Afternoon walk

Afternoon Walk
40 + Swallows
2 House Martin
3/4 Sparrowhawk
2 Stock Dove
27 Woodpigeons/ east
1 Buzzard high south

Turtles at Dalyan..Turkey

http://www.dalyanguide.co.uk/DalyanCaretta.html both these Loggerheads had been hit by Speed Boats and are undergoing rehab.Hopfully they will make it back to sea.The beach we went to had 100 nests each nest containing 100 - 150 eggs.We watched them hunting crabs a realy brilliant sight.

Rainbow Rising

Last Swifts

2 swifts above the house today at 5.45 forced down by the rain.3 LBBgulls ,2 BHgulls and a Sparrowhak .

Beautiful Demoiselle

Turkey (is very hot)

Most days about 110 degrees and at night neverbelow 80,

Goldfinch

The local flock of goldfinch is now at 31 this is on my front lawn feeding on dandilion (type)also 5 Linnet including 3 juvs have joined the Goldfinch.Good numbers of gulls on the move with LBB,Common,Herring ,BH and one adult Yellow LeggedGull was a real bonus.

Eider

Managed this after a boozy doo in bamburgh.Still saw more birds than yer average autumn passage in Northowram.

Gulls on the Move

Over the last few weeks LBBGulls have been on the move west but today the first GBBGulls (1o+) have been seen moving east with the first BHGulls of the summer going n/e.canada Geese have been moving n/e a couple of weeks ago and 5 greylags east was a record for me here.the local sparrowhawks and Kestrels had been collecting food on a regular basis the last couple of days.

Jay House lane

Had a look at jay house lane this evening and managed about 6 /7 Tree sparrows ,whitethroat and Stock dove.

Is it Winter.........??

Its been like winter this week the car was frozen solid on wenesday morning,??Swifts and swallows have been on the move all week with a massive move on sunday with birds moving n/w all day.LBBGulls going west and 2 Herons high west on thursday the highlights of a dull week.

House Sparrows ,Linnets and Swifts

4 Linnets today in front field the first of the year(about 2 weeks later than last year),2 Swifts on the 6thn were a week early.A Bright line Brown eye in the moth trap was the earliest by 2 weeks.House Sparrows are much in evidence nest building and the local Sparrowhawk was seen carrying food today.

Badger

had a few new sightings locally recently including my first Badger walking down the road when i came back from a late night moffing session,Fox,Rabbit and Noctule Bat.Swallows,House Martins are well in now and it was nice to hear Reed warbler at EGP the other day.there has been a good move of LBBGulls west last week with a few Herring Gulls in with them.

Not for the faint Hearted

Some good photos of himalayan Vultures cut and paste this ............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





"http://mbvtravel.com/burials-in-tibet-not-for-sensitive-souls"

RED KITE

Its taken about 37 years of looking to see a Red Kite locally and today, I saw it out of my living room window and then from the back garden a beautiful adult with forked red tail and grey head .An adult male Merlin watched hunting meadow Pipits,Buzzards ,sand Martins,displaying Sparrowhawk,Kestrels and ravens in another part of Calderdale,all in all a real red letter day..................

First Migrants

12 Sand Martins flew up the valley today whilst watching the local Sparrowhawk displaying ,I had 9 swallows and a House martin on the first and 24 Stock Doves in the local field.

Sunday

11 Stock dove in front field ,1 Redwing very fast calling North,8 Mipits north,3 LBBGull west and 20 canada Geese west.In the moth trap Hebrew character,1 Clouded drab,Common quaker and Chestnut.

Elland Gravel Pits (RIP)

Waded through the chavs along the new road that links Brighouse with elland today.Its allways been bad down there but now they can get in without getting there reebocks dirty there everywhere.The bit I liked best was the bit they cleared for the new duck feeding station very reminisent of the one at ogden.When they put the by - pass in so you can get to Tag loop with out getting your reeboks dirty the place is doomed.Anyway managed 9 Orange Underwings and no migrants yet.

Raining mipits

From first light today mipits were heading n/w in one's and two's and at about 8.15 82 dropped out of the sky and landed in the front field.One female Gooseander s/w 2 Canada Geese east and 2 lapwing n/e.Mipit numbers exceeded 150.

Sparklehorse RIP

Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse has committed suicide, according to a report from Rolling Stone. His family has released a statement reading, "It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today. We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts. May his journey be peaceful, happy and free. There's a heaven and there's a star for you."
The album,' Its a wonderful Life'with PJ Harvey is a classic.

Weekly round up

Anomalous Larvae
Made it to see the Ringed billed Gull on Sat and what a cracker it was.Pink footed Goose,Goosander and goldeneye,also there.Nuthatch and grey Heron on saville Park during the week and Pochards at EGP mid week.
Went looking for anomalous larvae on sat night and found 21 many thanks Bri leesey

Sunday

Good to see Little Owl this morning in local barn for the first time this year ,i was wondering if it had been lost in the cold weather.1 meadow Pipit high n/w 6 Herring Gull and 1 LBBgull east.A steady trickle of Woodpigeons and 4 Stock Doves west.Little else of note.A Tawny owl calling loudly this evening.

????????????????????

Sunday low fog and very cold,

225 Pink-footed geese west
1 Herring gull east and 4 west
5 Mistle thush n/e
1 Pied wag high north
2 Bullfinch high north
1 Lapwing blogging
19 House sparrow on bird table,40 Jackdaw and 30 Carrion Crow in field
Not a bad day

Dumping of toxic waste in the Amazon

The final judgment is imminent after a long legal battle between oil giant Chevron and brave indigenous peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon, who are seeking redress for the multinational’s dumping of billions of gallons of toxic waste in the rainforest.



If Chevron is forced to pay billions in damages, it’ll be a big step forward in bringing the world’s polluters to account. Staring defeat in the face, the oil giant has launched an aggressive last-ditch lobbying campaign to derail the lawsuit.

But Chevron’s newly-appointed CEO, John Watson, knows his corporation’s brand is under fire and is growing anxious about the risks of a public shaming campaign -- so let’s turn up the heat! Sign the petition calling on Watson and Chevron to clean up their mess in Ecuador, and it will be delivered to them, their shareholders and the US media -- click below to take action now:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/chevron_toxic_legacy_3/?vl

Garden Birdwatch

Very dull with little about in the garden,but it kept the kids quiet for 10 mins.
33 House Sparrow
41 Collared Dove
18 Starling
1 Goldcrest
3 Chaffinch
10 Magpie
4 Blckbird
1 Great tit
2 Blue tit
2 Dunnock
1 Robin
1 Wren
11 Jackdaw
6 Carrion Crow
4 Rooks
thats it...............

Spring is in the air.

The first singing Song Thrush,Dunnock,Chaffinch and Mistle thrush today ,along with collared doves copulating in the back garden these were the first sign's of spring here.70 + Pink footed geese headed s/e today about 11ish and a big movment of Gulls at about 3.45 all west contained Herring,GBB,BH and Common.

Greylag Goose

1 Greylag goose in and amongst the sheep today was a bit of a surprise ,6 stock Dove,2 Herring Gull,3 GBBGull and loads of BH and Common Guls on the move west/north /west,1 GS Woodpecker and 30 Collared dove were the only birds of note one Ladybird was also a surprise as I searched in vain for coleophora cases on the local gorse bush.
21 Redpoll(yes normal redpoll )at EGP.

Last night

Last night I was woken up by a fox making a right din.I looked out the window and it was chasing its tail round and round then jumping from right to left it looked as if it were going crazy.It then ran off up next doors drive.??2 Roe Deer walked across the field this morning and 1 Snipe flew round the field this morning a couple of times which makes 60 for the very slow new yesr list.

Not again

In the evening light ,again I saw the raptor that keeps eluding me.I am convinced it is a male Goshawk ,but its always flying away in dim light,Its just too large to be a sprwk as I see them every day around the house and fields,this is a Gos but is it an escapee from a local falconer or is the cold snap forcing it into pastures new there are some big woodpigs in the local wood.?? One decent view is all I need...............