Saturday 28 March 2015

Leeshaw

Saturday 28th March a.m.
 A dull start to the day with a strong blustery wind at Leeshaw but not feeling too bad with a temperature of 8°C.We started off well getting our first Fieldfare of the year with a flock of 50 birds,
also Canadas & Geylags.The water held a single Cormorant, with the two Muscovys on the shoreline, good to see two Redshanks flying round making plenty noise as were Oystercatcher,Lapwings & Curlew.Also two Little Owls in their usual spot, others included Pied Wag,Pheasant & Meadow Pipit. We moved up the road a little to find 58 Golden Plover before making a hasty retreat as the rain came.
Canada coming in to land


Little Owls

Golden Plover


Thursday 26 March 2015

More Mixenden Whoopers

from Sunday 22nd March
 We were treated to the wonderful sight of 244 Whooper Swans on a bright sunny day in Mixenden on Sunday so we took plenty of snaps of this rare event.Here are a few more snaps for you to enjoy.
one of 244 Whooper Swans










View over looking Mixenden Reservoir 22/3/2015

Monday 23 March 2015

Mixenden Whoopers

From Sunday 22nd March
 After our visit to Harden Moor we were compiling our report when we looked at Brian's West Yorkshire Birding blog which said there were over 200 Whooper Swans at Mixenden Reservoir.
We have seen good numbers of these at Martin Mere near the West coast in Lancashire where they over Winter.Since we started birding in 2011 we have been trying to get some of these on passage during Autumn & Spring.We have rushed off to Ogden & Mixenden in the past after seeing reports only to miss them so we were beginning to think we were not going to get some local birds.
 This meant after reading the report we dropped everything & raced to Mixenden Reservoir which is six miles from home.As we approached we stopped to look across the valley at the reservoir to see if they were still there, the answer was YES!We drove down to the reservoir & made our way quickly to the banking to be greeted with the wonderful sight of 244 Whooper Swans as counted by Brian.
 We made our way down the plantation side to a good viewing spot and enjoyed this amazing spectacle, Whooper Swans honking, splashing around bathing in the water & some occasionally flapping their wings.Hope you enjoy some of the snaps we took, & a big Thank You to Brian for his prompt report which gave us the opportunity to see them.
Whooper Swans










Whooper Swans at Mixenden Reservoir 22/3/2015


Sunday 22 March 2015

Harden Moor

Sunday 22nd March a.m.
A sunny start to the day but chilly at just 1.5°C as we started on Harden Moor which is just above Cullingworth.We first looked on a distant wall to see if there was a Little Owl in the same spot as we saw them last year, & we were in luck & an added bonus of a Pied Wagtail which was watching us.
Then a little further on we parked the car & checked the moor where some heather was cut back last year seeing Meadow Pipits, then another bird appeared, a male Wheater, our first for this location.
We moved on seeing a Blackbird guarding some old berries,Robin,Dunnock,Goldfinch,Chaffinch,
WrenSong Thrush.Then on top of some rocks we spotted another male Wheatear, Gulls were moving past overhead & in the quarry we spotted a couple of Stock Doves & Curlew could be heard calling on the moors.We then found the resident Lesser Redpolls which were very flighty but after some time we managed to get a few snaps.To round our visit off a Kestrel was hovering in the distance, a good mornings birding.
P.S.
As we were compiling this we looked on Brian's West Yokshire Birding blog to see he had over 200 Whooper Swans at Mixenden, check out his great pictures.Needless to say we stopped everything hoping for our first ever Whoopers, see how we got on later...
Lesser Redpoll



male Wheatear



Blackbird on guard

Dunnock

Pied Wagtail

Robin

Song Thrush

Stock Doves

Wren

male Wheatear Harden Moor 22/3/2015

Lesser Redpolls - male seems to be feeding female



Saturday 21 March 2015

Harold Park & Park Dam

Saturday 21st March a.m.
Still cloudy on my arrival at Harold Park with the temperature still 5°C, fairly quiet here, the
highlights being Mute Swans,Great Crested Grebe & Cormorant.
Down the road at Park Dam also very quiet with the highlights being Mute Swans,Cormorant,Little Grebe & Great Crested Grebe.N.P.
Mute Swan Juv

Moorhen

House Sparrow

Little Grebe

Gt Crested Grebe

Mallards

Leeshaw

Saturday 21st March a.m.
 A cloudy start to the day with a temperature of 5°C & feeling cold. On my way to Leeshaw I had a check at Upper Marsh & was delighted to see thirteen Golden Plover.They were some distance away & right on the limit of the camera so only distant record shots possible.Then the short distance to Leeshaw where the road has been repaired making it better for the car.The water was very quiet with
just a Cormorant,Mallard & Canada.Plenty Lapwings,Oystercatchers,Mipits,Pheasant & several
Curlew plus a couple of Pied Wagtails.I put some Nyger seed down up the track where it was good to see Dave from Queensbury again.N.P.
Golden Plover





Lapwing


Oystercatcher

Pheasant

Cormorant

Good to see Golden Plover again