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

Redcar Tarn

Saturday 16th July a.m.
A cloudy morning up at Redcar Tarn with a temperature of 14°C where many of the usual species were to be seen.There was a post breeding flock of around fifty Lapwings in the surrounding fields,also Starlings,BH  & LBB Gulls.Swallows were swooping low over the water whilst House Martins were feeding above the trees.A Curlew made an appearance and it was good to see two Stock Doves a species we've not seen much of this year.

LBB Gull

BH Gull

Coots

Lapwings

Rook

Redcar Tarn 16/7/2016

Cullingworth

Sunday 10th July a.m.
 A cloudy morning with a strong blustery wind but the occasional sunny spell brightened our hopes as we set off on our walk.We soon saw House Martins above the houses then swooping down to feed chicks chirping in their nest,probably the second brood of the year.These as usual built of mud on the wall of the house under the eves over hang, so only a quick look at this activity is advisable so as not to upset residents.Higher above the House Martins a couple of Swifts were feeding, other common species were seen on route with more good numbers of House Martins seen possibly post breeding birds which tend to flock together as the summer progresses.More Swifts were seen at the viaduct and a Chiffchaff was belting out its song,on the reservoir were 25 Canadas and 26 Mallards.A pair of Oystercatchers were on the Dam wall with a LBB Gull passing through overhead.Down Station Road a Greenfinch was calling with several Swallows feeding and some going in to a barn, no doubt to feed young.A juvenile Pied Wagtail was seen and also a Juvenile Blackbird, we headed back under the viaduct seeing a charm of c15 Goldfinch in the field starting on the Thistle seed heads already.
Little else was seen until we got to the mill where we saw another Chiffchaff singing, then as we came back to the village more House Martins,Swallows and Swifts were seen.

Swallow

Greenfinch

Juvenile Blckbird

Juvenile Pied Wagtail

Oystercatchers

Hewenden Reservoir

Leeshaw Reservoir

Friday 8th July p.m.
 An afternoon visit to Leeshaw with some sunny intervals and a temperature of 15°C produced a record number of 15 Oystercatchers. There were also a couple of Curlews making some noise and flying around we had the additional bonus of a Snipe flying low in front of us and landing in a field on the other side of a wall.Others seen included House Martin,Swallow,Swift,Goldfinch,Grey Heron and Mipits.

Curlew

Goldfinch

Oystercatcher

Oystercatchers flying to the other side of the reservoir

Leeshaw 8/7/2016

Lister Park

Sunday 3rd July a.m.
A pleasant start to the day with sunshine and a temperature of 15°C as we arrived at Lister Park on the outskirts of Bradford.We made our way to the Lake where we had a good start with four Grey Wagtails in the corner by the waterfall and also a young Dipper.They flew off towards the stream so we followed getting a couple of snaps as we went.There was a Song Thrush giving us a tune high up on top of a tall conifer, also nearby was a Jay which obligingly hung around for a few snaps.We headed back down to the Lake where there was c125 Canadas and 34 Greylags we saw one Gosling with them.There were the usual Mallards and Tufted Ducks along with Moorhens and Coots with several chicks.There were a couple of BH Gulls & LBB Gulls with the addition of one Herring Gull,a good walk round with plenty birds to see in the pleasant conditions.

Jay

Dipper

Grey Wagtail

Song Thrush

BH Gull

Herring & LBB Gull

Coot with chick

Greylags with Gosling

female Tufted Duck

male Tufted Duck

Tufted Duck close up

Greylags

Lister Park 3/7/2016