Leeshaw/Ogden

 

LEESHAW                Alive with Lapwing

                                Heres a rarity, Spotted Greylag

                                    Curlews starting to disperse now

                                    Around 40 still present today

                                 Oystercatcher numbers slowly building.

                                    Only 4 Herring gull today.

                                    A dark LBB intermedius

                                    Herrings

                                    Skies full of Lapwing

    LBB Intermedius.

1 of 4 Herring gull at Ogden

Ogden Gt Crested Grebe in summer plumage

A bright spring like day with clear blue skies and full sun on a light NW>3 at 3 degrees.

                        Leeshaw was once again buzzing this morning with the sky full of noisy Lapwing, Curlew, Oystercatcher and geese though several Curlew had dispersed leaving around 40 in the area.

                       Large flocks of Starling are building up, probably continentals getting ready for a move north, whilst Oystercatchers numbers have now gone over 20.

                   Around 100 mixed Black Headed and Common gulls present but only 4 Herrings today, the gull highlight being a distant Great Black Backed high over the moor >N and a Lesser Black Backed intermedius on the water briefly before heading off >NW.

                    A quick look at Ogden mid afternoon found the west bank very quiet whilst the water held around 30 small gulls as well as 4 Herring,along with 17 Canada and a Great Crested Grebe.

BS

Leeshaw Reservoir, Curlews galore.

 

                                    Curlews moving in

                                    A better day for Herring gulls

                                    Herrings on the water

                                Here come the Curlews,  82 of em

                                Lapwings and Oystercatchers

                                    More Curlews over the moor

                                A good count of Herrings

                                    Curlews

Another dull but decent morning at Leeshaw after leaving fog and heavy drizzle behind at Queensbury. 

Leeshaw was below the cloud base with full cloud on a WSW>3 at 3 degrees with some light drizzle.

                    Curlews were the bird of the day with a flock of 82 coming in from the east and dropping into a valley below the moor. Several other Curlew were moving around the area sounding nice to hear their call back on the moor.

                    Lapwings were everywhere with over 200 constantly moving around and giving some amazing aerial displays whilst noisy Oystercatchers kept skimming over the water with around 21 present.

          Plenty Greylag and Canadas on the water and in the fields along with Mallards and a single Cormorant but no other wildfowl present. A better morning for gulls with around 150 small gulls and 18 Herrings but LBBs still noticeable by their absence. The only small passerines were 2 Pied Wagtails and a Dunnock.

            Pink Footed geese were on the move with reports from PT at Shelf and DJS at Mt Tabor but none over Leeshaws air space, though clouds were reasonably low.

BS

Leeshaw buzzing a.m. / p.m. bird less.

 

 LEESHAW                    Swarms of Lapwing

                                       Plenty Curlew present

                                    Oystercatchers at 19

                                    2 female Teal on the water

                                Curlew on the south bank

                                     over 200 Lapwing this morning

                                      Curlews over the distant fields

                                    A better count of Herring gulls

A decent morning at Leeshaw reservoir with a light SW>3 on full cloud at 6 degrees.

       Once again the place was buzzing with skies full of Curlew, Lapwing, Oystercatchers, Starling and Greylag geese. Curlews were coming in from the east and settling on the distant south bank corner as well as a field to the west which is in a dip and out of sight.

      About a third of the Greylag flock came in and dropped into the same field as the Curlew whilst just 8 Canada were on the water as well as Mallard and 2 female Teal.

       A poor count of small gulls but a bit of a rise in Herrings which have been poor this year so far and too early for Yellow Legged as yet, my earliest being 10th March.

                           Just 1 hour to spare mid afternoon so went to Ogden to find the lower car park closed and cars everywhere trying to get up and down to the upper parking area. Someone, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to have all the Bullfinch trees lobbed down in the lower car park just as they were nicely coming into bud. My next bad move was turning round and heading for Soil Hill where a full check of the east and west summit, plus halfway down the tree line produced....... a Kestrel.

LEESHAW

200 + Lapwing

19 Oystercatchers

27 Curlew

121 Greylag

8 Canada

2 f Teal

c 75 Small gull

9 Herring

1 Cormorant

1 Kestrel

+ usual sp.

FOOTNOTE..... For anyone interested, 

        I received an e mail from Kat at the Viaduct Theatre, Dean Clough, Halifax, asking me to spread the word about a production coming to the theatre for one night only on Tuesday 11th April called

       Twitchers : Birds, Birders and the RSPB.

Anyone wanting to go can book at the box office on 01422 849227.

https://the viaducttheatre.co.uk/twitchers mikron theatre

 

BS