Cricket Pitch and surrounds

With the grass being kept long the cricket pitch was pretty busy this morning although there was quite a frost...2 Mistle Thrush , 27 House Sparrow , 1 Dunnock , 5 Linnet , 1 Skylark , 2 Goldfinch , 36 Starling , 3 Blackbird , 3 Pied Wagtails and the bird of the morning a Meadow Pipit ...I managed to find 2 Whitethroat , 2 Blackcap , 1 Chiff and 3 Willow Warblers all in good voice .....Kestrel , Sparrowhawk and Buzzard briefly...... Late afternoon saw 10 + moving Swifts , whilst watching these through the scope a distant and very high large bird was picked up circling on thermals drifting in and out of the heat haze , it looked to have long trailing legs and as much in front as behind but too distant to be sure.......not picked up down the valley despite a few phone calls..!!

What a view

With crystal clear sky all around  these last few weeks I have been looking at the views from local high points, From Soil Hill its easy to see The White Horse at Kilburn , North Yorkshire , Pen y Gent , Inglebrough were stood out like sore thumbs and Great Whernside  was crystal clear . Today I could see Drax and Ferrybridge power stations and for the first time   even the top tower on the Humber Bridge from Queensbury .  Holme Moss to the south in Derbyshire , Castle Hill in Huddersfield and the two towers at Emily Moor...

                                                          3 Peaks and Great Whernside x 2

                                                                Emily Moor

                                                                 White Horse at Kilburn

White Horse at Kilburn

                                                      Drax

                                                Ferrybridge

                                                        Humber Bridge at 80 km

Last week of April.......

Fluked another Sandwich Tern on the 26th April  by counting every Gull that passes the house you sometimes get lucky ,,the Sarnie was at the back of 11 Herring Gull being mobbed by 2 Carrion Crows.

                             Jackdaws have been see collecting hair of the local cows...

Ned hill track the other day was a refreshing small walk , again Curlews and Lapwing can be herd most of the time.Orange Tip , Peacock and Small Torts , 4/5 Willow Warblers , Stonechat and Skylarks and Linnets a plenty....Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were both hunting around the farm....good to find 2 Willow Warbler , 1 Blackcap and 1 Whitethroat on territory...

Lepidoptera seen in the Garden so far this year , without the moth trap..

1.Orange Tip

2.Peacock

3.Comma

4.Small White
5 .Large White
6 .Green -veined White 

7.Small Tortoiseshell

8 ..Ruby Tiger

9 .Common Quaker

10 .Common Plume

11.Large Yellow Underwing (larval)

12.Brown House Moth
13 Speckled Wood

Sound of Silence

Its so calming when you go out of the house and you hear the calls of birds instead of traffic....The dawn chorus this morning was fantastic...Blackbirds everywhere , Robins , Chiffchaff , Willow Warbler , Dunnock , Wrens (blasting it out) , Goldfinch ,Blue , Great and Cole Tits ,  Song Thrush , Mistle Thrush , Green Woodpecker , Nuthatch , Great spot , Linnets , Chaffinch , Greenfinch (never herd as many for years)Skylark , Blackcap  all in the first hour in a short walk from the house...

Midgley Moor

So pleased to catch up with 3 Ring Ouzels today 2 females and 1 male , also 4 Blackbirds all males made things interesting,,2 Wheatear and plenty Swallows on the move...Emperor and loads of Green Hairstreaks made for a great trip out.....

SWIFT

Had my first Swift of the year today , few gulls on the move and a few Swallows and 2 Sand Martin.Linnets have been seen on the street feeding on Dandilions and a pair of Great Tits have been seen going in and out of one of my nest boxes......

Crazzzy

Today I was watching a Woodpigeon going back and forth to its nest site..at this moment I realised i had gone mad.....not a single thing has flown over the house for days except the odd group of Herring gulls no swallows House Martins nowt  and no Swifts yet...!!!
  I HAD TO LEAVE THE HOUSE AND HEADED FOR NED HILL TRACK.....The first bird I saw was a Wheatear  , 2 Meadow Pipit , 2 Pied Wags and 4 Linnets,,not bad......flushed 2 partridge which looked like Red legs but not 100%....Curlew and Snipe could be herd distantly and  2 herring Gulls flew overhead.... 4 Willow Warblers , 1 Greenfinch and a pair of Stonechat made for an enjoyable short walk......

A few from last night in Northowram

7th - 12th April 2020

I have been walking a lot in the Coley , Shibden  area this week , I have found at least 5/6 pairs of Nuthatch ,4 GS Woodpeckers , 9 Chiffchaffs , 4/5 pairs of Buzzards , 1 pair of Kestrel  , 2 Green Woodpeckers , 2 Sparrowhawks , as many as 6 Tawny Owl Territories , a few Linnets   but little else ....
  On the vis front it has been very ,very slow with a couple of highlights, a few flocks of Meadow Pipits the odd  Pied /alba wagtails , Swallows , Herring and LBBgulls , A female Shovler nearly got past me on the 7th nearly let it go as a female Mallard but got the scope on it the see its massive bill and yesterday a very high flying group of 7 terns were seen just about long enough to rule out common /artic and confirm as Sandwich ,which is pretty amazing......
Plenty  Small Tortoiseshell on Hedge top lane with five seen displaying at once and at least 20 + in the general area , Orange Tip , Small White , Peacock and Comma in smaller numbers..
   Autumn Green Carpet in the moth trap as the highlight this week and a Herald,,and the odd toad..

Swallow

First Swallow over the cricket pitch this morning about  average date here and another 2 a bit later on ..4 Chiffchaff singing and a few LBBgulls and herrings north this morning..More Swallows , House Martin ,Curlew and more gulls N/w between 5 -7...

4th Red Kite

I had another Red Kite today,  it was distant over Southowram drifting low along the ridge and then disappeared over towards Cromwell.. Its been a long time coming but 4 so far this year is a good sign. A small move of LBBGulls , a few 3rd winter Herrings and 4 Common Gulls north west. Another displaying Greenfinch..l

A wind of change

The wind turned from a wnw to wsw around lunch time and 3 Curlew flew north west just after lunch. All morning I had watched the local Sparrowhawks , Buzzards and Kestrels in full courtship displays talon grappling and stooping , circling together and even say the Kestrels copulate in mid air,,,The first local Chiffchaffs were belting it out and the last flock of 18 Redwing and 1 Fieldfare flew low north. Skylarks were singing as I walked up to Queensbury and Meadow Pipits poped out of fields and ditches. A stonking Adult Red Kite with brick red tail was seen flying up the valley from Northowram to Queensbury last seen over black dyke mill chimney( sorry Bri left the mobile at home dohhhh)....now where is the Swallow............................

Little Change

In the height of the gale today there was a pair of Kestrels in full display mode , above Chelsea Valley about an hour later these have been replaced by a pair of displaying Buzzards..3 Meadow Pipits , 1 LBBGull  north and the first pair of Pied Wagtails back on the cricket pitch...20 Starlings collecting nesting material.....

Slog

Well not a lot going on , few LBBgulls and herrings , 2 Snipe and a small flock of 19 Meadow Pipits all heading north today...loads of House Sparrows , Starlings and Goldfinch nest building and displaying Buzzards and Greenfinch..

Species 58 and nocturnal flight calls

3 Cormorants flew over the house this morning which makes 58 species so far in and over Northowram since 1 st Jan .....I am sure I will post them all soon as there is little else to do,,,will wait till I hit 60''''''The latest thing on the  Trektellen website is everyone recording overnight to see what flys over at night , its amazing what goes over...and there are little sound recordings you can listen to.....I went out last night and low and behold 3 mallards flew over calling......

London M25

Had to make a dash to Heathrow Airport overnight to pick up the trouble and strife (last plane out of Cuba) On the M25  flying over there were 6 Red Kite , 1 tawny owl and a Little Egret........

Red Kite....LOCKDOWN

Red kite

2 Buzzards

One Red Kite  flew high over the house this morning at 7.50...poor shots but its a kite for sure..Also 1 Sand Martin , 1 Grey Wagtail , 2 Linnets , 2 Buzzards most of the day , Good move of Meadow Pipits and Woodpigeons,,,,A GBBGull was a bonus this afternoon...............

Cromwell

Had a quick dash round today , 1 Whooper Swan was a nice find for this site ,3 Chiffchaffs , Buzzard , Bullfinch ,  and 1 Mute Swan

Last couple of days......and more Whooper Swans...

A couple of Chiffchaffs at Cromwell and a calling Water Rail , one Wheatear , 3 Curlew and 100's of Common Gulls on JAy House lane , Buzzard , Sparrowhawk and Kestrel showing very well at Northowram and 2 Ring Ouzel at Fly.........My First butterfly of the year was a Small Toertoiseshell
Ringstone held 2 Great Crested grebe and a male Goldeneye....Great Crested Grebe at Cromwell Bottom ...25 Whooper Swans over this morning was another good number making 407 in the last 10 years...not bad.......they ended up on Lower Gorple mid afternoon.....pic and info from Gary Waddington..thanks Gary

Gorple to Widdop

                                                  Scarred by the Gamekeepers

                                                    Upper Gorple

                                                       Lower Gorple

                                                                     Rocking Pig

                                                             Widdop

                                                  Lower and Middle Walshaw.....

Gorple x 2 and Widdop

Walked from the car park at Clough foot today past lower Gorple and to the first corner of Upper Gorple , up the hill to Gorple Stones at 467m then down to the Rocking Pig across Widdop res and back to the car park about 4.4 miles....100s of Fieldfare at Lower Gorple with 10 Siskin , 4 drumming Snipe , 2 Whoopers on Widdop (photo GW thanks) and a pair of Ravens here.....loads of  very vocal Red Grouse.......Wren , Reed Bunting , Meadow Pipits and Skylarks  in good voice ....

Buzzards

This was taken from my front room through the window...very close...

3 x 3

3 Skylarks in the fields today along with 3 Meadow Pipit , 3 Linnet , 3 Stock Doves and 3 Starlings !!! ..1 Common Buzzard , 2 Cole tit , 2 LTTits in the long hedge and 1 Small Tortoiseshell in the garden..

Stonechat (2)

So glad I managed to get a photo of this one ,,,18 Pinks over as well and a Yellow Horned from the craggs the other night

Stonechat

The first sign of spring migration today with a beautiful male Stonechat on the wall of the cricket pitch,,a beauty , The pair of Nuthatch are back and the woods were full of calls today..,,,one Skylark over the house this morning and one over thee road at Shelf  trailer park....

Whoopers

Just managed to get to Ogden to see the Whoopers before they headed off..A quick look at Walshaw plantation saw a flock of apox 100 mixed Brambling , Siskin , Goldfinch , Chaffinch , Cole Tit and Robins..Also in the area Raven , Buzzard (4) , Lapwing (100+) Curlew 40 + ,17 Oystercatcher ,1 Stonechat , Grey Wag , Pied Wag , 10 Golden Plover. and displaying Stock Dove...

Magna Via

A 5 mile round trip this morning down Chelsea Valley ,up the Magna Via to Beacon Hill back down through Shibden Park and up the Hough.........A Barn Owl in Chelsea Valley was the highlight of the day and 116 Pinks over Beacon Hill was a treat as they were all calling as they flew over very high...4 Song Thrush singing , 2 Bullfinch and a couple of Nuthatch...