Had my first Swift of the year today low over the moors , also Curlew , Cormorant , 2 male Teal , Wheatear , 2 Herring Gulls and loads of Dunlin..
A regular look at the wildlife that I come across in Calderdale and days out around the UK.Most observations are from the house and gardens Vis mig records are within 500m of the house.Keep it Local.
Birds ...
Little Grebe , Great Crested Grebe , Black Stork , White Stork , Spoonbill , Grey Heron , Night Heron , Little Egret , Cormorant , Mallard , Coot , Black Winged Stilt , Common Sandpiper , Curlew Sandpiper , Little Ringed Plover , Avocet , Ruff , Yellow legged Gull , Lesser Black backed Gull , Med Gull , Audoins Gull , Sandwich Tern , Osprey , Marsh Harrier , Montagu's Harrier , Black Kite , Honey Buzzard , Common Buzzard , Sparrowhawk , Hobby , Kestrel , Lesser Kestrel , Elenora's Falcon , Bee -eater , Swift , Swallow , House Martin , Alpine Swift , Pallid Swift , Sand Martin , Crag Martin , Red Rumped Swallow , Cuckoo ,Tawny Owl , Short -toed Treecreeper , Green Woodpecker , Great Spotted Woodpecker , Lesser Spotted Woodpecker , Nuthatch , Crested Lark , White Wagtail , Grey Wagtail , Yellow Wagtail , Collared Dove , Rock Dove , Woodpigeon , Stock Dove , Whinchat , Black Redstart , Pied Flycatcher , Spotted Flycatcher ,Wheatear , Blue Tit , Great T|it , Linnet , Goldfinch , Chaffinch ,Greenfinch , Serin , Golden Oriole , Nightingale , Eastern Subalpine Warbler , Sardinian Warbler , Icterine Warbler , Blackcap ,Chiffchaff , Willow Warbler , Cetti's Warbler , Fan tailed Warbler ,Blue Rock Thrush , Song Thrush , Blackbird , Wren , Robin , Italian Sparrow , Tree Sparrow , Jackdaw , Jay , Hooded Crow, Magpie , Starling , Corn Bunting.
Butterflies ...
Swallowtail , Citrus Swallowtail , Eastern Bath White , Orange Tip , Clouded Yellow , Brimstone , Small , Green Veined and Large White , Brown Argus , Common Blue , Small Blue ,Green Underside Blue , Holly Blue , Red Admiral , Painted Lady , Green Hairstreak , Small Heath , Speckled Wood , Wall Brown , Silver Washed Frilillary and Nettletap Butterfly...
Moths
Latticed Heath , V - Pug , Pale Tussock , Cream Spot Tiger , Barred Hook Tip , Wave Sp ,
Reptiles..
Italian Wall Lizard and 4 lined Snake , European pond turtle .....
The only morning of true birding and what a morning it was....Vis -mig from beach everything heading along beach North east......
Swallow......1128
Red - Rumped Swallow .....3
Swift ..500 +
Pallid Swift ...2
Alpine Swift...26
House Martin...65
Sand Martin ...10
Crag Martin ...4
Yellow Wagtail ....428( 87 + 120 + 35 +15 + 6 +75+ 90)
White Wagtail...3
Honey Buzzard ...2
Common Buzzard....4
Elenoras Falcon x 1
Montagu's Harrier ...1 adult female
Audouins Gull 2 (1 adult 1 2nd winter)
Present...
Pied Flycatcher x 1 , Crested Lark x 1 , Italian Sparrow 50 + , Cetti's Warbler x 6 , Common Sandpiper x 3, Hooded Crow 11 , Yellow Legged Gull x 12.....Yellow Wagtail 60 blogging mainly Blue Headed F but one black headed type............
Audouins Gull stopped briefly on the beach
A trip up to the tops today was like going back to December , so cold , north west wind cutting through you like a knife.....and snow lots of it...driving down like golf balls....but in between the snow showers bright sunshine and clear skies...the first bird seen was a male Merlin chasing Meadow Pipits , then 4 SEOwls together..another SEOwl behind us...in one of the heavy showers 3 Wheatear 2 males and a female dropped in and Meadow Pipits 100 + , 3 Grey Wags , 7 Song Thrush , 5 Mistle Thrush , 50 + Oystercatcher , Lapwings , Redshanks and Curlew ..A few Herring Gulls and LBBGulls heading west
The surprise of the evening was a LEO hunting out in the open and a SEO hunting the same area. 2 displaying SEO at a distance and then 3 more SEOwl quite close. 11 SEOwl's in total , if the weather would have been good who knows how many there could have been,,Another LEO was seen sat out on a branch in a local wood...an excellent evening for OWL's....................
Had a quick walk round Ogden last night, 2 Great Crested Grebes , 1 Redshank , 2 Chiffchaff , 3 Song Thrush (seem to be making a welcome comeback) 1 Raven and a Long eared Owl very high up in the sky being mobbed by 15 Crows.........................