Westerlies at last

Early morning skies from Chapel Lane

Start of another morning ove,rt mill

At last we,re back with the familiar westerlies bringing with them drizzle and evening fog but a good thaw starting although the gritters are out in force tonight so they must be expecting a drop in temperature .
Three large flocks of LBBs came over the village from the Calder Valley early a.m. all in v formation and very high making me think they were Pinkies at the first sighting. The 3 groups contained 34, 46 and 23 birds and all headed off >NE. Probably a roost breaking up but an unusual sighting all the same.
Everything else was much of a muchness up here on the top of the hill today, hopefully the mild spell over the weekend will move something around.
BS

Queensbury today

Still white-out in Foxhill Park

A glorious bright day with sunshine and blue skies but still no rise in the temperature, thats suppose to happen tomorrow?
Hopefully the band of snow that,s buried Whitby today has stopped short of us and with westerlies on the way it may get blown out into the north sea.
Nothing untoward today other that the usual gulls, Starlings and House Sparrows desperately feeding up before another cold night.
Garden feeders around the village have attracted a larger number of Collared doves and Feral pigeons during this cold spell but I suppose its a matter of get food where you can.
The Warburtons bread didnt attract the Med gull from Mt Tabor to Foxhill but nice one NK on discovering one at Ogden today, see Queensburybirders for report and pics. Yet another cracking bird to put on the 2010 list of highlights for Ogden.
BS

Gulls Galore

Not a Med gull Im, afraid, just a Black Headed

Snicket through to Glazier Row

A grey cloudy day with slight snow showers p.m. and a slight rise in temperature till dark though not enough to create a thaw.
Common and B.H. gulls have taken over feeding rights in the village seeing corvids and Starlings off where food is concerned.
Im still waiting for Nick Ds Med gull over here but he seems to be keeping it to himself. I,ll have to try some Warburtons bread to beat his Asda loaf.
A few small flocks of Fieldfare have been filtering over,mostly >NW, but low down and in no urgency.
A single Heron is still about over the village desperately looking for an unfrozen pond, but I think hes wasting his time in Queensbury until next week at least.
8 Magpies were in one tree in Foxhill park at midday and 2 Chaffinch were in the Chapel Lane graveyard, an usual sp. for here.
BS

More pics from yesterday

These did,nt seem to mind the snow

Yeti on the hill. Me and my shadow. Problem is you start
talking to it when youve been up there a while.

Noisy buzz bug flying round.

Another good day, despite the snow , with clear blue skies and wall to wall sunshine although no sign of thaw at all.
LBB gulls were on the move >NW whilst Common and BH gulls were everywhere harrassing the Starlings for food.
2 Coal Tits made a brief appearance in conifers by the garage today which is unusual and the local Sparrowhawk flew through at least twice after Starlings but went away hungry.
A little Owl flew across the car headlights tonight on the way back from Shelf Moor, this is the first one seen near the golf course since the breeding season.
BS

8th Wonder of the World

SUNSET FROM SOIL HILL
report below
BS

A snowy Soil Hill

Drifts along the pathway

First man to tred this area

Drifts over 6ft deep

Hundreds of Corvids

A very hard visit to Soil Hill with snow well over the wellie tops in places. The western slope was near impossible because of the depth but the summit was blown clear and well frozen. As expected, not much bird life but a wonderful experience to be up there with the sun on the drifts and finally to watch the sun setting behind Ovenden Moor, what a breath taking sight that was.
Another amazing sight was to see c300 corvids behind the NK pond inn the fiels and on the wires obviously meeting before moving on to roost.

3 Skylark
2 Meadow Pipit
7 Grey Partridge
c 300 Corvids
4 Siskin over towards Ogden.

TMR was 100% frozen and Mixenden 90% frozen giving Ogden a good chance of any stray wildfowl.
BS

Ogden

NKs hybrid duck, any comments on this?

Feeding Bullfinch

Early sun

A beautiful morning after heavy overnight freezing but some warmth in the sun. Most of last weeks ice on the reservoir has thawed apart from the northern end which was a nice suprise as I expected it to be frozen over solid. Gull numbers had increased on the water with several coming and going towards Mixenden.
LT tits were everywhere apart from in my camera view finder, wheres Denise when you want her?
Two Wigeon over >NE towards TMR was a pleasant suprise and a very mobile flock of Siskin were dodging in and out of the conifers on Ned Hill.

Ogden
89 Common gull
c120 BH gull
3 LBB gull
1 Green Wdpecker
2pr Bullfinch
3 Siskin
23 LT tits
2 Widgeon >NE
+ usual sp.

Ned Hill
1 Green Wdpecker
18 Siskin
11 Fieldfare
BS

Yet more snow ont ill.

Yet more snow today

                Foxhill Park after dark

A foggy start down Chapel Lane

Another covering of snow overnight and light showers this a.m. followed by blue skies then light rain and a steady thaw.
As forecast, as soon as it dropped dark the temperature dropped below zero causing freezing again.
Gull numbers around the village are increasing scavenging for food and a shopping trip to Halifax this afternoon saw Black Headed and Common Gulls trying to pull rubbish out of litter bins.
Two Waxwings were around the RSPCA kennels but very mobile and 4 Pied Wagtails were on the cobbles down Woolshops, looks like the winter roost is starting in the usual tree down there.
I,ll see what Ogden holds in the morning if its not froze over and the health and safety crew have,nt closed the gates, and hopefully I,ll get chance to check out Soil Hill p.m.
BS

Another icy cold day

Clear skies and smoking chimneys

Bit cold in the garage today. Even the calendar girl had put
a jumper on by dinner time.

Car sales seem a bit on the quiet side.

Another sub zero day with clear blue skies and some sunshine though not much thawing took place.
A good start off to the morning with 4 Golden Plover doing a circuit overhead then off >SE towards Jackson Hill.
Several LBB gulls went over early doors >NW and one very high bird could easily have been a Gt Black Backed but with no optical aid couldnt be sure. A single Heron circled over Station Rd pond but then moved off >E, probably seeing the pond frozen.
Just walked the dogs and it seemed a bit milder tonight with fine snow coming down so hopefully things will slowly improve and we can get back to normal, fog and rain!
BS

No sign of thaw

Well the man in the shop told me they were Huskies?

Trying to keep warm

Across the fields to Old Guy Rd

Very cold day with sub zero temperatures but some nice clear blue skies and only the odd light snow shower.
Just the usual sp. about busy feeding around the gardens plus a good number of small noisy gulls chasing each other around and squabbling over scraps of food. Lets hope this weekend turns the corner for milder weather.
Whats happening Nigel, no reports for Soil Hill in the last two days, thats not like you. The snows only about 6ft deep up there!
BS

Snowy scenes from Queensbury

Chapel Lane bottom

Chapel Lane/ New Park Rd top

Fleet Lane.

A disasterous day for the area today as many of you will have found out. The new plans by the council to keep the roads clear at all times didnt seem to work too well, it took my daughter over 4 hours by car to get from Halifax, through Boothtown and up to Queensbury.
The parts I ordered at 1000hrs this morning for cars stripped down in the garage have yet to arrive so its going to be a busy day tomorrow.
A one point cars were queueing from Halifax through Shelf to Bradford and through Queensbury to Bradford but I suspect you,ll all have a horror story to tell. Im lucky that way with being able to walk to work but I,ve no excuse not to arrive or get away early.
How much more of this can the poor birds take? I can,t even imaging how the upland ground birds go on, such as Red Grouse and Partridge,and it makes me wonder where DJSs Wheatear is now.
See below for more pics.
BS

More snowy scenes from Queensbury

The front garden

A near deserted High St

BS