What a fall

Should I go and see the marsh harrier at walshaw dean or go and find something else I thought when Id finished work today.Well I opted for the harrier,as I approached the plantation at walshaw I picked up the Harrier distantly above the moor,Ill get a better look when I reach the top res i said to myself.
 A falsh of a red tail in the first bit of wood started things off. 2 Redstarts a male and a female type,calling Go;ldcrests and cole tits could be herd.As I got to the end of the plantation another 2 female type Redstarts were seen ,then Spotted flys every where at least 6 were seen flitting about the trees catching prey.Next a female type Whitethroat came to my pishing calls and then 3 Whinchats were seen on the fence below,all the time swallows were overhead with Pied wags and Mipit calls filling the sky .A Tree Pipit was herd calling above and the redstarts were now catching flies in full view,flashing there red tails and landing on the ground momentarily.2 Chiff Chaffs could not be turned into anything else.I looked at my watch id been there 1 and a half hours no time for the top res today.Other birds seen were 6 Kestrel, 21 linnets,4 goldfinch , 1 raven and a few grouse.

Blackshaw Head

A real morning to be out after the initial downpour,the first birds were a large group of 56 Swallows heading n/e soon followed by smaller groups of 5/6 this continued till about 1.30 some so close I could almost touch um ( total 350+).5 wheatear ,3 Raven , 6 Kestrels and a beautiful young male Sparrowhawk,couple of Skylarks.Loads of mipits on the move with at least 200 over and 1 tree pipit was the bird of the morning.

Booth to Midgley

Hundreds of swallows on the move this morning s/w and continued most of the day,at least 700+ , small groups of House martins also with a 2 + 10 + 55 +2  + 4 = 73 s/w , 2 swift s/w, 24 Mistle thrush,1 buzzard and a few Linnets,goldfinch and greenfinch.1 willow warbler and 1 snipe were the best from a long slog.

ADULT MALE Common Scoter found dead at Batings

Mallorca by JCC

Mallorca JCC

3 from mallorca

All Taken by Damian Cockroft aged 9....

Good to be back (BLACK REDSTART)

What a week after finding 5  icelandic Black tailed Godwits at Ringstone on the 25th July then 2 weeks in mallorca,I came back and found spotted fly feeding a juv at Gorpley,a yellow wag and 6 Wheatear at flints and then a classic adult male Black Redstart at Batings.Good numbers of Swallows and Mipits on the move this week and the local Goldfich flock is up to about 70.Also a first for Calderdale in the form of a Large Twin spot carpet on the garage window in July.Lets hope thats not it for the year.

Mallorcan Vis S Albufera marsh

Thee is an osprey in this pic somewhere............................


After a large storm on the 9th i decided to see if anything was on the move first thing the next morning.As i aproached the ' English bridge ' I could hear Cettis and Sardinian warblers from the vegatation on the side of the canal.First birds were 27 swallows south closely followed by  an 8 and a 17 tucked into the last group were 2 red rumped swallows and 3 sand martin soon followed . 100 + Little egrets flew from there roost just up the canal , 7 Squacco and 4 Night herons went the opposite way.Wader calls got my attention 5 greenshank and a Common sand went up the canal soon followed by 3 geenshank and a spotted redshank.
 3 Audouins Gulls went over and more little egrets  flew from there roost.Swifts piled through too many to count  nothing of interset at first but soon I picked out 3 Pallids and a superp Alpine close to the tree tops surrounding the canal. Nightingale and Fan - tailed warblers occasionally gave bursts of song.
  The sky was full of swifts and Swallows and a marsh harrier drifted low over the canal then out of nowhere an adult Elanoras falcon went shooting through the hirundines not to be seen again that morning.
A Little Bittern sneaked out of cover for a brief view and a couple of Purple Herons  broke from cover to give excellent views .A  flock of 42 Black Headed Gulls headed over and a couple of yellow legged Gulls then followed.
  Spotted flys seen to be all over the place and a couple of Hoopoes made for a great morning.a quick look at the nearby salinas produced 2 curlew,4 wood,3 green and 7 Common sandpipers , 24 Black winged stilts,1 avocet , 6 little stins ,2 dunlin ,1 ruff , 6 Kentish,1 Little Ringed and 11 Ringed plovers,4 Purple swamphen,2 Yellow wag ( blue headed) ,1 tawny pipit and a family party of Woodcat shrikes.
  Stone Curlew,Osprey,Quail and Moustashed warbler were seen later on in the morning...Good Stuff........................................Also seen ,marbled duck, balaric warbler, black Vulture,Med Gull, Temmincks stint,Cragg martin , Blue rock thrush and loads of elenoras falcons.
 

Mallorca

2 weeks on the island of mallorca was brilliant,,info to follow......