Hobby , Hobby and more Hobby

Well a trip to Thorne Moors today was very special ,,,I have never seen as many Hobby a low estimate was 25 birds , but they were everywhere, small flocks of 10 or 15  feasting on the thousands and thousands  of 4 spotted chasers dragonflies....I watched  numerous adult Hobby catch them and eat them on the wing..Twisting , stooping , chasing and even bombing a Marsh harrier at one point. There were at least 8 Marsh harrier including a very smart old male that gave excellent views for long periods.
  Nick was playing and cursing his new camera , and was looking for the perfect shot as he disappeared down a track.......... I herd him call loudly .....CRANE !!!!!..as one took off from the reeds to his right ..a prehistoric monster took to the skies and flew along the top of the  hedge before I lost it to view....
  Other birds  Tree Pipit ,Shelduck , Gadwall, Shoveler , Reed , Garden ,Sedge Warblers , Cuckoos were common , Swift , Buzzard , Sparrowhawk . Great day.................

                                              CRANE....!!!!!!!!!! (great shout and photo  NCD)

Cricket Pitch (Headingly Leeds ODI ENG vs PKS)

2 Red Kite , 2 Sparrowhawk , 1 Buzzard , 1 Grey Heron , 2 Pied Wagtail , 10 + Swift , 3 House Sparrow , 2 Collard Dove , 5 Woodpigeon , 3 BH Gull , 8 LBBGull and 1 Herring Gull....

A few more migrants

 Went up Crimsworth Dean yesterday the woods were full of bird song ,,,Goldcrest , Willow Warbler , Robin , Song Thrush , Blackcap , Nuthatch , Pied Flycatcher , Spotted FLycatcher , Wren  and Chiffchaff.
   Fly Flatts produced very poor views of Ringed Plover , Dunlin , Curlew , Redshank ,  Lapwing , Common Sandpiper and Ruff in the heat haze..lots of gulls (BH , Herring and LBB)  up there but not enough time to sift through them...!!!

Cricket Pitch

A singing Blackcap was the first surprise this morning and then a Mallard collecting freshly cut  grass,,,I have seen all these species collecting nesting material / feeding on the cricket pitch recently Starling , Greenfinch , , House Sparrow , Dunnock , Blackbird , Jackdaw , Magpie , Carrion Crow , Mistle Thrush , Pied Wagtail ,Goldfinch ,  , Collard Dove, Stock Dove , Rook ,  Linnet and Woodpigeon.
LBBGull , Herring Gull , Sparrowhawk , Kestrel , Swallows ,Swift and Buzzard overhead.

Queensbury  Cricket Pitch held singing Skylark (3) Wheatear ( 2) Lapwing , Linnet and meadow Pipit............

Fly , Gorple and Walshaw

A  very wet evening with little to show for a long hike....Dunlin 7 , Redshank (very good year for this species locally) LRP , Wooodcock , 2 SEO , Wheatear , Song Thrush , Lapwing , Oycks , Golden Plover , Curlew and plenty Common Sandpipers.............

Good weather for Terns and Waders

A trip to fly flats looking for a Sanderling (great pics of Bri's blogg) but it had gone when  I got there , 21 Dunlin , 4 Redshank , 6 + Common Sandpiper and 6 Wheatear . A Common Tern at EGP and Kingfisher  , Widgeon at Ringstone along with 2 GC Grebes , Tufted Duck and 4 LBBgulls.Loads of Swift , House Martins , Swallows and Sand Martins....

More Warblers

Up to 3 reeling Grasshopper Warbler at Scammonden , a pair of Stonechat ,  4 Cormorant , Willow Warblers and Chiffchaff. Ringstone was busy with Swallows and a couple of Sand martin . Cromwell Bottom held 3 Garden Warbler , 10 Blackcap , 1 Reed Warbler , 1 Whitethroat ,  Willow Warblers and Chiffchaff....Kingfishers are showing very well at the moment...............

Swifts

First 2 Swifts of the year today , over the house at 6.50 this morning.......

  

Holly Blue in Brighouse garden  2nd May

High Moors

Went up to the high moors  with NCD on Tuesday evening , 3 SEO's , 2 LEO , Cuckoo , 2 Woodcock  display flight , 4 + Snipe display , 10 + Common Sandpipers display flight etc , 3 Redshank , Oystercatcher , 5 + Song Thrush , plenty Willow Warblers ,  4 Buzzards including one eating a rabbit , the bird of the night for me a Ring Ouzel ...

               

(photo NCD ) 

Warblers

Had a walk round EGP today , Chiffchaff (4) Willow Warbler (3) , Blackcap (7+) , Garden Warbler (3) , Whitethroat ( 1 ) loads of Sand/House Martins , Swallows , 2 Kingfishers  and 5 Gosseander...

A good wader day............

(thanks D.Franz for photo)

(thanks Phil D for photo)

A good day for waders started with 2 Curlew , 2 LRP , Lapwing and a Common Sand soon to be joined by 2 Whimbrel giving excellent views and a few calls , up on the tops later added  Snipe , Dunlin(5), Golden Plover , Redshank and Oystercatcher . Also seen today 8 SEOwls , 1 male Merlin , 5 + Buzzards , 2 Raven , 1 Widgeon , 1 Sand Martin and lots of Greylag chicks.....................

EGPits

A walk round this morning was a real treat because of one thing , I did not see any people at all not 1.......Chiffchaff x 8 , Blackcap x 6 , Willow Warbler x 3 , Song Thrush x 6 , Bullfinch x 5 , LTTit carrying nesting material , Buzzard x 2 , Kingfisher entering nest hole..and a Grey Wagtail nest..

Ringstone and Mosselden

Had a walk round Mosselden with Phil D (thanks Phil) ,looking for Ring Ouzel no luck today but lots of Skylark , lapwing , Curlew , Wheatear , Stock Dove and one Kestrel.
   Onto Ringstone 1 Goldeneye , 2 Great Crested Grebe , 1 Willow Warbler , 2 Little Ringed Plover , 1 Common Sandpiper , 20 + House Martin , 5 Swallow , 3 Oystercatcher , 4 Moorhen (displaying0  , 1 Buzzard , 80 + Golden Plover , 1 juv female Peregrine landed on the shoreline , and plenty of Mipits.....

Northowram

Had my first flock of linnets (8) feeding on dandilion heads this morning along with 3 male Pied Wagtails on the cricket pitch , first birds here for ages. Orange Tip , Small Tortoiseshell and Peacocks all around the house this afternoon...Found a Nuthatch nest and could here another calling across the valley where a Green Woodpecker  was yaffling away..............

Black Redstart..

Black Redstart at Greenwood Clough today followed it up the gully then it disappeared into the old House conversion..Thanks Pete Grrrrba ,,,not seen one locally  for ages

Beastly east wind

3 LRP , 10 Redshank ,1 Snipe , 15 Oystercatcher plenty of Lapwings and Curlew , 4 SEO , ,2 Raven (1 flying around with some intestine dangling from its bill) , 5 Pied Wagtail and a few Buzzards..

First Swallows

2011......1st April
2012.....21st April
2013....10th April
2014....12th April
2015....13th April
2016......4th April
2017.....21st April
2018.....7th April
2019.....31st March

Cromwell Bottom

                                              Shoulder Stripe at Cromwell Bottom 6.04.19
A nice pair of Northern Shoveler on Lagoon No1 and a singing Blackcap there also , 5 Goosander on the river and Buzzard , Sparrowhawk(alarming) ,Cormorant ,House martin . Sand Martin , Swallows , Chiffchaff (6) , Grey heron (10) and a pair of Bullfinch ,Long -tailed tits and Grey Wagtails  nest building.

8th
Blackcap (5) , Willow Warbler (1) and Chiffchaff (9)

Mixi and Fly

Had a walk round Mixenden reservoir yesterday , 1 Shelduck , 1Redshank , 1 Curlew over , 6 Tufted Duck , 1 Treecreeper , 1 Nuthatch in the willows and 2 Moorhen..(thanks dave)
  Fly Flatts in the snow blizzard today produced my first 4 Wheatear  , 2 Stonechat , 1 Snipe  and little else.

March 31st

Well a busy day with 2 Sand Martin over the house first thing , a walk round Soil hill was different as it is now covered in grass not a piece of bare ground anywhere , plenty of Skylarks , Mipits , Buzzard (1) and a couple of Curlew.....Then down to Cromwell bottom for a Swallow ( my first ever March Swallow in Calderdale) and a Kingfisher which was my 100th local species for the year, then home and another Sand Martin over 5 Buzzards  and a Sparrowhawk....Leo and Ring necked Parakeet............and  early returning waders  , good Waxwing and Whooper numbers  made for a great start to the year with 101 species  at the end of March ..  ...........

2nd Red Kite

Another Red Kite today up at Walshaw Dean , it was busy with birds 5 SEO , 2 Barn Owl , 1 Merlin , 7 Buzzards , 1 HH ,1 Sparrowhawk ,20 + Oystercatcher , displaying Snipe , 50 + Golden Plover , Lapwing ,5 Redshank ,3 Raven and a Kestrel taking a vole from a Short eared Owl ....Photo NCD

Yellowhammer and Red Kite

A cracking day with Yellowhammer showing well in the Heartshead area , 4 Linnets and Curlew at Jay House Lane and a stunning Adult Red Kite over the cricket pitch and house at Northowram....15 Mipits and 2 Curlew north over the house  this morning.......................

Pintail

                                              Pintail (photo NCD)
Great to see a pair of  Pintail at Lower Gorple , the surrounding area was alive with birds after the last 2 weeks of rain , Snipe , Redshank , Golden Plover , Oystercatcher , Curlew , Lapwing all displaying ans calling. 14 Short -eared Owls ( at least 14 !!!) , 4 BArn Owls , Merlin , Buzzard , Kestrel and Hen Harrier . Skylarks , Siskin , Raven , Starlings(800+)Fieldfare , Song Thrush ,Greenfinch , Green Woodpecker calling from the Valley.
   At home at least 6 Buzzards were up displaying in the morning sunshine...

At last a break in the weather

Made it to the tops today , had a juv/female Merlin  shoot across the road at Cock Hill about 10.15. Loads of Lapwing , Curlew , Skylarks , Oystercatcher , Siskin , Nuthatch , Reed Buntings , Meadow Pipits , Song Thrush , SEO , Buzzards and the first displaying Snipe.............good to be out..

Hard going in the wind......at Ringstone

Ringstone edge was busy but the wind was a real hindrance , 6 Teal , 1 Goldeneye , 1 Great Crested Grebe , 3 Mallard ,  260 Golden Plover , 2 Oystercatcher  , 27 Curlew feeding just to the east in field full of juncuss, 1 Cormorant , 1 Buzzard , 200 + Lapwing and 200 + Starling a few Common and Black Headed Gulls.. A distant Raven was  about it......9 Twite at DD...........

Barnacle Geese

Had a drive round today , 3 Barnacle Geese , 1 Curlew and a couple of Greylags. No Chiffchaff  at Cromwell and up at Jay house lane Tree Sparrow , Red legged Partridge and displaying Sparrowhawk.

Lower Gorple Ringed Plover

Lower Gorple

25 Whooper Swan , 1 Ringed Plover , singing Skylarks , 300 + Lapwing , 80 Golden Plover , 2 Snipe , 30 Oystercatcher , one flock of 70 Curlew flew in from the east (impressive) , Buzzards , Kestrel , BH Gulls , Stonechat , Brambling , Siskin , Crossbills , Fieldfare , Redwing , Song Thrush , Mistle Thrush and a good move of Herring Gulls west....

Out on the tops

A great day to be out with 2 lots of pinks west (78 +64), Skylarks and Lapwings heading back to the hills/breeding grounds , Lots of  Buzzards, Kestrels  and  a male  Sparrowhawk  displaying , 1 Hen Harrier ., first Curlew and Thunderbird 2..... 

Hard Going in the wind and freezing Cold..

Feb has been tough so far , freezing (-5) and then high winds and rain....still SEO , Barn Owl , the odd Hen Harrier , Crossbills , Oystercatcher , Lapwing , Fieldfare , Grey Partridge , Raven , 2 Peregrines , Goldfinch and Greenfinch...The mild night on the 6th had a few moths about....