Redcar Tarn

Monday July 30th p.m.
A sunny afternoon with a temperature of 15°C so we decided to go up to Redcar Tarn, on
our arrival the wind was blowing strongly.I was surprised by the number of BH Gulls that
were present on the water and in the surrounding fields.There was a good number of House
Martins feeding over the water with all the usual species present.A walk to look in some
surrounding fields where the grass has been cut giving me chance to spot some birds on the
edge of the cut in front of the long grass.I saw one large bird with nine smaller ones,they were
some distance away which made ID more difficult.With the wind blowing and strong sunlight
taking snaps wasn't easy either.Looking at them I have concluded it was a female Pheasant
with nine Juveniles,hope I'm right.
c200 - BH Gulls
9 - Canadas
3 - Common Gull
10 - Coot
20 - House Martin
12 - Lapwing
c50 - Mallard
2 - Moorhen
9 - Pied Wagtails including juvs
1- Female Pheasant plus 9 Juvs
4 - Tufted Ducks
2 - Swallow
1 -Swift
plus others

Lapwing

Lapwing & BH Gull

Common Gull

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail Juv 1

Pied Wagtail Juv 2

female Pheasant with Juvs

Juvenile Pheasants I think

  

Harold Park & Park Dam,Bradford

Sunday July 29th a.m.
 Sunshine & showers this morning with a temperature of 10.5°C, it was good to catch
up with the pair of Great Crested Grebes now with two new chicks. There was no sign
of the juvenile we saw on our last visit, each adult was taking care of a chick in different
areas of the lake.There were also Mallards and Coots with chicks and we saw a Mute
Swan.
 From here we went to Park Dam a short distance away and again saw a G.C.Grebe, this
one had three chicks,no sign of the two juveniles reared earlier this year.They may have been
int the Reed Bed near the houses,maybe with the Mute Swan and Cygnets that we could't spot.
We didn't stop long as we made a dash for the car when another rain shower started.Before
we went six Canadas came flying in and landing on the water.
Harold Park
10 - BH Gulls
c40 - Canadas
12 - Coot plus chicks
2 - G.C.Grebe plus 2 chicks
c40 - Mallards plus chicks
2 - Moorhen
1 - Mute Swan
10 - Tufted Duck
plus others
Park Dam
14 - BH Gull
12 - Canadas
7 - Coot
1 - G.C.Grebe plus 3 chicks
10 - House Martin
2 - Swallow
1 - Swift
4 - Tufted Duck
plus others

Great Crested Grebe

G.C.Grebe with chick

G.C.Grebe chick

Coot feeding chick

Mallard with nine chicks

Mute Swan having a drink

Canadas landing at Park Dam

Yeadon Tarn

Saturday July 28th a.m.
 Some sunny spells between the clouds this morning with a temperature of 13°C at Yeadon
Tarn on our arrival. Just one remaining Great Crested Grebe which indicates there will not be
any successful breeding at this location. Earlier in June there were two nests built but their
exposed position and some terrible weather with very high water levels meant everything was
against the birds.
 There were good numbers of Mallards,Canadas,Coots,Mute Swans and Starlings with a
sprinkling of Moorhen and House Sparrows.We spotted just one Tufted Duck, there were some
House Martins flying about and a lone Swift, in the bushes we caught sight of a couple of Wrens.

male House Sparrow

Moorhen

Canada

Great Crested Grebe

G.C.Grebe on nest, taken 17/6/12

Selection of birds at Yeadon Tarn today.

   

Leeshaw Reservoir

Sunday July 22nd a.m.
  An overcast start to the day with a temperature of 13°C at Leeshaw Reservoir this morning.
There were Canadas and Greylags on the water with two Redshanks at the waters edge and
a Cormorant on top of the tower.There were also a group of four Oystercatcher in a nearby 
field and another one on a wall. The Lapwings were present in good numbers occasionally
taking flight, there were also a lot of Meadow Pipits and a couple of Pheasants.

Oystercatcher

Redshank

Cormorant

Meadow Pipit

Greylags

Canadas

Lister Park

Saturday July 21st a.m.
  At last a sunny start to the day with a temperature of 12°C when we arrived at Lister
Park in Bradford this morning. There were good numbers of Canadas feeding on the grass
with some on the pond. A couple of female Tufted Ducks had the first broods of chicks this
year which was great to see, along with the Mallard & Coot chicks. The Moorhens were
present with some juveniles and some BH Gulls had returned.We also spotted Swift high
above the park and a LBB Gull passed over. With the sun shining and the water fairly clear
we could see fish,we counted 11 Perch but I'm sure there would have been a lot more,we
took a snap but the surface muck on the water meant it wasn't very clear.Other birds we saw
included Nuthatch,Long-tailed Tit,Feral Pigeons and Wren.
 Also thanks to the lady who showed us where a pair of GSWs had raised some chicks that
have recently fledged,great to here about their successful breeding in the Park.

male Tufted Duck

female Tufted Duck with six chicks

Tufted Duck chick

Coot with chick

Mallard chicks

Mallard chick

Perch

Canadas

Colourful Lister Park Bradford

Redcar Tarn

Monday July 16th p.m.
 I managed to persuade my dad to take me up to Redcar Tarn before tea this afternoon,we
didn't get any birding in at the weekend because he was catching up with a few gardening jobs.
As we approached the Tarn there were a number of birds in a field which had been recently
had the grass cut. At the Tarn we saw Gull numbers growing along with the usual birds as we
walked round there were Swifts and Swallows overhead. We decided to walk down to the
field where we saw all the birds first stopping to see if there were any birds on a pond in a
nearby field. There was none there today but we did see three Curlew at the far side of the
field.Moving across to where the other birds were we could see a mixture of BH Gulls,Rooks,
Jackdaws,Starlings and Lapwings. Our attention then switched to a small pool at the corner of
the field where there were a couple of Pied Wagtails, looking through the bins we then spotted
a couple of different birds using the cover of some long grass.My dad said they look like Snipe
and we started to take some snaps, one broke cover and walked along the edge of the pool
and confirmed they were Snipe.This was a first for us and I was really excited to see them and
how easily it would have been to miss them if the Pied Wagtails had not been there.They were
aware of us and soon took to the sky flying away,having another look we saw another one
which quickly broke cover and flew off to join the other two,what do they say about buses?
c50 - BH Gull
6 - Canadas
15 - Coots + chicks
3 -Curlew
c40- Lapwing
6 - LBB Gulls
c50 Mallards + chicks
2 - Moorhen + chicks
3 - Pied Wagtail
2 - Skylark
3 - Snipe
4 - Swallow
4 - Swift
8 - Tufted Duck
plus others

Snipe

Snipe breaking cover

LBB Gull

LBB Gull with others flying over

Juvenile BH Gull

Pied Wagtail

Snipe on the move

Pied Wagtail pointing us in the right direction to the Snipe in the cover of the long grass.

       

Garden Visitors

Monday July 16th p.m.
 A poor day again today with rain but it did brighten up later with a temperature of 16°C.
There were plenty of birds about in the garden visiting the feeders,including Chaffinch,Blue
Tit,Great Tit,Goldfinch,Greenfinch,Woodpigeon,Blackbird,Collared Dove,Jackdaw,Magpie,
Siskin and a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker.The GSW made use of a perch we put
near the feeders which hopefully makes for a better picture.Many of the birds first go into the
surrounding trees to check the coast is clear before darting to the feeders.The Greenfinch
pictured below is in our Cherry tree at the bottom of the garden,the cherries were also
disappearing quickly.

Juvenile GSW

Greenfinch

Siskin