Harden Moor

 Sunday 19th July a.m.

A sunny morning with some cloud cover and a temperature of 13°C, the model planes were being flown this morning so I took a different route.  This led to the stone ring Cairn which is from the Neolithic period (4100 - 2500BC) from which there are some good views of the surrounding area.  On the way I saw Stonechats, Linnets, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler & Bullfinch.  Others were Swallow & House Martin with the morning being rounded off well when a Barn Owl flew by.

Barn Owl

Stonechat

Linnet

Harden Moor

Neolithic stone ring Cairn, Harden Moor 19/7/2026

Leeshaw

 Thursday 16th July a.m.

After the early morning fog had cleared I went to Leeshaw where it was sunny with a temperature of 17°C.  There were House Martins & Swallows flying around, a Little Owl was in its usual area and a Kestrel landed on the Dam wall.  There were Canadas & Greylags in the fields with more on the res, on the shoreline were Lapwing, BH Gull, LBB Gull & Oystercatcher.  In the distance was a Buzzard & a Pied Wagtail was resting on a wall, also plenty Butterflies including Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, & Meadow Brown.  As I got back to the car there were a couple of Swallows on an overhead wire, then a couple more birds arrived which were House Martin & Sand Martin,  it was good to see the three species together.

House Martin

Sand Martin

House Martin & Sand Martin

Swallow & Sand Martin

Buzzard

Kestrel

Lapwing

Little Owl

Pied Wagtail

Comma

Meadow Brown 

Small Tortoiseshell 

Swallow, House Martin & Sand Martin

Hirundines at Leeshaw 16/7/2026

Harden Moor

 Friday 10th July a.m.

The hot sunny mornings keep coming today starting off at 17°C, some areas of the Moor now have head high Bracken, Willow Herb, Brambles & Nettles all providing cover for the birds.  This makes birding difficult but Whitethroat, Willow Warbler & Goldfinch were seen.  On the Heather/Grassland area of the Moor just Skylark, Meadow Pipit & Pied Wagtail were seen, bonus of a Green Woodpecker high in a tree.  Others were House Martin & Swallow.  

Whitethroat

Green Woodpecker

Pied Wagtail

Tall Willowherb

Bracken starting to cover the path

Harden Moor 10/7/2026

TMR

 Thursday 9th July a.m.

Another hot sunny morning starting off at 20°C & rising, walking up to the Reservoir there were Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Wren, Linnet, Stonechat, Pied Wagtail & Red-legged Partridge.  As I was noting these another bird appeared with an orange flash in the tail, a juvenile Redstart, which is a first for me at this site.  On the res there were c500 mainly LBB Gulls with a few Herring & BH Gulls, also Greylags & Tufteds.  The water level is now going down exposing shoreline for Lapwings, Oystercatcher,  Common Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail & a different looking Meadow Pipit.  

Juvenile Redstart

Common Sandpiper

Grey Wagtail

Greenfinch

Linnet

different looking Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Greylag

Lapwing

Tufteds

LBB Gulls

Plenty Gulls at TMR 9/7/2026