Harden Moor

Saturday 30th July a.m.
A bright sunny morning but a strong wind blowing with a temperature of 12°C as we parked up in our usual spot on the edge of Harden Moor.Our first bird was a distant Kestrel hovering as it was looking for food.An Oystercatcher was over the quarry where we also saw a Little Owl and the Sand Martins.As we walked along a Green Woodpecker was spotted and Blackcaps were feeding on a small patch of wild Raspberries.We also saw a couple of Willow Warblers and we had the bonus of a good view of a couple of Garden Warblers, we were too slow to get a snap though.Heading back we scanned a sheltered area behind some trees near the path and caught sight of a couple of birds flitting about.We watched for a while to our delight a couple of Redstarts, also here several Linnets and a couple of Whitethroats.We moved around our usual spots seeing Mipits,Goldfinch, another view of the Green Woodpecker,Swallows and a Swift overhead. Eventually we ended up in another area where we picked the Redstarts up again and were able to get close enough for some decent snaps although they were very flighty,we think they were the same birds seen earlier.The morning was rounded off here when we saw a couple of Bullfinch fly into some trees nearby.The final sighting though was a family of Weasels crossing the road near our car.

Redstart

Kestrel

Linnet

Weasels

Harden Moor 30/7/2016

Park Dam

Sunday 24th July a.m.
 We followed our earlier visit to Harold Park by moving the short distance down the road to Park Dam where the temperature was still at 18°C.On approaching the lake we saw a pair of Little Grebes feeding five young chicks which were able to watch for quite sometime. Canadas flew from a nearby field on to the lake and there were several broods of Coots along with Moorhen & Tufted Ducks.A pair of Gt Crested Grebes were on the other side of the lake with three chick and flying above were Swallows and Swifts.It was also good to see a pair of Grey Wagtails fly past us & land on the overhead wires where we were able to get a snap.

Little Grebe with chicks

Little Grebe chick

Little Grebe chicks

GCG with chicks

Coot with chicks

Grey Wagtail

Park Dam 24/7/2016

Harold Park

Sunday 24th July a.m.
A cloudy but dry start to the day with a temperature of 18°C on our arrival at Harold Park.We headed for the lake where there were a pair of Mute Swans with four cygnets.The pair of Great Crested Grebes still have four chicks which have grown well since our last visit.One adult was resting with one chick whilst the other adult was busy feeding three hungry chicks.There was also the usual Canadas,Mallards,Tufted Ducks,Coots & Moorhens.In a tree on the island was a Grey Heron and nearby was a Collared Dove.Higher up in the park near the bowling green a Pied Wagtail was feeding a juvenile.

Mute Swan Cygnet

GT Crested Grebe chick

GCG with chick

Collared Dove

Grey Heron

Pied Wagtail

Mute Swans and GC Grebes 

Harold Park 24/7/2016

Denholme Clough

Saturday 23rd July a.m.
 A bright sunny morning with a temperature of 15°C as we went through the gate that leads into the field at the start of our Denholme Clough walk to Doe Park Reservoir.As we went into the field we saw several Blackcaps and Willow Warblers, also a couple of Jays.As we followed the beck through the Clough we saw a good number of Willow Warblers & Swallows were also flying around.When we arrived at the reservoir which had no shoreline and no birds, oh I tell a lie we saw one BH Gull.
We headed back seeing more Willow Warblers and Goldfinch were feeding on the Thistle seeds, a Grey Wagtail flew past and soon after a pair of Oystercatchers flew over.In a distant tree we saw a couple of Linnets, our attention turned to the large numbers of Butterfly getting a couple of snaps of these.

Willow Warbler

Jay

Swallows

Goldfinch

Large Skipper

Meadow Brown

Denholme Clough

Doe Park Reservoir

Harden Moor

Sunday 17th July a.m.
A cloudy start to the day with a strong blustery wind and a temperature of 13°C, which we have found are not the best conditions for Harden Moor as it proved to be.Despite the conditions we started well with an Adult and juvenile Green Woodpecker, the juvenile posing for a picture.The Sand Martins are still in the quarry as was a single Oystercatcher, other birds tended to keep out of the wind with the exceptions of plenty Meadow Pipits,a Kestrel & a couple of LBB Gulls flying over.
We had a walk round the moor just spotting one Willow Warbler and a Song Thrush, a Robin with a couple of juveniles in tow rounded the morning off.

Juvenile Green Woodpecker

one of a number of Mipits

Song Thrush

Robin Juvenile