Dinnertime Dash , Station Road

 A quick check of the Station Road area of Queensbury at lunch time found very little of interest in the icy cold NW>5.
The mature trees near the top held 15 Magpies, part of the 30+ roost from the station along with several Woodpigeons and Corvids.  Distant fields lower down had a flock of around 20 Fieldfare alternating between the fields and the Hawthorn bushes whilst a group of around 15 House Sparrows were in shrubs by the equestrian centre.
A few LBB gulls were heading up the Aire Valley and a check on a nearby winter Tawny Owl roost failed to find any returning birds.
A chat with RM at work today was interesting when he commented how quiet things were whilst out on his walks. Roy covers Queensbury station, Oats Royd and Coley on a near daily basis and says he is getting very little in the way of bird life. Noticeable by their absence this autumn/ winter have been Woodcock which he gets regular as they get flushed by his dogs.
BS

The Plight of the Queensbury Roe Deer.

                    Lucky for this trusting Roe Deer I had a camera
                                                    and not a gun.

A sickening report today from a customer and a bit of checking around the local farmers etc found that Roe deer are being hunted and killed to the point of extinction around the Queensbury area and beyond.
These animals are being hunted mainly after dark , known as torching, which is illegal, by scumbags purely for money, selling the kill on to unscrupulous butchers to sell on to restaurants where it is sold to diners not knowing what condition the meat is in or how long it has been kept in the back of a pick up truck.
Several farmers are also facing problems of poachers hunting deer with long dogs which chase the deer until they are exhausted. I heard of one local farmer that shot one of the poachers lurchers when the dog lost the deer and started chasing his sheep instead. Unfortunately its not the dogs fault for doing as instructed, it is the poachers that should be shot.
The police are aware of this with several calls from the public but at night it is hard to cover all the areas targeted and so far no arrests have been made despite several deer being killed in Shibden Valley, Queensbury station and Oats Royd where the few remaining deer seem to have left the area.
Anyone seeing any suspicious vehicles or characters acting suspicious should report this to the police who will pass it on to the appropriate channels.
Any Roe deer sightings by myself ,or reported to me ,will be omitted from the blog or put as undisclosed site and I suggest other local bloggers do the same.
Sorry for the depressing blog but people need to be made aware of whats going on.
BS

Weekend Summary , poor start, terrible finish !

1430 hrs and off to Mixenden, camera at the ready to snap the goods.
The afternoon was bright and showery with a strong WSW>5 as I scaled the banking ready to snap whatever was in the usual SW corner only to find a load of nuggets chucking stones at a floating tin plus trials bikes creating havoc in the wood so it was a quick scan of the water and off to Cold Edge Dams.
Mixenden
23 Black Headed gulls
8 Common gulls
1 LBB gull

Cold Edge dams was blustery to say the least but dry , bright and bird less.
The lower Leadbeater dam held 13 Mallard and 6 Canadas whilst the upper Haigh Cote dam was void of any bird life. A check of the track failed to produce Stonechat and Reed Bunting whilst even the Spring dam failed to produce the resident Little Grebe.
A few small gulls and corvids were in the fields and that was that.

Raggalds Flood held 23 small gulls and the same amount of Lapwing from this morning were down Pit Lane.

Snowed off, Back to Ogden

                   Struggling to come light at 0900 hrs

         A brief bright period

                         Sunshine between the next shower

                                   Snow on them there hills

With heavy overnight snow and a strong W>5 the roads up the top here were bad, plus Ollie on light duties, made Fly Flatts out of the question . I set off with the intentions of Leeshaw reservoir but the roads were well covered and treacherous so it was a quick divert to Ogden.
Heavy sleet showers and slow to come light made it hard work although the sun broke through a couple of times but the track around the water was deep in mud so being with the dogs I stuck to the promenade area.
The Kingfisher was in the same spot seeming to favour the lower corner where, in poor light it is barely visible. A Cormorant flew low over the water and looked like landing down near the sluice gate but thought against it and carried on down the valley.
Otherwise it was just a few small gulls and the usual Mallards.

Raggalds Flood was deserted other than 6 Mallard fly overs heading towards Bradshaw whilst 138 Lapwing were on Pit Lane pitches.
BS

Ollie,s back along with the Ogden Kingfisher.

                                             Not a happy bunny.

Very little time left for birding today with the usual trip to town and up to the vets to get Ollie home who, despite what he,s been through, is doing well but feeling very sorry for himself.
Arrived at Ogden at 1500 hrs with the dark clouds already rolling in and light drizzle.
The Kingfisher was present but way down in the deepest, darkest corner of the sluice gate area and way too dark for photos. The feeders held the usual Coal, Blue and Gt Tits whilst around 150 small gulls and 7 LBB gulls were on the water.
At very last light a mix of large and small gulls were piling over >SW towards Mixenden though very high. Around 80 Lesser Black Backs came over and at least 7 Herring gulls as well as good numbers of Feral pigeons, Woodpigeons and small gulls, probably a pre roost movement.

Pit Lane held 132 Lapwing.
BS

Ollie causes a panic.

                  Rooney, Buddy and Ollie at Fly Flatts.

Got up yesterday morning to fine poor Ollie a trembling wreck being unable to stand up and obviously in a lot of pain.
A quick dash to the vets where they kept him in for tests to quickly find he had a Pancreas infection which they said was very serious and had I not taken him straight in he would have died.
Spent today working in between dashing up and down to the vets to find him looking very sorry for himself and on a drip.
This evenings visit brought better news when he was on his feet again and starting to eat but still on antibiotics and pain killers via a drip.
Thanks to modern medicines and a wonderful team of vets and nurses at West Mount Vets, Pellon Lane, Halifax it looks like Ollie could be home over the weekend though he probably wont be ready for a Fly Flatts visit just yet.
It will be me that needs resuscitating  next when I get the bill.

A cold WSW>5 over the village today with some overnight snow showers but dry most of the day.
No continuation of yesterdays gull movement today.
BS

Big gulls on the move.

A decent day with a WSW>4-5 blowing keeping the fog at bay but bringing some damp and drizzly spells.
Lesser Black Backed gulls were the bird of the day with several moving steadily throughout the day all >NW with at least 4 Herring gulls tending to aim more >W.
A dog walker today reported 2 Nuthatch regular down Station Rd near the horse tack supply shop where he has also had Treecreeper on a number of occasions over the last couple of months.
Pink Footed Geese should start to show more frequent over the next coming weeks with reports of small skeins already starting to move from both east and west wintering grounds so keep those eyes to the skies.
Christmas and New Year over and already going into the second week of the new year, where does time go to.
BS

Back amongst the birds. Raggalds Flood

                                              c 130 + Lapwings

                                         Swarms of em

                   Dark skies beyond the Raggalds Flood

                                 Attracting gulls but not waterfowl.

               Deciding whether to land at the flood or not

             A few circuits of the water

                   before heading back to Pit Lane

         One in the centre liked to fly upside down.

Taking advantage of a break in the fog, which did,nt last long, and a text from NK reporting a good Lapwing count at Pit Lane a dinnertime dash to the Raggalds Flood was in order.
The flood was showing well with sunshine on the water but dark murky skies to the east.
17 Black headed gulls were present along with 5 Commons and a few corvids.
The Lapwing flock from Pit Lane came over with c 130 + flying round and deciding whether or not to land. The noisy gulls seemed to put them off although the gulls finally got spooked and started to fly around with the Lappies.
After about 4 circuits of the water the Lapwings flew off towards Pit Lane and the gulls returned to the  water.
By late afternoon the fog was back.
BS

My patch, Fly Flatts Reservoir

  Fly Flatts, dont expect conditions like this if you visit.

I bird within a 5 mile radius of my home in Queensbury getting more satisfaction from turning birds up locally than travelling to see known birds at known sights, although plenty of my 50 birding years have been spend doing just that .
I look upon Fly Flatts  as the pick of the crop having watched it from 12 years old and to this day the area has barely changed.
In 1990 I started afresh with my bird records as looking at earlier records as a lad its hard to pick out the believable from the unbelievable .
The records I have now are from 1990 so I know that I can safely trust them to be right, or to the best of my knowledge anyway and any cud av bins are left out, even if I,m 90 % sure.
From April 1990 I have personally recorded 110 species from Fly Flatts which has been hard going to say there is no shelter for birds or birder in the area , no sandy shoreline, just peat, which several waders and most gulls dislike and only 2 small trees which seem the same now as 50 years ago.
The weather is atrocious on 8 out of 10 visits and you can nearly always depend on strong westerlies or worst of all the dreaded fog which hangs over the moor there when most other places are clear.
To me, all these weather conditions can work as an advantage keeping the general public away and on my early morning visits I rarely see another soul.
On mornings with conditions as the photo shows its the most beautiful place on earth with not a sound other than the call of the Curlew as well as Red Grouse, Golden Plover and Snipe. This is one of the things money can,t buy.

Listed are a few of the less common birds that have turned up or overflown here in the last 26 years.

Gt Northern Diver     Whooper Swans     Shelducks    Scaup   Long Tailed Duck     Goshawk
Male and female Hen Harrier on migration     Grey Plover     Knot    Sanderling     Greenshank
Bar Tailed Godwit      Green Sandpiper     Turnstone      Yellow Legged Herring gull    Common Tern
Shorelark    Tree Pipit    Grasshopper Warbler    Twite, flock up to 38,    Snow Bunting  and several other less rare birds.
One of the most amazing sightings that I,ll always remember was HC and myself stood on the banking checking autumn visible migration when the least expected bird for that area flew in. A Willow Warbler flew straight at us landing on the tripod where it perched for a few minutes before moving off leaving Howard and me stood with are mouths open.

A strange thing happened in Queensbury at 1330 hrs today, the fog cleared leaving a clear sky but by 1715 hrs it had returned.
BS

Another day of the thick stuff.

Queensbury was once again engulfed in thick fog throughout the day along with some heavy rain showers. Queensbury has always been famous for its dense fog, or smog as it was better known as when all the smoke from the coal burning fires mixed with the fog thickening it up to become smog.
The smog used to be so dense with visibility getting down to nil at times especially during the blackout when all the street gaslights had to be left out, before my time I hasten to add.
Several Queensbury families have their own stories from the smog days and one of ours is my Great Grandfather who was a bit of a character and liked to visit the local ale houses was walking home late one night after a session of drinking in nil visibility and doing the method folk used to do by trailing one foot along the curb edge so they knew they were following the pavement. The local bobby appeared and said " atta lost Eddie" to which he replied " na lad, I,m ont way ome. The bobby took him by the arm and said "tha,s going noweer ere Eddie, thas down at crossroads walking round an round t cenotaph, cum on al si thi ome".
The storys passed down are family through the generations and whether its true or not we,ll never know but going by several other similar tales it probably is.
One that I know to be true is mi grandfather worked late and always walked home after midnight from Gt Horton to Queensbury. One extra bad night with thick fog and a snow blizzard he failed to appear home until the next morning. Mi Grandmother went mad screaming " wheres tha bin ya daft apeth , as bin worried sick thinking tha was deard int snow. " na lass, I got mi ead darn in an en ole ( hen hut) at Bank Top tilt weather calmed darn" was his reply.

Nowt to do with birds but it kept you glued to the computer for 10 minutes which is better than watching the telly. You dont have to be daft to run a blog but it certainly helps if you are.
BS

Mixenden Drenching

After a decent morning at Fly Flatts the rot set in by lunchtime with firstly dense fog followed by heavy rain taking us through to dark and beyond.
My first thoughts were to give it a miss late afternoon but with thoughts of work looming and a birding less week plus my imagination of a diver on Mixenden away I went thinking, whats another soaking.
Mixenden was as grim as expected with poor visibility and very heavy rain but not bad enough to not see 2 female Goldeneye at the north end of the reservoir along with around 50 small gulls, 90 % being Black Headeds.
A real good soaking but satisfaction that I had,nt missed a goody for the sake of not getting wet.
BS

Back to the old favourite, Fly Flatts

   Mega out of range drake Goldeneye.

Fly Flatts 0800 hrs-1000 hrs.
The last place I thought I,d be visiting today was Fly Flatts after yesterdays weather but this morning was clear though very dingy with real poor light. A slight SSE >4 was blowing.
A pleasant walk around the water even though it was very quiet bird wise but as usual with Fly Flatts it did,nt let me come away empty handed when a male Goldeneye dropped from the sky onto the water although it stayed full distance away towards the NE end.
Two separate Buzzards showed briefly over the far west ridge whilst 8 Red Grouse were vocal.
As I left 2 Canada Geese flew low towards Cold Edge dams. No sign of the Stonechats.
BS

2nd day disaster

Well it didn,t take the fog long to find its way into 2016 with dense fog from yesterday evening and continuing throughout the day with visibility down to a few yards.
A visit to Ogden at 1430 hrs, which was just below the cloud base, was like night time birding with very little daylight and heavy rain.
A full walk around the circumference of the water produced 1 Dunnock the whole of the way round with just Mallards and small gulls on the water. Around 20 minutes spent peering through the murk down to the overflow but the Kingfisher and Dipper failed to show although they had been sighted earlier by DJS.
Looking outside tonight puts me on a low expectancy for a decent morning.
BS

New Year part 2.

                      Raggalds Flood well and truly frozen

                                 Plenty gulls over the water

                         28 Fieldfare, Soil Hill in the Alders

                                      Up and away, down into the bottom field.

A quick check at Raggalds Flood found it frozen solid with around 100 small gulls in the area but no lapwings.
On then to check the fields around Bradshaw for interesting gulls followed by a look at the Alder trees on Ingham Lane and failing to provide on both counts.
A little voice kept telling me to avoid Ogden but against my better judgement off I went to try for a Kingfisher snap. When I arrived there the little voice was saying, what a plonker, I warned you.
The whole of Ogden Lane was absolutely grid locked with cars jammed bumper to bumper along the lane so no one could move anywhere. The spirit of new year seemed to have failed with blasting horns and words of abuse that I have,nt even heard in the garage.
Ten minutes later I was on a cold but tranquil Soil Hill where I had 1 hour to do a thorough search.
Down the northern slope produced the best with 28 Fieldfare mobile from the Alder trees to the NK pond field, this pond was also frozen over.
A Snipe came up a few yards in front of me followed by a female Pheasant.
A zig zag search of both summits came up with nothing, not even a Mipit or Skylark but never the less, a pleasant hour up there with a high hope of Snow Bunting.
Nice to bump into blog watcher, Wilsden birder Mark Brookes trekking around the hill also on Bunt hunt, don,t worry Mark, you,ll get one at some point.
Back to work tomorrow till dinner then I can do it all again.
BS

First visit of the year, Fly Flatts

                                  Female Stonechat

A treacherous drive to Fly Flatts first light with icy roads but decent conditions in the cold SE>4 with poor light.
Stonechat was the next to the last species I got in 2015 and the first I got in 2016 with a pair near the boathouse, the male being very elusive and the female keeping its distance.
A Cormorant flew over >N which is unusual for Fly Flatts and a small group of Goldfinch headed over the water also >N whilst around 15 fed on thistle tops amongst the boats.
A distant Buzzard worked the ridge towards Hebden Bridge and a Kestrel was in the same area.
Otherwise it was down to usual sp whilst the water remained void of bird life.
BS