clear skies on a light W>3 at 1 degree. The sky looked ideal for geese and swans on the move though this never happened.

                                                 The birds up there have obviously been placed in Tier 4 and are all on lock down with yet another visit to this venue on a record breaking low.

Two hours up there produced 2 Raven, 1 Kestrel and 2 Red Grouse although it was a lovely walking morning despite there being no birds. I,m sure Fly Flatts will come back to life but its looking like we will be heading towards the spring before that happens.

                                                  By late afternoon all signs of the sun had gone and Ringby Top was dull with mist to the west and haze to the east.

                                                  The visit started off well with 7 Herring gull which flew from the north gull field disappearing over the western slope. Several Common and Black Headed gulls were in the same field and as I was checking those out a small Bunting species flew from the field, high over the track and dropped down in the large north sloping sheep field.

                                                        I only got it briefly in silhouette as it flew showing a deep cleft tail making me think of Twite, which I have had singles of before up there in previous years, but a good scan of the sheep field failed to re locate it so it will have to go down as a 'cuv av bin'.

                                                     After that it was all downhill with a single Robin, Dunnock and 3 Meadow Pipits. Roll on springtime.

Fly Flatts

2 Red Grouse

1 Kestrel

2 Raven

Ringby Top

7 Herring

3 Mipit

1 Dunnock

1 Robin

+ usual sp.

BS

Winter Solstice(shortest day). Leeshaw/ Horton Bank Top.

 

HORTON BANK TOP.                          Several Coots

                                   A good count of Moorhen.

                                                  Mute Swan ( 695)

                                                    Mute Swan(Y200)

                                      Gt Crested Grebe out in the mist

                                            Herrings and LBB

                                            Smart looking 1st winter Herring.

Leeshaw reservoir early a.m. was just below the cloud base but very dark and damp on an E>3 at 4 degrees.

             A bit of an anti climate after the last mornings at Redcar Tarn with very few gulls today.

Just 2 Herring and 2 LBBs along with around 300 small gulls, 80% being Black Headed.

A single Teal was the only highlight which flew in fast and dropped down into the conduit.

                                                         Late afternoon and a check of the water at Bank Top in very misty and drizzly conditions. Just 4 Herrings here plus small gulls and the usual waterfowl but lots of potential at this site for something turning up.

                                                      At least we,re past the shortest day now so once we,ve got Christmas and New Year out of the way we,re on our way.

Leeshaw

2 Herring 

2 LBB

c 300 small gull

3 Cormorant

1 Teal

+ usual sp.

Horton Bank Top.

4 Herring

1 LBB

6 Common

43 BH gull

9 Moorhen

4 Coot

1 Gt Crested Grebe

+ usual sp.

BS