Leeshaw & Leeming Reservoirs

 Tuesday 11th August a.m.

The good weather continues, when I arrived at Leeshaw it was sunny with a temperature of 13°C seeing House Martins & Swallows flying overhead.  Canadas were grazing in the surrounding fields and it was good to see a family of Grey Partridge.  A Grey Heron was in the corner of the res, on the opposite shoreline there were Lapwing, BH Gulls, LBB Gulls & a Cormorant.  A Reed Bunting appeared nearby and a couple of Snipe flew away from nearby, a Robin also came to say hello.

     I then moved on to Leeming res a couple of miles up the road where a Grey Wagtail & Pied Wagtail got things off to a good start.  There were three Red-legged Partridge in the distance, Sand Martins were flying overhead joined higher above by a Buzzard.  Walking round the vegetation was encroaching on the path and views of the res are increasingly restricted.  However with the water level going down I spotted a Grey Heron, BH Gulls & Willow Warblers. 

Reed Bunting

Robin

Buzzard

Grey Heron

Grey Partridge 

Grey Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Red-legged Partridge 

A family of Grey Partridge at Leeshaw

Receding water at Leeming res 11/8/2026

TMR

 Monday 10th August a.m.

A sunny morning with a temperature of 13°C, walking up to the res seeing Swallow, Sand Martin, Goldfinch, Willow Warbler, Stock Dove, Red Grouse & Red- legged Partridge.  Then I spotted an Owl on top of a distant wall which I got some poor pictures of, the lD to me is difficult but I think with the tufts & orange eyes it is a Long- eared Owl, if so my first one.  The res had c250 BH Gulls, c100 LBB Gulls & a few Herring Gulls, Canadas, Greylags, Tufteds, Pied Wagtail & Grey Wagtail. On my way back I added Kestrel & Wheatear. 

Tough ID but I think Long-eared Owl

Stock Dove

Swallow

Wheatear

Goldfinch

Pied Wagtail

Red Grouse

Red-legged Partridge 

Sand Martin

BH Gulls

LBB & Herring Gull

LBB Gulls

BH Gulls at TMR 10/8/2026

Harold Park & Park Dam

Saturday 8th August a.m.

A sunny start with a temperature of 16°C as I headed for the Lake at Harold Park seeing Canadas grazing on the grass. A good number of birds with c40 LBB Gulls & c40 BH Gulls plus Tufteds, Coots, Mallards & Moorhen.  On the island there was a Grey Heron, also a couple of Grey Wagtails, I think there were three adult G.C.Grebes & 3 juveniles.  It was difficult to get them all in view as they move around & dived for food. A bonus was picking out a Shoveler among all the birds.

    Over the road at Park Dam there were three Mute Swans, Tufteds with a female looking after a juvenile a few BH Gulls & a Common Gull.  A couple of Sand Martins flew over & here there were two adult G.C. Grebes with four juveniles. 

Pictures from Harold Park unless noted as Park Dam.

Gt C. Grebe

Juvenile Gt. C. Grebe

Grey Heron

Grey Wagtail

Shoveler 

Tufteds

BH Gull with juvenile

LBB Gulls

Mute Swan at Park Dam

Tufted with chick at Park Dam

Common Gull at Park Dam

Juvenile G.C. Grebes at Park Dam

Juvenile G.C. Grebe at Park Dam

Harold Park 8/8/2026

Harden Moor

Friday 7th August a.m.

A cloudy morning with a temperature of 13°C also a bit windy which kept most of the birds down.  In a more sheltered part of the Moor there was a family of Stonechats, Whitethroat & Willow Warbler.  Others seen on my walk were Kestrel, Meadow Pipit & Goldfinch. 

Stonechat

  

Willow Warbler

Whitethroat

Goldfinch