Yeadon Tarn

Sunday February 24th a.m.
Another cold & frosty start with a temperature of 0°C when we arrived at Yeadon Tarn.
The usual waterfowl where about including Pochard,Gt Crested Grebe,Mute Swan & the
Drake Mandarin was still present.There were Greenfinch & Great Tits both calling along
with some Goldfinch passing through.

Drake Mandarin

Mute Swan

Pochard

Tufted Duck

Yeadon Tarn

Stocksbridge, Keighley Nature Reserve

Saturday February 23rd a.m.
 The day started well with a Pheasant in the garden when I pulled the curtains off,
which after a quick dash for the camera I managed to get a snap of.
 It was a frosty start with a temperature of -1°C with overcast skies as we made
our way to the BOG members Nature Reserve at Stocksbridge in Keighley.We
joined other members in the hide seeing a good variety of birds including Canadas,
Mallards,Moorhen,BH Gull,Common Gull,Grey Heron,Kingfisher,Bullfinch,Redpoll,
Siskin,Reed Bunting,Long-tailed Tit,Greenfinch and other common species. This good
variety of birds & some good company made for an enjoyable mornings birding.

Kingfisher

male Bullfinch

female Bullfinch

Pheasant in the garden

Grey Heron

Reed Bunting

male Siskin

Redpoll

Long-tailed Tit

Canadas

Filey Dams

From Sunday February 17th
 Continuing our report from our visit to Filey after our lunch we moved from
Filey Brigg country park to Filey Dams on the outskirts of the town. This is a
Nature Reseve run by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust which has two bird hides & a
viewing screen overlooking the lake & ponds.From the first hide we saw Teal,
Canadas,Tufted Duck,Herring Gull,Great Black-backed Gull,BH Gull,Coots,
Moorhen,Tufted Duck & the highlight a distant Slavonian Grebe.We decided
to move to the second hide which was closer to the S.Grebe, coming out of the
hide looking through the viewing screen we got a good view of some Tree
Sparrows. The second hide gave us a good view of the S.Grebe & we managed
to get a few snaps.We also saw on the island several Redshank which were spooked
by something giving us chance to count 18 of them as they flew into a nearby field.
 We went back to the car & headed home passing the Harewood estate where we
counted 6 Red Kite overhead as we drove along the A659 road towards Pool, a
good end to a great day out.

Slavonian Grebe

Redshanks

Tree Sparrow

Filey Dams

More from Filey

From Sunday February 17th
 A few more snaps from our visit to Filey, where the sun shone with the
temperature rising to 8°C.
 Good to hear a pair of Tawney Owls calling again early this morning in the village.

Herring Gull

Turnstone

Oystercatcher

Redshank & Oystercatcher

Mainly Oystercatchers with a couple of Turnstones & a Redshank

Filey

Day out at Filey

Sunday February 17th
 The day started cold and frosty with a temperature of -1°C as we set off to Filey
on the East coast of Yorkshire.As we went on our way past Otley heading for
York we spotted c75 Curlew in a field near the road but there was no place to stop to
get a snap,also some early mist in this area.
 We arrived in good time to Filey Brigg country park a good place for Turnstones as
advised by JC on his Pikey's Pics blog a few weeks ago.The sun was out now as we
went past the reception area there were around 40 Oystercatchers on the grass and
then we spotted 3 Turnstones & so we managed to get some snaps of the bird we came
to see.We then set out for the headland seeing Skylark,Kittiwake & Herring Gull, we
went along the path taking us down the steep slope seeing more Turnstones &
Oystercatchers. At the headland we could see Cormorants & we spotted a Drake
Eider Duck before going back up the steep path. Back on the top as we went back we
were pleased to bump into a couple of Bradford birders who had just seen a Puffin which
they had digiscoped & got a good pic.
  As we went back towards the reception we counted 70 Oystercatchers in another grassed
area with a couple more Turnstones, Redshank & 5 Sanderlings. We went down to the beach
and walked on to Filey where we had some lunch,there were several Herring Gulls here.We
then set off to Filey Dams but that report will have to wait.

Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher & Turnstones

Skylark

Sanderling

Cormorant

Herring Gull

Turnstone

Filey Brigg headland

Filey

  

Greylags at Lister Park

Saturday February 16th a.m.
 With there being 34 Greylags at Lister Park this morning it gave me the
opportunity in good light to take some decent pictures, hope you agree.

Greylag close up

Greylags with Canadas in the background

Lister Park