Local

Great to see 2 juv Pied Wagtail and 2 juv Mistle Thrush on the Cricket pitch this morning . The adult Song Thrush was busy again collecting worms , hope to see the young soon. A steady trickle of Black Headed Gulls are now been seen daily with the odd juv mixed in with them. Been very quiet on the Buzzard front this last week and with some bad news from Shibden Valley of one being shot , I hope there are all ok..!!!!!

Green Sandpiper and Little Egret

Ringstone was busy with birds , 3 Tufted Duck in eclipse , 3 GCGrebe , 1 Cormorant , 300 + Lapwing , Reed Bunt , 2 Oycks , Swifts , Swallows and I was lucky to flush a Green Sandpiper from the inflow by the keepers house it flew along the dam wall showing off its white rump and landed in front of the hide where it started to feed...After dipping on the GWEgret earlier this week it was good to see a Little Egret flying along the valley this morning...!!!!!!!!

Staithes........beautiful

A welcome break from work took us to Staithes in North Yorks , a small Kittiwake Colony near the harbour held a few pairs of Fulmar , Razorbill , Gullimots and a few Yellowhammer in the scrub. Manx Shearwater , Gannets , Sandwich terns out at sea and the Little Egret roosted in with the herring Gulls opposite my room window...............

Local

The cricket pitch was busy today with Song Thrush , Mistle Thrush , Blackbird , Starling  all scoffing worms it must be loaded with them just under the surface . House Sparrows , Jackdaws and Wood pigeons , 4 Greenfinch , 4 Goldfinch and 2 Linnets on the walls and wires.
   Confirmation of breeding Whitethroat , Nuthatch , GS Woodpecker and Dunnock.
 Had my first returning BH Gulls today  at Ringstone with one juvenile in with them.....80 + LBBgulls and 1 Herring Gull....................

Redstart

It was nice to catch up with breeding Redstarts in Calderdale today  ,with a stunning male showing very well and a couple of juv's one had a very short tail...........Thats half way through the year and its been a beauty with 2 news Calderdale moths last night ,Blood - vien and  Double Square Spot.....

HOBBY

Well its all getting very continental around here , with Nightjar ,  Roller and today a stunning adult Hobby low over the cricket pitch..I saw it with its back to me at first a beautiful blue grey , I could see its white face patch , and as it turned red vent and black spots stood out a mile..Fantastic run of good birds this year....Hen Harriers , SEOwl , Barn Owl ,Whooper Swan , Black Redstart , Pintail , Shoveler , Red Kite , Whimbrel , Purple Sandpiper , Ruff , Sanderling ,Ring Ouzel , Gos ,  Pied Fly , Roller , Nightjar and now HOBBY.......

NIGHTJAR

My first ever Calderdale Nightjar tonight ,,churring away and some distant flight views// Also roding Woodcock ,..............The last Nightjar in Calderdale was way back in 1992 at Walshaw Dean....

Widdop Gate , Swallows

Also in the area , Buzzard , 3 Siskin , 5 Greenfinch , Kestrel , Raven ,Curlew , Snipe , Lapwing 45+ fly over...............

BROOD MEDDLING

Hen Harrier Brood Management

In a few months’ time the outcome of the 2019 Hen Harrier breeding season will be announced. Some people will claim that it has been a good year and others will trumpet the outcome as a great year for Hen Harriers in England. Neither of these claims will be true, nor will they accurately reflect the fact that whatever the number of fledglings actually is this year, the population will remain perilously low for years to come despite the fact that there is sufficient space for c 300 pairs in the northern uplands.

If brood management goes ahead as planned 2019 will not be remembered as a good year for the English Hen Harrier population. It will be remembered, by leading conservation groups, including NERF, and Raptor Workers across the country as the year that Natural England, the English Statutory Nature Conservation Organisation betrayed Hen Harriers to placate the grouse shooting industry. An industry that is, according to Natural England’s own data, largely responsible for the unexplained demise of 72% of Hen Harriers satellite tagged by their own staff. With that knowledge it is not unreasonable to assume that a similar percentage of un-tagged birds ‘disappeared’ under identical circumstances over the same period. It is also clear from press releases issued by RSPB that many of the birds satellite tagged as part of their Hen Harrier Life Project have also suffered the same fate on land managed for grouse shooting.

Natural England’s answer to those facts is the implementation of their flawed policy of Hen Harrier brood management on the basis that it is essential for Hen Harrier conservation and will lead to an increase in the English population. That second assertion may be true during the breeding season but it totally ignores the fact that all of the evidence reveals that persecution is more problematic after the chicks disperse from their breeding grounds. Brood management will do nothing to prevent persecution despite claims to the contrary. Anyone who believes that the entire grouse shooting industry will wholeheartedly welcome an increase in the Hen Harrier population is at best delusional. There are members of the industry who won’t even tolerate the small number of birds that already reside in, or transit through, the uplands at the present time let alone an increased number.

Following the confirmation that brood management has taken place this year NERF fully expects an announcement in due course from Natural England stating how many eggs, or chicks were taken in to the scheme, what the hatching rates were from each clutch, what the fledging rates were and confirmation that the birds were released back onto the moors from which they were removed. The project calls for all of the chicks to be satellite tagged prior to release back to the wild and for reasons of transparency NERF expects to read a prompt press release when the birds either die naturally or ‘disappear’ in circumstances that suggest persecution was the probable cause. The press release should include the location of the last known fix from the satellite tag.

Whilst Natural England has the legal right to undertake brood management, because they licensed themselves to do it. However, there is no right way to do the wrong thing and there is, in NERF’s opinion no justification for pursuing the brood management of Hen Harriers. We often hear the Police say that they cannot arrest their way out of the Hen Harrier persecution problem and in part that may be true. However, it is also true that Government policy should not be influenced by individuals or organisations that rely on criminality for their industry to prosper.

Additionally we need to know how much of the significant cost of brood management is being borne, not by the industry which has created the problem through illegal persecution, but by the British tax payer.

Despite the hype that we can expect at the end of the breeding season, 2019 will not be a good year for Hen Harriers in England.

NERF

June 2019

SWIFTS ON THE MOVE

An good evening for Swifts on the move north saw aprox  275 between 18.30 and 19.30........

Ogden...thick fog and Heavy rain

It could be November but its June.....2 Blackcap , 3 Chiffchaff , 2 LbbGull , 2 Tufted Duck and 4 Song Thrush.

Dodging the rain

Ringstone....2 Teal (m+f) , 2 Tufted Duck (m+f) ,2 GCGrebe , 1 young Roe Deer drinking on the shore line ,2 Oycks ,2 Common Sands ,1 LRP , Lapwing and Curlew
 Fly Flatts..300 Gulls mainly LBBGulls + and a few Herrings , 1 BHGull drifted through , 2 SEO ,Dunlin , Redshanks (3 pairs with young ) , Lapwing , Curlew , Ringed Plover. 1 Stoat carrying food.
 Blake Dean ,,Male Siskin , 3 Cuckoo , 2 SEO , Lapwing ,Ocks , Curlew , 2 GP and a few Kestrel..Red Admiral and Green veined Whites

Shibden Park

11 Coot chicks , 5 Mute Swan cygnets and 5 Mallard chicks at  Shibden Park today . 1 singing Garden Warbler , Kestrel  and Blackcap , Im sure Ann Lister would be very happy with the place today looked fantastic.......At home there has been an explosion of young birds about , House Sparrows , Goldfinch , Great Tit , Blue Tit  and Blackbirds. The local Nuthatch are still feeding young in the nest...

ROLLER

Many thanks Richard Raynor

Fantastic in flight shot by Gary Waddington

                                                 

A Roller showed very well this evening at Crimsworth Dean for about 90 minutes,,,,also in the area Pied Fly x 2 , Little Owl ,Cuckoo x 2, SEO x 3 , female Sparrowhawk , Snipe , Kestrel   and Garden Warbler

Third time lucky

Eventually connected with Sanderling at Fly Flatts today , Brians 3rd lot of Sanderlings today , having missed the first 2 lots , I am glad to get three today.Tricky with the wind up there today , I found 1 straight away but the other 2 took some finding ..Cheers Bri

Sanderlings pic Bri 

Weekly roundup.........

On Sunday the 26th the local Cricket pitch was alive with the calls of young Starlings , at least 130 Starlings with 60 being this years juvs . A Garden Warbler could be herd calling at the bottom of the long hedge a rare bird in Northowram also a Whitethroat singing close by.
  A dash to see the Baikal Teal on Wednesday showed well but distant a very special looking duck..Common Tern , Sparrowhawk , Buzzard , Pochard , Gadwall , Marsh Harrier and a stunning Hobby .......
  Ringstone held Tufted Duck , 2 GCGrebe , Common Sand , LRP  and  Red legged partridge .
 An Egret sp flew low down in the valley  this evening...

Crimsworth Dean...

Spotted Flycatcher , Little Owl , Chiff , Willow Warbler , Blackcap and this Kestrel by the track...

Ringstone Waders......

Well Purple Sandpiper makes it my 29th wader species for Ringstone....26 self found ( wood sand , Little Stint , Purple sand , Dotterel and Spotted Red ) and 3 twitched (Buff Brest , Curlew Sand and Temminck's Stint) hope I find Pec Sand next.........and never seen Woodcock at Ringstone...

Summer Plumage Purple Sandpiper

I arrived at Ringstone on my way to Manchester Airport to pick up some family. There were lots of gulls and a couple of GCGrebes , A look on the shoreline 1 LRP , 1 lapwing , 1 Oyck and little else on the first scope , the heat haze was terrible and I turned on the gulls 14 LBBGull , 6 BHGull and 1 Herring Gull....Another scope on the shoreline excellent 2 Ringed Plover ,1 Dunlin and another LRp and huddled together.Text out to the locals...I will have another look another wader caught my eye dull looking thing in the stones no colour but deffo not a Dunlin..!!!
   It was hard to pick out as the heat haze was strong ,  but it seemed to have white flanks with black spots , leg colour pale and bill dark could not get any detail , at one point I saw it run away from the back which looked like a squashed circle and low down , this is what made me think Purple Sand  ...It had to be a Purple Sand but not enough detail to be 100% so called for reinforcements as I had to leave to do my pick up..Fortunatley John Marsh and Phil D got some photo's and DJS got some better views later on ,,excellent thanks lads for confirming............

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.....................