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....
   

Sunday....

Started with a small flock of 35 Goldfinch , 11 Linnets and 30 Starling in and around the cricket pitches. A singing Chiffchaff was in the tall hedge and a trickle of mipits overhead.1Whinchat on the lower fence put in a brief appearance. The highlights were a small group of 5 Cormorants north and a Raven east..... 1 Jay ,  1 juv great spot and 40 + Swallows were in and around the horse fields....

Wednesday

Not a bad day started with 2 Goldcrest , 1 Willow Warbler , 1 Chiffchaff , 6 Meadow pipit headed high south. 55 Swallow and 20 House martins , 1 Wheatear  , 2 Whinchat (1 juv and an adult male different from the adult female which has been kicking around).Buzzards herd mewing and one landed on the telegraph pole outside the house then flew low over the cricket pitch (wow).1 great spot , 1 Jay and 4 linnets.

France 2

Highlights...


Birds...A flock of 32 Black - necked Grebes was the most I have ever seen together , Melodious Warbler , Dartford Warbler , Lesser Pecker in the garden along with singing Short toed treecreeper most mornings. Loads of  Purple herons , Night herons , , Crested Larks ,Whimbrel and Blackwits, Spoonbills , Black wing stilts , wood san and little stints , fan tailed warbles and cetties warblers.
Butterflies... Long -tailed and Marazine Blue , Meadow , Glanville , Silver washed , marsh and Knapweed fritillarys , Brown hairstreak , Swallow tails ,White Admiral , Sooty and Small Coppers
Moths...Pine tree Lappet , Beautiful Hook Tip , Scorched Carpet , Burnet Campion ,Trebble Bar , Broad Bordered Bee Hawkmoth ,Black V Moth , Clouded Buff ,Birds Wing , Portland riband Wave , Feathered and Scarce Footman ,Coronet , Tree lichen beauty , Gypsy Moth and Rosy Underwing,Oak prossessionary  (to name a few)

 SilveSSilver Washed Fritillary

 

 

A right good doooo....

A poor start to the day as it rained till 11ish but as soon as it cleared I was out.66 BH , 3 Common  and 1 LBBGull on the cricket pitch. I was on the look out for the Goldfinch flock after Dishfish  had found some Siskin (good local find )  at Soil Hill yesterday, bit of a bogey bird for me in Northowram , I have had a few but I should have had more.??
   As I jumped over the fence a bird flushed into the large nettle patch..looked interesting but when I got to the patch 5  Goldfinch flushed from the same spot. Damm Golfinch( not Siskin) and only 5 of um.
   I headed down the fields to the area which is good for migrants and a male Whinchat and juv female Whitethroat made me feel a lot better. At this point the bird in the nettle patch got the better of me so I headed back for another look , after a couple of minutes a cracking Sedge Warbler showed its self.(very pleased I went back)..
  Did a whole circuit  of all the fields looking for the Goldfinch flock but only managed 2 more Goldfinch .
 At 6 .30 I headed out again the Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat were in the same spot , but little else of note. As I went to leave a flock of finches was picked up heading my way. At least 30 Siskin with 2 cracking males and about 10 Goldfinch mixed in with them...A good day and thanks to Dishfish

Whinchats

A slow week until today , 16 pied Wags on the Cricket pitch , 150 Goldfinch in the fields , House Martin and Sand Martin south and 2 cracking Whinchat on the fences at the bottom of the fields....1 1 willow warbler , 1 LBBgull and 25 BH Gulls in the horse fields ...

Old News

From around the first week of August , I had 2 juv Buzzards mewing in Northowram and 1 Barn owl was seen briefly near the wind farm at dusk.

France One

A stop over near Portsmouth was very productive with a flyover Great White Egret , 30 Little egret a Cetti's Warbler and a bonus Essex Skipper,( UK Butterfly species 53).A Bonxie on the flat sea and little else on the way over to France....

 Brown Hairstreak

 Glanville Fritillary

Swallowtail

On the move 2

First morning out for a while produced ,12 Goldfinch , 10 Linnet , 1 Sand Martin , 20 Swallow,  10 Pied Wags , 10 Willow Warbler , 2 Whitethroat and a Blackcap..............

On the Move...Lesser Whitethroat

The first real day with an autumn vis feel to it , saw 9 Pied Wagtail on the cricket pitch 2 of which were jet black juvs.A large flock of Blue and great tits moving along the tree line also contained 2 juv Bullfinch , 4 Greenfinch, 2 juv great spots and a family of 4 Blackbirds. One Chiffchaff and a superb Lesser Whitethroat made for a good start to the autumn migration....

Fly and Northowram

Quick look up at fly flats ,1 Cormorant , 10 mallard . 3 /4 juv Wheatear , 1 Barnacle Goose , 25 Swifts ,3 Kestrel 6 LBBGulls , 2 BHGulls , 1 male Merlin shot through 2 Short eared Owls hunting right by the roadside...At home a new Little Owl site was a nice find , 1 Forest Shieldbug , 3 Willow Warblers , 4 House Martin , 24 Swallows and good numbers of Small Tortoiseshell...

Hummingbird Hawkmoth etc...

First Hummingbird hawkmoth for a few years yesterday , it was feeding of red valerian about 4 doors down. 40 Small Tortoiseshell , 10 Ringlets , 20 Meadow Brown , 1 Red Admiral , 1 large White and my first 2 Gatekeepers of the year. Also today a very tatty Buzzard low over the cricket pitch , hope to see some young soon.??

Ringstone

90 lapwing, 7 Golden Plover , 3 Tufted Duck , 3 GCGrebe ,5 Common , 6 LBB ,  35 BH Gulls , 1 Kestrel, 1 Common Sand and a couple of Twite by the hide.


Northowram

1 Juv Willow  and 7 juv chiff , been a good year for Greenfinch and a Carrion Crow with a half eaten Rat in its beak at home this morning..

Slowly does it......................

Not much about this last week, plenty Swifts and LBBgulls on the move  .small flocks of BHGulls heading west. The first moving Willow Warblers this week and a family party of Great Spots have been kicking around .Bird of the week goes to a Woodcock which flew in front of the car last night about 10.15....

Ringstone..Med Gulls

Had to go to Manchester to see an old mate ,so decided to have a look at Ringstone on the way, as I was driving up there a flock of small gulls flew over the road , (im sure that was a Med gull or 2 )as I was driving I was not too sure ,so after about 10 mins of looking through the gull a cracking adult Med Gull in full summer plumage showed its self. 4 Cormorants , 3 Great Crested Grebe , 2 Common Sands , 30/40 lapwing and then another full summer plumaged Med gull landed next to the first one...my luck was well in....About 15 minutes later I picked another adult up flying across the fields not in full summer plumage but still a cracking bird..3 med Gulls in a day ..July....   carn't beat it for Med Gulls
...Yellow Legged next

Uk Butterflies

Managed to add a couple of British butterflies recently the very rare Black Hairstreak at the famous Glapthorn Cow Pasture and Wood White at Salcey Wood in Northamptonshrie .There are only a few residents to get over the next couple of years..

 Black Hairstreak

Wood White

Fly

Had a quick look at Fly today , greylags with young and the Barny, also lots of Canada Geese. A few Black Headed gulls drifted west.1 Dunlin , 10 + Common Sands , 3 Redshank , Curlew with chick , Golden Plover , 2 Oycks and looks like a good breeding season for Lapwing with at least 25 + around the res...
  

Ringstone

Had a look up there on Friday, 2 Common Sandpiper , 1 Little Ringed Plover ,6 Lapwing , 1 Buzzard , Mallard with six vey small chicks , Reed Bunt , Sand Martin , Swallow , Swift ,1 Curlew on the shoreline , 2 flying around and a flock of 10 flying north. 1 LBBGull and a Cormorant.

Malham Cove and Ghosts

Its been a long time since I have been to Malham Cove but popped up there on Thursday, Peregrine showing well , Redstarts , 1 male with 2 juvs and another pair flycatching , 1 Spotted Fly ,  Wheatear , Grey Wagtail and Dipper juvs and adults.
    Went over to Bradford last night to view a Ghost Moth ' Lek ' in one of the town centre parks, the council have left large areas of the park wild and so the grass can grow tall......over 1000 male  Ghost moths seen ...now that is a sight......amazing

Cricket Pitch

Been very busy on the Cricket pitch this week with hoards of Juv Starlings and plenty of House Sparrows collecting food and nesting material. Linnets , Greenfinch and Chaffinch have been busy as have a family of Pied Wagtails .Swifts and Swallows were both feeding low to the ground on Sat morning. Wont be long till the first BH Gulls are back and the odd Mipit . Queensbury pitch had plenty Skylarks and Meadow Pipits on Thursday evening.....

its been a good year locally ...so far

It started off with Tree Sparrows in the back garden then  a Jack Snipe at Fly not a rare bird but always good to find one locally. Then we had the amazing Whooper Swan day. Shortly followed by a male Ring Ouzel and the trip of Dotterel in Todmorden . Buzzards almost daily from the house and  not to mention record numbers of Cuckoo.
    This week I had 2 pairs of breeding Wheatear and amazingly I found 2 pairs of LRP with 7 young on the same piece of ground (upland site)..
 Ochreous Pug new to Calderdale at the crags and Larch Pug only the second site in Calderdale  , Devon Carpet the only record in Yorkshire for 3 years and record numbers of Oak Beauty. An Oak tree pug in the back garden trap was a real treat.............

Ramsden Clough area.

Few pairs of Curlew, Lapwing and plenty of Reed Buntings, 3 juv Stonechats ,loads of Orange Tip and Green veined White Butterflys .Then to my amazement Male and female Wheatear with 2 juv  on the 8th of June they were free flying and catching bugs, also  about 1/2 mile away another  more agitated male Wheatear ,indicating another nest close by.
   I also found an old Raven nest on top of an old house on the moor.....

Ringstone ...2

45 Lapwing , 1 Common Sandpiper , 1 Little Ringed Plover , 3 Oystercatcher ,2 Grey Heron ,4 Great Crested Grebe , 2 Sand Martin , 5 Swift , 10 Swallow and a couple of reed Bunts. The Sand Martin colony near Greetland stone quarry seems to be in full swing with 10 birds seen collecting mud from a field nearby.

Ringstone

A quick look at Ringstone today produced 3 Great Crested grebes 2 doing full courtship display, 35 Lapwing , Willow Warbler , 2 Oystercatcher , Reed bunting , Grey Partridge , 1 Sand martin , 7 Swift , 10 Swallows , 13 LBBgulls  and plenty Mipits.

Gales hit for the start to June....

Plenty Swifts on the move the last few days and Buzzards, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk have been seen out hunting despite the gales. Plenty of Nuthatch at Hardcastle Craggs but no Wood Warbler , Pied Flys or Redstarts. Found a small but healthy population of Lapwing the on Sat morning with at least 15 pairs with 5 Juvs seen. Good news these days also a small flock of Golden plover foraging nearby.
 Butterflies seen the first 2 days of June = 0 very depressing

Buzzards and more Whitethroats

I have now managed to find 3 pairs of Whiethroat around the fields in Northowram and sightings of Buzzard are now daily with 2 in the front field on Saturday giving excellent views of this once rare bird in Calderdale. Its great to see them on such a regular basis (reminds me of being on holiday).in another 5 years if they are left alone they will be in every bit of woodland.!!

Warblers (singing males) at Elland Gravel Pits 22 April and 22 May 2015

Same walk route which takes about 2 hours....
22nd May


Chiffchaff     11
Blackcap       13
Garden Warbler    8
Willow Warbler    6
Reed warbler        4
Whitethroat          5


Total                  47


22nd April


Chiffchaff        16
Blackcap          13
Garden Warbler  1
Willow Warbler   12
Reed Warbler        1
Whitethroat           1


Total                   44

Northowram today

All the local summer visitors are back in place , today 2 Blackcap , 2 Willow Warblers , 3 Chiffchaff and 1 Whitethroat singing this morning. Plenty of Linnets , Swallows and the odd House Martin.
2 Sand Martins and 50 + Swifts heading north around lunchtime. Buzzards are now seen almost daily which is great news...

Wainstalls

Had a walk from Wainstalls to Mount Tabor , 7 Wheatear , good numbers of singing Skylarks, plenty linnets feeding on dandilions and collecting nesting material a Buzzard over and 8 Swifts north.
  Managed to see the  'Mixenden White Crow ' at Shaking House farm and was treated to the call of a Pied Flycatcher in the brilliant sunshine in a nearby valley. Plenty more Swift heading north over Luddenden village and Skylarks singing at Mount Tabor must be in double figures. Amazed to find a couple of pairs of Lapwing at Ogden and also one at Mount Tabor.

Mixenden Reservoir

A quick walk before the rain this morning produced, 1 Swift , 2 House Martin ,15 Swallow and 5 Sand Martin on the res in nearby fields a Wheatear sat on the ground looking exhausted and a Willow Warbler nest building was as good as it got.....

Tripin ........

Well its been a long time in coming but on the 28th April , I came across a ' trip ' of Dotterel there were 7 ,( 5 females and 2 males ). It also turned into a bit of a twitch with no Dotterel at the top of Pendle Hill . It was one of those awkward moments........ I had found 7 Dotterel,''''' I put the news out and then just I had.... they flew off, It took an hour to relocate them and by this time there were a few people looking......Luckily I found them two fields from the original spot.(phewww)
   Not much else this week except lapwing and Whitethroat on Soil Hill and a couple of Bullfinch and a Goldcrest on my local walk.

Weekly Round - up

Ring Ouzel 1 male and 8 Twite at Pike End Rishworth
Cuckoo and 2 Whinchat at Gorpley
Blackcap, Whitethroat , LRP , Reed and garden Warbler EGP
Common Sand and Redshank at Fly Flatts
2 Buzzards seen again at Northowram

Tuesday

Another Swallow first thing over the house followed by a heron and a few Mipits. " 2 very dark backed LBBgulls were thought to be 'intermedius' , 2 Kestrel, 1 Buzzard and Sprwk scarping high up . 5 Linnets today and 80 Woodpigeons in the fields is all I come muster in the strong winds

First Swallow

Had the first Northowram Swallow today , it flew low over the fields towards Queensbury .It was the same date as last year.....Upto 4 Linnets have been kicking around and a few Mipits and Pied Wags  have been  heading north. 5 LBBGulls went north , 1 Common Gull east and a GBBGull west  over the weekend.

Friday

Another Common Buzzard north today a very pale bird flew very high. 3 Linnets , 35 Starling , 3 Chifchaff , 1 Wheatear , 2 Mistle Thrush , 2 Greenfinch displaying song flight and Comma , Peacock and lots of Small Tortoiseshell.

Buzzards

6 Buzzards recorded today between 10 and 11.30 started with one very high moving north west, then 3 together and one above this group with 2 Sparrowhawk mobbing it. Another ,,10 minutes later with 1 Sparrowhawk and 2 kestrels mobbing it. A steady trickle of Mipits north and 3 singing Chiffchaff. Plenty of Small Tortoiseshell , Peacock and one Comma today.

First Wheatear

2 male Wheatear were most welcome today ,7th April is very late.Linnets, Greenfinch, Song  & Mistle Thush were singing this morning and a steady trickle of herring and LBBGulls headed north. Plenty of Mipits heading  north over the last few days..

North Westerly,s

Ok wind can you please change direction , we have all had enough of ya.......thanks http://www.cumbriabirdclub.org.uk/ a few recent pics

Hodbarrow to Ravenglass

2 Slavonian Grebes on Hodbarrow was a real treat one in full summer and one in winter plumage, swimming together for comparison and 2 female Scaup , 7 greenshank , 30 Red breasted Merganser , 1 Barnacle Goose , 30 Pinks, a first summer Red Kite , Woodcock , Snipe , Blackcap , 14 Little Egrets an albino Red Deer at Foulshaw Moss...??

Whooper dooper Swans

At 9.15 I looked out the window .....excellent pinks on the move a nice V formation very low.Got the bins on them for a count and ...Whoopers 53 brill ...a quick call to Bri and Dave to alert them to the swans..Glad dave got them from his garden...Then a look to the east wooooooooooooooowwww at least 3/4oo I estimated..........another quick call to Dave...185 went about 100 feet above the house.. the rest in all directions which I was unable to count . All the dog walkers and gardeners stopped to view this spectacular event......

Med Gull

First bird on Monday morning  was a Med Gull an adult summer. a few raptors Perry, Merlin , kes ,Sprawk  and plenty of territorial Buzzards. 21 pale bellied Brents and 54 Dark bellids at Roa island.5 Hawfinch (two singing males),6 Red Throated divers and 500 + Eiders (display and calls).
  Northowram over the weekend included  3 Linnets (first this year locally) , 2 Skylark and calling Green Woodpecker at Northowram today.2 Skylark and a female sTONECHAT.

HAWFINCH

Having been to Whitbarrow / Halecat  on at least 7 occasions so far , I was very pleased to connect with 6 Hawfinch on Friday morning , I had 2 very brief and unrewarding views before but this was a real jem with 6 birds seen in the scope and 1 herd calling from another spot.. A fantastic bird rarely seen these days. Another sighting this week was a flock of 78 WHOOPER SWANS ,,,spring is on its way with Rooks rebuilding Rookeries ,my first singing yellowhammer and displaying Marsh Tits.

 

Eiland Gravel Pits

It was a cold and sunny day , 2 Cormorants overhead as I parked up. At least 6 Bullfinch and a Nuthatch around the car park.2 Little Grebes , 4 Goosander ,1  Male Goldeneye  and 7 Teal round the weir and   Green Woodpecker and Kingfisher around the Lagoons .           

Ravenglass

  Ravenglass is very beautiful and very good for wintering birds...Three small estuaries surround the small village and these hold good numbers of wintering birds. At least 40 Red breasted Mergansers were displaying in the large lagoon , along with a v formation of 47 Cormorant overhead.400 widgeon , 100 Teal, 3 Goosander , 4 Greenshank , good numbers of wintering Shelduck  Redshank ,Curlew, lapwing and Oystercatcher. Pink footed and Greylag geese are regular in the surrounding fields and overhead. Buzzard , Merlin , Kestrel ,Sparrowhawk and Peregrine are there for an easy meal. One Peregrine was watched for 4 hours sat in a field after consuming a Lapwing , it was later seen stooping at a large flock of Lapwing and narrowly missing a stray bird...Dunlin , Little Egret ,Skylark and the odd Stonechat as well.......

Back to Reality................

Walked from Fly Flatts to High Brow knoll and back...40 Red Grouse and 1 Kestrel.....

Foulshaw / Duddon Moss

 An excellent week started with 5 Brambling ,1 male Blackcap at Foulshaw Moss and a Barn owl roost here also. At Duddon on Tuesday 1500 Pinkfeet ,1 Juv European White fronted Goose  , 4 Canadas , 11 Barnacle geese, 200 Lapwing ,30 Eider (displaying),100 Shelduck , 4Goldeneye , 200+ Pintail , 1 Red Kite ,1 Green Sandpiper , 3000 Dunlin and a pair of Peregrines displaying over the Dunlins causing chaos..Amazing seeing the Dunlin and Peregrines in combat flight .Rounded of the week at Hale - cat where there were 5 Nuthatch , 3 Marsh Tit ,and the bird of the week a Hawfinch.

Cold

By - eck  it was cold this morning and birds hard to find.8 tree Sparrows and 9 goldfinch were in the back garden , 1 Meadow Pipit, 2 Wren,1 Dunnock , 3 Stock Dove, 2 Collard Dove  and a Grey Wag were in the fields and 9 Herring Gulls were heading west, 1 Goldcrest and 3 Mute Swans still at Shibden. Glad bri got the Tree Sparrows now fingers crossed for a Yellowhammer or Corn bunt in the spring...

Its ' Bean' a good week for Geese

Working in north Cumbria this week and there have been plenty of geese about ,Its common to see large skeins of geese across the sky heading in any direction. On Tuesday I eventually found a large flock on the ground totalling 512 birds.509 Pink 's 2 Barnacle and 1 Tundra Bean Goose a great find. Totals for the week were 4000, Pinks ,1 Bean ,20 Canada , 45 Barnacle , 10 Greylags and 12 Brents .
 Also this week  watched 3 Peregrines displaying around some Pylons there were 2 males and a female the first male was seen to drop something to the ground , and after some commotion we eventually found a dead Golden Plover with the back of its neck taken out..
  Along the hedgerows many Tree Sparrows , Yellowhammer , Reed Buntings, Redwings ,Fieldfare and Robins.

Duddon Moss

Not a good week to be on the Cumbrian coast with a stiff NW /W  9 blowing at ya most of the time , even so the snow capped peaks of the southern fells and the calls of pinks continually overhead make you feel very lucky to be  out in the elements,
   Very brief views of Red kite , Gos and Marsh harrier and the ever present Buzzard to keep me company. Large flocks of duck Male Pintail and male Eider together are breath taking. The numbers of Curlew , Redshank and Oystercatcher are also worth noting as when the wind blows from the west they all leave the estuaries and feed in the fields close to sea, its not uncommon to see 400 Curlew , 100 Redshanks and 200 Oycks in a large field foraging away out of the wind.
  Also sightings of Raven are becoming few and far between indicating breeding may well be at the incubating stage.??A few pairs of Stonechats have been seen this week on the moss's , also went looking for Hawfinch with no luck as yet.................................
 

Walney Island

This is the first time ive been to this  ' Cumbrian Spurn ' , the site of many rare and spectacular species over the years, but in Jan I didn't expect much. A cracking female Merlin was the first bird seen, showed very well for 20 mins or so. A flock of  100 + Twite and 40 Skylarks kept things interesting and a flock of 45 Barnacle Geese overhead was a surprise.
  A quick scan of a flock of flying waders was initially thought to be Knot but turned out to be 42 Grey Plover which landed just by the road side. Bar and Black tailed godwits with 100's of redshank , Knot , Lapwing Oystercatcher and Curlew. A quick look out to sea produced 2000 Eider , 500 Pintail ,500 Widgeon , 100 Teal , 50 Mallard a flock of 148 Brent geese ( all pale bellied) , 600 Shelduck  and a couple of great Crested Grebes........................beautiful winter birding so much colour..

Tree Sparrows

The Tree Sparrows seem very settled at the moment with lots of calling and feeding along the tall hedge next to the public footpath. Easily viewed from the track next to Hedge top Cricket pitch. There were 5 tree sparrows today and 5 Reed Bunting. Jay ,Bullfinch and greenfinch also today....

Jack Snipe

The bird of the day was a Jack Snipe flushed from the pools at the back of fly flats, Dipper , Tufted Duck , Great Spot ,Red grouse , Goldeneye and Goosander also today , 50 Pinkfeet very low over the house at dusk

New Year...........

No birding on the first but managed 42 species today, which aint bad,, Great Northern Diver , Tree Sparrows, Nuthatch ,Mute Swan ,Golden Plover , Lapwing and 5 thrushes..............