Harden Moor and Leeshaw Reservoir

Saturday 20th May a.m.
A bright morning with plenty sunshine and a temperature of 8°C as I started off on Harden Moor where it was good to hear a distant Cuckoo and later a quick view in a nearby tree.Plenty warblers around including Garden Warbler,Willow Warbler and Whitethroat, others seen were Rook,Little Owl,Stock Dove,Sand Martin and Linnet.
 I then moved on to Leeshaw Reservoir where it was good to meet B.V. who put me on to a couple of Little Ringed Plovers.A Cuckoo could be heard in the distance with Redshanks,Oystercatchers and Lapwings around.I had a walk up the steep track past the farm, a pause to look over the reservoir just in time to see a Red Kite fly over in the distance. In the fields at the top of the hill it was good to see some Golden Plover before going back down the hill.Others seen were Curlew,Swallow ,Starling,Jay, Pied Wagtail,Cormorant and Greylags with Goslings.
Nigel.

Golden Plover

Redshank

Swallow

Greylags with Goslings

Lapwing

Lapwing chick doing well

Oystercatcher

Pied Wagtail

Leeshaw Reservoir

Swillington Ings

Sunday 14th May a.m.
A dull overcast start with a temperature of 11°C but soon brightening up as the morning wore on.I am still calling this site Swillington Ings but it has now been adopted by the RSPB who are calling it St Aiden's.
 As usual a good selection of birds starting off with Avocets,Common Terns,Pochard, Gadwall, Shoveler and plenty Greylags and Canadas with Goslings.In the reeds I saw at least ten Reed Warblers and the same number each of Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting.It was good to hear Bitterns booming from several different spots whilst overhead were good numbers of Swifts,Sand Martins and Swallows.Others included Kestrel,Whitethroat,Chiffchaff,Willow Warbler,Little Grebe,Gt Crested Grebe with chicks, Linnet,Cormorant, Grey Heron and Oystercatcher and other common species.
 Back on the local front it was good to see the reports from B.S. on his West Yorkshire Birding site confirming my suspected Whimbrel at Leeshaw yesterday was a definite, nice to get a lifer in the local area.
Nigel.

Kestrel

Linnet

Reed Bunting

Sedge Warbler

Shoveler

Whitethroat

Avocets

Common Tern

Gadwall

Gt Crested Grebe with chicks, a couple are hidden away on its back

Swillington Ings/St Aiden's 14/5/2017

Leeshaw

Saturday 13th May a.m.
A morning with spells of rain and blustery wind and a temperature of 10°C led me to Leeshaw Reservoir to see if anything unusual had dropped in.There were four noisy Oystercatchers, Curlew, Little Owl, Lapwing, Greylags, Pied Wagtail and a couple of Swallows.There was a small flock of five Linnets, a couple of Mipits and a BH Gull,five Herring and a LBB Gull dropped in.The camera had stayed in its case with rain coming down but when I got to the field with three Curlew in, the one nearest me looked different.This one head a couple of head stripes, a more noticeable stripe through the eye line and a shorter bill leading me to consider Whimbrel! I've not seen one before so I couldn't give it a definite ID, this meant the camera had to come out for a couple of quick record pictures in the hope that someone will be able to give me a yeah or nah for Whimbrel?

possible Whimbrel?

Yeadon Tarn

Sunday 7th May a.m.
It was cloudy on my arrival at Yeadon Tarn with a temperature of 8°C, the water was quiet again with low numbers of Canadas,Tufteds,Coots,Moorhen,Mute Swan and Mallards.There was Chiffchaff singing along with Willow Warbler and Reed Bunting, over the water were Swallows,Sand Martins, House Martins and three Swifts.It was also good to see a pair of Canadas with four Goslings.
Nigel.

Willow Warbler

Canada Gosling

Canadas with their Goslings at Yeadon Tarn 7/5/2017

Redcar Tarn

Saturday 6th May a.m.
 A cloudy morning with a strong Easterly wind blowing making it feel a lot colder than 9°C.The usual mix of Gulls were on the Tarn along with Tufteds,Canadas,Coots & Mallards,there was a brood of 4 Mallard chicks and a brood of 5 Coot chicks, the first I've seen this year.Above the water I counted 10 Swallows feeding and also my first local Swift of the year.It was good to hear the Skylarks and I caught sight of a couple of them, a Curlew stopped off briefly and it was great to see a couple of LRP fly in.

LBB Gull

BH & LBB Gull

Herring Gull

Mixed ages of mainly LBB Gulls

Plenty Gulls

Curlew looking a bit untidy

LRP

Coots with chicks

Skylark

Redcar Tarn 6/5/2017