More Pinks

Pinks on the move again today with a 45,60 and 120 all west, also good moves of 350 Redwing and 100 + Fieldfare west .150+ lapwing at shelf Moor,14 stock Doves,1 Pied Wag and a small flock of Chaffinch 30~ south made for a interesting morning walk.

Local walk

 

Not a bad afternoon walk but i did miss all the Pinkies going over??.Great spot , pied wag ,meadow pipit , 11 greenfinch 2 linnet and a Woodcock all added to the footit year list.

FOOT IT update..

1.Great Crested Grebe 2. Little Grebe 3 Cormorant.4 Grey heron, 5 Canada Goose,6 Mallard,7 Tufted duck ,8 Goosander,9 Sparrowhawk,10 Kestrel.11 Coot , 12 Moorhen ,13 Golden Plover 14 Lapwing , 15 Snipe ,16 Black headed gull ,17 Common Gull , 18 Herring Gull ,19 LBBGull , 20 GBBGull , 21 Stock Dove ,22 Woodpigeon , 23 Collared Dove ,24Feral Pigeon ,25 Little Owl, 26 Tawny Owl ,27 Green Woodpecker ,28Great Spotted woodpecker , 29 Skylark ,30 Meadow Pipit.31 Grey wagtail 32 Pied wagtail ,33 Dipper ,34Wren ,35 Dunnock 36 Robin , 37 Blackbird ,38 Fieldfare,39 Song Thrush, 40 Redwing, 41 Mistle Thrush , 42 Goldcrest , 43 Long tailed Tit , 44 Blue Tit, 45 Cole Tit , 46 Great Tit, 47 Nuthatch , 48 Treecreeper , 49 Jay , 50 Magpie ,51 Carrion Crow , 52 Rook, 53 Starling , 54 House Sparrow ,55 Tree Sparrow , 56 Chaffinch,57 Greenfinch, 58 Goldfinch ,59 Siskin ,60 Redpoll,61 Bullfinch, 62 Linnet.+ 3 unknowns,hopefully Snow Bunt,Whooper Swan and Lesser pecker (we live in hope)
Plus...... Pink footed goose + Woodcock  .total so far 41.target 65

Northowram to shibden valley

A steady walk to start off the year , down the valley to shibden park then off to shibden valley return route.A total of 34 species the highlight 48 Pinkies heading wnw seen by Bri , Dave and Nick as they headed west over calderdale.a Little Owl, grey wag,10 fieldfare,7 Redwing and a nice flock of 35 Goldfinch.

Morpeth / cresswell beach

A quick trip up north for early  new year celebrations,birding with big hangover...3 Waxwing,2 sparrowhawks,500+ Pink footed Goose,28 Curlew north,77 Dunlin north,30 Redshank north,20 Eider,6 Oycks.

Feather from ogden moor

Found this feather on a ripped up carcass on ogden moor today definate raptor kill .There were no other id features but i think I sorted it out.? Would anyone like to guess what it is.??

Ogden.

Ogden to the windfarm and back was cold and birdless , except for  good numbers of Red grouse all over the moor.1 lessed Black backed Gull, 1 Cormorant , 7 Redwing , 4 Fieldfare and a load of mallards and BHGulls around the res...7 herring Gull and a Great spot from home..............

White Crow and X mas greetings

This superb photo xmas card  was taken by a good friend and what a great shot it is.
Today I also saw the White Crow for the first time at Queensbury golf club good to know its still around.It looks a real hard case that crow.

January targets..

1.Great Crested Grebe 2. Little Grebe 3 Cormorant.4 Grey heron, 5 Canada Goose,6 Mallard,7 Tufted duck ,8 Goosander,9 Sparrowhawk,10 Kestrel.11 Coot , 12 Moorhen ,13 Golden Plover 14 Lapwing , 15 Snipe ,16 Black headed gull ,17 Common Gull , 18 Herring Gull ,19 LBBGull , 20 GBBGull , 21 Stock Dove ,22 Woodpigeon , 23 Collared Dove ,24Feral Pigeon ,25 Little Owl, 26 Tawny Owl ,27 Green Woodpecker ,28Great Spotted woodpecker , 29 Skylark ,30 Meadow Pipit.31 Grey wagtail 32 Pied wagtail ,33 Dipper ,34Wren ,35 Dunnock 36 Robin , 37 Blackbird ,38 Fieldfare,39 Song Thrush, 40 Redwing, 41 Mistle Thrush , 42 Goldcrest , 43 Long tailed Tit , 44 Blue Tit, 45 Cole Tit , 46 Great Tit, 47 Nuthatch , 48 Treecreeper , 49 Jay , 50 Magpie ,51 Carrion Crow , 52 Rook, 53 Starling , 54 House Sparrow ,55 Tree Sparrow , 56 Chaffinch,57 Greenfinch, 58 Goldfinch ,59 Siskin ,60 Redpoll,61 Bullfinch, 62 Linnet.+ 3 unknowns,hopefully Snow Bunt,Whooper Swan and Lesser pecker (we live in hope)
Plus...... Pink footed goose and F**** Pigeon.total so far 39.
Going to try and see this lot in January on foot from my house and back....Trips to Soil Hill,Jay house lane and Cromwell Bottom, will have to be completed to get any where near 65 species

Northowram to shelf moor

A good walk today from Northowram to shelf moor.Loads of Redwing on the move north, 1 meadow pipit,16 Mistle Thrush,12 Goldfinch ,8 Chaffinch ,6 Stock Dove ,40 Lapwing and still no Fieldfare.Total 29sp  today and 36 so far around northowram on foot only.
Wednesday....low fog and rain,3 Long tailed tits in back garden and a Snipe over south.................

Seasons Greetings

                (Eagle Owl undisclosed site in yorkshire summer 2012)

All the best to one and all for the festive season and hope its a great new year.Andy.....Tawny owl this evening calling in the valley and a few Redwings and Stock doves but little else......

Keeping it local

http://birdingbyfoot.blogspot.co.uk/

My Footit area

Had a trial walk today within half a mile of my house ,and found 30 species of bird,including 21 lapwing ,2 jay , 6 LTTits,Kestrel,Sparrowhawk,19 Stock dove, 1 Grey Wagtail ,Redwings on the move s/w about 20+ , 1 Mistle Thrush and other common Crows,Gulls  and residents. No Linnets,Greenfinch,Fieldfare,ducks,Geese or |Pied wags,

Quiet walk 2

Same walk one week later,still deadly quiet with a covering of snow ,a flock of 14 goldfinch,loads of corvids numbering 300+ mainly Jackdaws a few Carrion Crows and 20 Rooks.You can tell its cold cos the first Lapwings have moved down from shelf moor with 10 in the horse field today.I did count 70 at shelf as well today.3 Fieldfare,1 Redwing and 2 Mistle thrush.On the bird table Chaffinch,Cole,Blue and Great Tit,Dunnock,Blackbird and 20+ house Sparrows.Sparrowhawk been active but no kills this week around the garden.

Quiet walk

Sunshine but cold today made for a brisk walk around the village perimeter.A small flock of Long tailed tits(5),1 Grey wag in the horse manure fileld ,34 Fieldfare went west,2 Chaffinch ,a few BHGulls and Commons heading n/w and a quick view of 62 lapwing up on Shelf moor........

More Sparrowhawk carnage

 

Young female Sparrowhawk is getting well into the swing of things,with another 2 Feral Pigeons in my garden alone this week.(pic above)
  A Dipper at ringstone was only  my third for the site and a flock of 21 Twite on the side of the road in a small quarry on the way to Blackstone Edge was a real bonus.
  Its been a strange week as there seems to have been a  complete clear out of Redwings,Fieldfares and Waxwings and no vis at all.
 The Nordic type Jackdaw was seen on Wednesday onwards and the Herring Gull at Brods has returned for its 3rd winter.

Shelf moor and sainsburys Yeasterday

                                   Candle snuff Fungus

Quick look at shelf moor area today saw 187 Common Gulls,25 Lapwing.4 Mistle Thrush,6 blackbirds,20 Starling,,6 Redwing and 12 Fieldfare,down in Northowram 37 Black Headed Gull.7 Heralds in Bare Head Tunnel are well worth a look and 1 Little Owl near here....Waxwing yeasterday in Brighouse

Great morning

A good morning for late autumn vis started slowly ,then picked up around 9ish all species going its own way.
1 Cormorant west
917 Woodpigeon s/w 22 north
148 Starling west
5 Herring Gull west
96 Redwing nn/east
212 Fieldfare s/w

Northowram to Shelf

Cheers Darrell

White - Tailed Starling

A heart stopping moment at shelf moor today,as I was counting the Starlings(311) a white tail resembeling one of the rare wheatears flipped across my bins..............only to reveal a White tailed Starling never seen one with a pure white tail before...40 lapwing,12 common Gull and one BHGull on a pretty grim day.Flushed a Woodcock from the field and 13 Stock Doves were the first group of the winter ....

Classic Woodpigeon

Early November clear blue skies and light ssw or wnw and its mass Woodpigeon moves s/w or ssw.In the last 3 days 4500 have passed over in the amazing shapes these large flocks make shimmering across the sky.The classic long cigar, tight tennis ball and long tail streamers were all observed today as numbers soared from a few early doorsto a few groups of 500 +.Lets hope it continues but the weather looks like it may put a dampner on the job,,

Sparrowhawk frenzy

had plenty of sightings of Sparrowhawks over the last few weeks with the adult male and female putting in many attacks on next doors pigeons and Collard doves.I have only seen the young male once since last month but the young female is a monster.
  I have seen it hit at least 2 pigeons over the weekend and fail to kill.Yesterday Ann from next door came running round saying there was a pool of blood in her garden and there was a dead bird in the tree.Sure enough a beheaded pigeon was hanging upside down dripping blood all over her nice new flaggs.Apparantly the Sparrowhawk had got the pigeon stuck on its foot and could not get it off until it flew headlong into the tree and this freed it from its talons.It returned 3 hours later and took the beheaded carcass off for another feed.
 Today it was in my garden with a very large feral pigeon pinned to the lawn taking large bits of feathers out of its breast,suddenly the pigeon broke free and both birds flew off and hit the car feathers flying in all directions.The sprk chased the pigeon under the car running along the path.The pigeon nipped round the front wheel and escaped.i saw the sprwk hunting high over the cricket pitch a bit later so it was still hungry......

Over the weekend

A much better weekend for vis with good numbers of Fieldfare 1487,Redwing 1941,Woodpigeon 974,Chaffinch 54,Greenfinch 20
and Starlings moving very close to the ground  wnw 1841.Hoping for a big move of Woodpigeon at the begining of November but some big numbers to the east of Northowram means I may have miised it this year.??

Last week

A poor week with no big arrivals of Thrush's and not many woodpigeons despite perfect conditions.On wednesday a very frustrating large  Pipit found in fading light was probably a Rock pipit,it was running around the puddles and tractor tracks and I got a few glimses of plumage a pale throat,streaked flanks and pale tips to tertials but no calls or outer tail colour.
4 Bramblings,2 whooper swans and a few 100+ Woodpigeons were the best of a bad weeks vis.A bit better with moths and a Common darter was a good find locally in late October...The beast of Ogden was a real treat..........

Over the weekend

A great weekend for vis -mig started with a record count of 17 Jays south on sat morning.A brilliant skein of 650+ Pink feet with pure blue sky backdrop was the best of the autumn so far ,first big move of Woodpigeon,Starlings and Redwings and first gooseanders of the autumn .Skylarks,Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtails thining out and Swallows were last seen on the 8th.

Motorway Birding

A quick trip to Scotland today produced some good motorway birding
800 Pink footed goose s/e
500  Pink footed goose... east
12 Whooper swans  south
8 Common Buzzard locals
80 Lapwing blogging
14 Pied Wagtail south

Recent sightings

The last of the swallows have just about gone and the first of the winter Thrush's have started to trickle in should be a big influx of thrushes before the weekend .Pink feet have been seen the last couple of days and the pain of the yellow browed warbler was eased with a fly over Rock pipit today,another one for the self found list.For the last 5 years when Ive taken the kids to the beach ive allways chased the rock pipits till they fly over my head calling,it paid off today in the swirling mist one shot through calling 3 times.There were quite a few inland records today so there must be a move on.Snow Bunts next,???

Same place,

2 skylark,3 Swallow and 2  meadow Pipit what a difference a day makes

Swallow Spectacular

From first light Swallows poured through Northowram today ,large groups of 30+ and others skimmimg a foot above the ground,also meadow pipits streaming through largest group 27, 3 Pieds ,2 Skylarks and a Tree Pipit gave there calls as they headed south.The first 10 Pink footed geese struggled along the valley in the strong wind. The bird of the day went to a first year Reed Bunting hiding in the undergrowth near the new Lorry car park.Swallows totalled 850+ and Mipits 350+.a great vis day...

This is great

All hail the Newton Stringer.........



http://literateherringthisway.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/gyr-crakes.html

Thursday vis

A good morning started with a steady flow of mips and swallows,the highlights being my first Raven for ages and a Great spotted Woodpecker flying high in with a flock of 11 mipits.
Meadow Pipit 216 s/w
swallow         96 s/w
House Martin 3 s/w
Raven              1 south
Great Spot      1 south
Jay                  1 south
Cormorant 1 west
Wheatear 1 south along the fence posts andthe flew off south.1 at Paw lane Queensbury later on.