East leeds

Loads of Red Kites ,Yellowhammer etc but also flushed a male Ring Ouzel went straight up in the sky and off north...

19th and 20th April

Soil Hill...12th - 17th April

A great day to be out , the average daily temp on Soil Hill in April so far must be at least - 2 that is day and night temp , even today it was frozen on the ground but the sun was at last warm.....there were plenty Meadow Pipits bouncing around and 7 Skylarks together on the ground made you feel like at last something may be on the move..A few Reed Buntings flitting about on a dry stone wall was another good sign,6 different Snipe ,2 Grey PArtridge , 2 Swallows zoomed north and a flock of 5 Linnets and 2 Goldfinch flew west , 40 + Fieldfare and 2 Mistle thrush were feeding down by NK pond. Golden Plover calls , Curlew and Lapwing displaying on the lower slopes..The Golden Plover flock eventually showed about 45 heading over towards Nolstar...5 Wheatear in the Horse paddock and then 30 Whooper Swans went overhead north and a Raven high north west , 2 Little Owl on Ned Hill track .. and another Swallow north.5 Pied Wagtail.... Then JLL refound the Ring Ouzels and when I got there 4 males were showing well ...Nice one John stonkers.......

13th April ... 2 Raven fighting with a falcon up by the wind farm was too distant to call for certain...but it was very feisty .....1 Ring Ouzel showed well but briefly at the top of Bradshaw fields , 10 Linnets , Red legged partridge , LBBgull and Herring Gulls drifing S/w ....and 3 sightings of Sparrowhawk one was a male carrying foodtail , 1 Grey Wag was a first this year and 42 Golden Plover with some stunning male Northern Types mixed in ..................... A Chiffchaff on the 14th and 3 Willow Warbler on the 15th...Green Woodpecker and Long tailed Tit on the 16th and a stunning Black Red on the 17th (Well done JJL ) Little Owls 6 + this week....

Buckden Pike

to follow

Early April...

info to follow

Swillington..

8 Summer plumage Black necked grebes , 2 Cetties Warbler , Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff , Blackcap ,400 + Sand Martin , Swallow ,Little Egret, Gadwall , Shoveler , Widgeon , Pochard , Red Kite , Bittern Booming and in flight , bitterly cold and very windy........................

Soil Hill first Wheatear

A quick dash on Friday produced 15 Curlew in a single flock west , 22 Fieldfare north / west , 4 Linnets, 3 Kestrel , 2 Sparrowhawk , 1 Buzzard very low hunting the lower slopes , 2 Little Owls , Reed Bunting , 40 + Meadow Pipit north , 30 Skylarks north west and 5 displaying Snipe......and on the 3rd a cracking male Wheatear on the lower slopes the first migrant......!!!!...

Oak Nycteoline

30TH MARCH RED kITE AND 2 SWALLOWS NEAR hEBDEN 7 CHIFFCHAFF , 1 SINGING BLACKCAP , 3 KINGFISHER , SPARROWHAWK NEST BUILDING , TREECREEPER DISPLAY SONG AND COURTSHIP AND 3LITTLE GREBES CROMWELL 14 TUFTED DUCK COLD EDGE DAMS...

OAK NYCTEOLINE f.notata

Adult female Goshawk......

Cromwell Bottom

A quick walk round Cromwell today in the sun , the wind is still keeping things back and very cold .....1 Chiffchaff in with 4 Lesser Redpoll , one a spring adult male a real beauty . 2 Kingfisher put on a dazzling display , Goosander and Grey Wagtail on the river and a Little Grebe in full display mode. 3 Orange Underwing in the birch tops but the wind was keeping them down and no real display flights were seen. Comma , Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock added a bit more colour /........................

Whoopers over the house

Whooper Swans

Two early morning visits on Sat and Sunday, to Soil Hill and a walk over to Ned Hill track and back..The lower slopes again were busy with Lapwing and Curlew display calls , these have now been joined by drumming Snipe and in a week its gone from one pair of Meadow Pipit to 10 + pairs. Skylarks in full song , Reed Bunting , Wren and Blckbirds (8 males ). Its so good to hear all of them singing at last as some days its been very quiet. 500 + Starlings in the bottom fields 2 RAVEN flew over and 3 sightings of Sparrowhawk .Also had a face off with the Roe Deer male he was so mad at me barking and stomping his feet ,not happy... When I got to the top of Soil Hill i could make out Whoopers on Mixi res but its distant and I could hear Whoopers .?? When I got to Ned hill track I could hear Whoopers realy loud and picked up 14 heading into land at Ogden...There were 60 + on the res and they could be herd on Ned Hill track..On Sunday they all took off at the same time about 07.30 heading in all directions..At least 180 were counted....great to see and hear....hope for some migrants next weekend..........

Avocet and Grey Shoulder Knot (Tuesday 16th March ) ..

Well what a day , firstly emptied the maoth trap for the first time this year and a Grey Shoulder Knot was only the 3rd local record, plus Oak Beauty , Hebrew Character , EarlyGrey , Common Quaker , Clouded Drab and again Small Tortoiseshell flying round the garden.2 RAvens in the trees at the end of the street was a first . Then off to Mixenden Reservoir to see an Avocet that was swimming round like a Mallard.( well done DJS ). 2 new species for Calderdale in 2 weeks ....The a trip up Soil Hill where a Buzzard was the first bird seen a new bird for this year up there..Also for DB the Avocet could be seen from Soil Hill through the scope..!!!

Soil Hill Sunday and Monday Morning

A real gale still blowing this morning but there was a reasonable amount going on. Curlew and lapwings in display flight /calls . 2 Oystercatcher and 1 Jack Snipe flushed from the lower hill side , its flooded and deep mud throughout.A flock of 110 Fieldfare and 200 Starlings were feeding in the lower fields and still no Redwings.?? Gulls drifted slowly into the gale with 10 Herrings , 2 BH Gulls and a stonking adult Great black backed Gull . The odd Skylark and 1 Meadow Pipit were flushed from cover but the wind was keeping most things down . Blackbird and 2 pairs of Mallard look to be settling down to nest. 3 Pied Wagtail , 2 Canadas , 1 BH gulls on Raggalds flood.... Monday the 15th... The first displaying Meadow Pipits today with parashute display seen by 5 different individuals , also the first deffinate move of Meadow Pipits with small groups heading north ...A cracking Juv female Peregrine and a male Sparrowhawk displaying below Ned Hill track. Jay the first of the year , Red legged PArtridge , Reed Bunting , singing Skylarks and the lower fields full of displaying lapwing , Curlew and Oystercatchers........1 Mistle Thrush and no Fieldfare today...Barn Owl and a distant LEO..

Long tailed Skua

Long tailed Skua in Sheffield this morning showing incredibly well...Thanks Sheffield Birders for images

Swillington

Had a couple of hours there this morning , 2 summer plumage Black necked Grebe , 1 winter plumage Slavonian Grebe , Booming Bittern , Cettis Warbler , Red Kite , Little Egret , Widgeon , Gadwall , Shoveler just like a year in Calderdale ..but better.....forgot camera which means Im going back....

Black - Necked Grebe at Ringstone 06/03/2021

 

Its always nice to see a new species for Calderdale and this Black necked Grebe at Ringstone was a real Jem..Cheers DF.....

Soil Hill

 This is what Soil Hill looked like for most of the week until this morning when it was clear but no wind at all..

Skylark ...20 (17 + 3 ) nnw ,

Reed Bunting 1 west

Curlew x 6 west 

Goldfinch x 8 west

Cormorant x  1 sw

Herring gull x 16 east

BH Gull  x 4 (full hoods) s/w

Common Gull x 22 sw 

Present

Red legged partridge , Stock Dove , Lapwing (30+) , Little Owl , Oystercatcher (2 first for me on site)

Curlew 4 , Moorhen (4) , Magpie . House Sparrow , Kestrel , Canada Goose...just as i was starting enjoy the morning the news broke of Black - necked Grebe at Ringstone.......

5 Goosander over to Thornton Moor reservoir at dusk,,07.03.2021

End of February

 Well it was quite warm when the sun came out but still the wind was cold..The first time you got a bit of a feeling that spring was not far away today..A small group of 5 Meadow Pipits , 2 Pied Wags  and 2 Skylarks headed N/W and a skein of 50 + Pink footed Geese went due west..Lapwings and Curlew were in the bottom field along with 2 Moorhens and 1 Grey Heron. Gulls were drifting south with plenty of BHeads , Commons and Herrings , but the bird of the day was an adult  Great - black backed Gull ......Dunnocks , Blackbirds and more singing Skylarks a Green Woodpecker called from Ned Hill track area , The Roe Deer stag was seen today which is the first time I've seen him for a while......5 females have been about for most of the winter , ..3 Stonechat were nice to see............2 distant Little Owls , singing Reed Bunt and Red legged Partridge....Barn Owls seen daily at the moment..

Iceland Gull Albert Reservoir , Pellon

 Bizarre how things happen , NCD found a 1st winter Iceland Gull on Pellon res , I got there pretty quickly as I was not far away. Got out of the car picked up the gull behind some hawthorns , I could see its wings flapping about , then it took off flew slowly round the res showing very well and was not seen again...............!!!!

SOil Hill Trig Point... Red Grouse and PFG

                             The original Trig point on Soil Hill before landfill took it up about 30 more feet..??

                                              Lots of Skylarks singing today

                                          Red Grouse pretty scarce on Soil Hill ...No seen  one up on Soil Hill for at least 10 years..???

                                    

Reading some old blogg posts last night I reckoned that I should give Raggalds flood a go and PFG very nice to see..this morning....

21st 12 Greenfinch , 1 Curlew over and 1 Red Grouse 

22nd Pink footed Goose on Raggalds Flood and first displaying Lapwings and 12 singing Skylark .Also Moorhen back on the lower ponds first time they have not been frozen over since late December....