Slow Start

Went for the Green Sand this morning but no show, Tree Sparrows showing well and a singing Dipper at Wellhome park was very vocal. Song and Mistle Thrush in good voice and a herring Gull over west. 3 Goldeneye . Little Owl , Red Grouse and Fieldfare at Cold edge this afternoon with NCD and his new Zeiss Bins..( very bright and excellent field of view)...

Duddon Moss

Pintail 1200 +
Widgeon  600 +
Shelduck  500 +
Pink footed Geese  800 +
Oystercatcher  1000 +
Curlew 500 +
Dunlin   500 +
Redshank   500 +
Knot , Greenshank , Green Sandpiper , Red Breasted Merganser ,|Barnacle Geese , Goosander ,
Goldeneye  and a Peregrine.....The oddest thing ive seen this year was a flock of about 35 Twite ,30 Linnets , 8 Pied Wagtail , 1 Grey Wagtail and 5 Meadow Pipits..feeding on an area very similar to Soil Hill next to the estuary...the odd thing was right in the middle of this lot was a Common Chiffchaff feeing on the ground flicking its tail and hoping around...I thought it must have been something else but continued close views through the scope confirmed it to be a Chiffy....very odd.

Ogden , Raggalds and Starlings

62 lapwing opposite the Ye old Raggalds along with 245 Staling and 11 Common Gull. 5 Goldcrest , 10LTTTits 2 Mipits , 7 Bullfinch , 1 male Sparrowhawk ,  and the usual at Ogden...........The main event this week has been the influx of Continental Starlings with at least 2000 + noted throughout the week ,  tight fast flying flocks of between 14 and 175 have been noted heading west all week ....

Good local vis/////////////

Woodpigeon       854 s/w
Starling a continual move of small groups with the largest 108 and a total of   235 due west
Golden Plover 25 north over the house then found at shelf moor later.
Lapwing 6 north over the house with 48 at shelf moor later
Chaffinch    1 flock of 26 south
Goldfinch     5 south
GBBGull  2 west pretty scarce these days
LBBGull  48 west steady move all morning largest group 11
Herring Gull 135 west  steady move all morning largest group 17
Fieldfare 14 south
Redwing 9 south
Meadow Pipit 2 south

Covenham res........late november

A lot quieter than my last visit but still managed  ---
Cormorant ......247
Widgeon           75
Gadwall             11
Pochard                2
Redshank            2
Hen Harrier  (ringtail)       1
Whooper Swan     3 + 12 + 1 + 10
Peregrine              1
Little Grebe         2
Little Egret          2
Skylark 23 , Linnet 46 , Bullfinch 2 , Brambling 1 , Kingfisher ,+ common species

Mistle Thrush winter song

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03mztp0

Covenham Reservoir area (lincs)

On and around  the reservoir

Great Crested Grebe     70 +
Gadwall                          20 +
Shoveler                          30 +
Widgeon                          100 +
Teal                                 2
Scaup                              2
Tufted Duck                    200 +
Goldeneye                       150 +
Mallard                           200 +
Pintail                               2
Coot                                300 +
Cormorant                       284
Pied Wagtail                      14
Meadow Pipit                  38
Redshank                         1
Greylag Goose                43
Pink Footed Goose           1

Vis Mig

Pink footed Goose   south  2000 +
Whooper Swan            22 + 4  (26) south
Fieldfare                       745   west
Starling                          400 west
Brambling                     8
Redwing                       120

Surrounding Fields

Green Sandpiper                1
Short eared Owl                1
Peregrine (juv)                   1
Barn Owl                            1
Marsh harrier   (juv Fem)                      1
Buzzards           Common
Merlin                                       1 
Yellowhammer 40 +
Tree Sparrow 30    +
Redd Bunting         Common

Thursday

2 Buzzards around most of the morning and a Sprawk hunting Chaffinch around mid - day. More Fieldfare , Redwing and Starlings heading south,,,,

Afternoon vis

Lots of Redwings and Fieldfare on the move this afternoon also a large group of Continental Starlings headed west....

Fen Farm ....

A couple of days in Lincolnshire
Pinkfeet were moving south in good numbers
Skiens south 278 + 35 + 78 + 135 + 50 + 13
Whooper Swan    4 south
Golden Plover      100 +
Green Sandpiper   1
Little Egret           2
Marsh Harrier      2
Blackcap              1
Yellowhammer     36
Tree Sparrow       20
Merlin                   1
Barn owl                 1
Corn Bunting         11

Vis Mig ......(at last)

Its been a slow autumn for Vis - mig with all the fog and today was just the same early  doors..But at 11ish a  flock of Redwing north got things going
Redwing 850 + north
Fieldfare 22 North
Chaffinch   18 south
Siskin         24 south
Buzzard    1 high west
Pink footed geese 134 (photo count)  west
Mipits       27 south
Jay          1 south
Great spot    1 south
Bunting sp    1 high south
Herring Gull   2 north

LRP breeding in Calderdale 2015

A few from earlier this year

Merlin Walney Island Cumbria March

A good year for Whoopers

 

Bufftip back garden July

Ocherous Pug 1st for Calderdale Hardcastle Craggs April.

Rook and ringstone

Juv Peregrine hunting gulls , 2 Widgeon , 4 Teal , 1 Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk

Fly Flatts / Haworths Minor

I had 44 + today at Fly flats feeding on Ragwort very close to the reservoir  some very tatty individuals but some quite smart ones too. A few Black Darter , 1 Silver Y , 1 Small Tortoiseshell and a large moth over the moor which was unidentifiable.............. 1 Widgeon , 2 Wheatear , 20 Mipits , 1 Kestrel , 1 Golden Plover and 4 LBBGulls.............

Shieldbugs in Calderdale 2015

Hawthorn

Forest

Hairy

Birch

Ringstone 2 nd October

2 Widgeon , 3 Teal , 9 Golden Plover 45 lapwing , 70 Goldfinch , 3 Linnet , 1 Cormorant , 1 Little Grebe , 1 Chiffchaff , 84 Swallow , 2 House Martin , 1 Grey heron10 Snipe.....

Its Autumn

Keep an eye/ear out

2nd October 2015

48 Small Tortoiseshell
3 Painted Lady
4 Red Admiral
2 Small White
8 Speckled Wood
6 Silver Y
On my local walk around Hedge top lane fields....(October??)

testing

 

Ringstone

1 Little Owl , 1 Little Grebe , 12 Snipe , 2 Teal , 9 Golden Plover , 1 Buzzard , 237 Lapwing ,1 Chiffchaff , 8 Golfinch , 1 Grey Wagtail ,  1 Swallow ,  25 meadow Pipit , 1 Cormorant ,1 Skylark ,30 BH Gull, 2 Common Gull 8 Herring Gull  over south ,3 Linnet  and 40 Canada Goose.

Hard Going

Its been a bit of a slog this last week .with little to show for a lot of effort..Highlights Plenty of local Buzzards . a willow warbler on the 26th , Skylark , 54 Mipits in the fields and up to 80 Goldfinch and 3 Linnets. Ringstone last friday help 2 Widgeon , 9 Teal ,3 Goldies ,8 Snipe and over 200 Lapwing ,1 Chiff and a long slog round fly produced 2 Wheatear................

Ringstone in the rain..

Not much different today , with 9 Teal , 20 + Mallard , 1 Cormorant , 10 Swallow 100 Lapwing and 10 Snipe.....

Ringstone

Not much shoreline left but a couple of Snipe , 9 Teal  , , Grey heron , 57  BH Gull and 1 Herring and 1 Common.158 Lapwing ,11 Pied Wags , 1 White Wag and 2 grey Wagtail along the dam wall.2 Willow Warblers and a chiff in the garden .100 Swallow , 20 House Martin and 3 Sand Martins dropped in and that was about it....................3 Red Admiral , 1 Small Copper , 2 Small White , and 10 Small tortoiseshell

Nowt then a Hobby

Went out this morning thinking it must be a good vis day 1 Buzzard , 5 meadow pipit , 2 House martins and 6 Swallows south was I could muster in a couple of hours.....Then at about 6.50 a steady stream of BH Gulls started heading north then out of nowhere a Hobby headed low north only a silhouette but  my only Calderdale one this year (so far)..A male goosander  low over Sainsburys car park was a first.

Ringstone again

With the shoreline starting to show , I gave it another try today and struck lucky with 3 Ruff ,1 male and 2 females ,1 Common sand and plenty of BH Gulls and Lapwing.

Ringstone......

3 Common Sands , 1 Widgeon  and 2 Singing Chiffchaff was a bit of a surprise  today and made me wonder what time of year it was ??  Not much else , 20 Mipits , 14 Linnet , 8 Mallard , 1 Teal , 4 Pied Wags 100 BH Gull and 150 Lapwing..............

What a difference a day makes

9 Meadow pipit , 5 Swallows , 38 Goldfinch , , 4 Pied and 3 grey Wagtails and 14 Canada Geese have moved into the fields.....

Wryneck

When you get a text ,,Wryneck at Scammonden you have to go asap, I have missed Yellow Browed ,Woodlark ,Richards Pipit and Wryneck over the last few years so I had to give it a go. I had done all my work for the day and set off straight away.  A Lewis Hamilton drive and I was on the way down to Scammonden.
  I got out of the car bins and scope at the ready, a  bird flushed from the floor and landed about 8 feet away in a small birch tree..well blow me down a WRYNECK showed well for about 2 minutes then flew low down into the Rowan tree about 20 feet away. JB (the finder) turned up , at this point it flew onto the road but was then flushed by a car , and was not seen again..
  We then headed of down the track which was teaming with migrants..John headed off to have a look  at another spot and left me where he had first found the Wryneck...15 - 20 Spotted Flycatcher , 4 Redstarts , 2 Whinchat, 15 - 20 Chiffchaff , 1 Tree pipit , 2 Buzzard , 1 Sparrowhawk , 2 Willow Warbler , 8+ Blackcap and a flock of 15 Siskin....Brilliant ..Many thanks to JB....