Monday, 20 July 2026

TMR

Monday 20th July a.m.

A warm sunny morning as I walked up towards the Reservoir with a temperature of 15°C. There were good numbers of Swallows overhead, many of them juveniles, good to catch up with the juvenile Redstart which was playing hide & seek.  At the res a Common Sandpiper was at the waters edge, the Tufteds were present as were Canadas & Greylags.  There were c200 LBB Gulls, c100 BH Gulls, Herring Gulls & a Yellow Legged Gull.  Others near the res were Kestrel, Stonechat, Pied Wagtail, Red Grouse & Meadow Pipit.  On the way back to the car I saw Willow Warbler, Goldfinch & Wren. 

Juvenile Redstart




Willow Warbler



Common Sandpiper

juvenile Goldfinch

Pied Wagtail

Stonechat

Swallow


Tufted

Wren


BH Gull

LBB Gulls

LBB & YL Gull at TMR 20/7/2026


Sunday, 19 July 2026

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


Thursday, 16 July 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


Friday, 10 July 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