Dowley Gap

Sunday 27th October a.m.
 With the clocks going back we headed off this morning in bright sunshine & blue skies to
Dowley Gap where the temperature was 10°C on arrival.The hedgerow next to the road
held Mistle Thrush,Blackbirds,Blue Tits,Greenfinch,Great Tit,Robin & LT Tits in addition
we saw a Jay fly over the field carrying a nut & higher a Cormorant flew over.A good start
but still no Redwing or Fieldfare even though there are plenty berries for them.
 We went along the canal where the two Mute Swans were present with several Mallards &
we also had the bonus of a couple of Grey Wagtails.We walked along the canal & across the
Aqueduct over the River Aire & into Hirst Wood. Here it was quiet, the river was high & flowing
fast with all the recent rain, just a few Mallards were seen here.
 We headed back seeing good numbers of BH Gulls at the water works with c18 Pied Wagtails
& a couple of Dunnocks & Wrens.As we came back to the locks we scanned around the water
works & sighted a Grey Wagtail on a wall which then took off flying past us & going down along
the canal.We headed after it & were lucky enough to re-locate it at the edge of the canal under the
trees.It stayed long enough for several snaps before moving off again.This rounded off some good
birding & we managed to get home before the rain came.

Grey Wagtail

Dunnock

Pied Wagtail

Mute Swans

Who's a pretty boy then

The Aqueduct which carries the canal over the River Aire

 

Cullingworth Kestrels

Saturday 26th October a.m.
 A dull start to the day with a temperature of 10°C as we headed off to do some birding
in Keighley.As we were heading up Keighley Road out of Cullingworth we spotted a Kestrel
hovering over the field next to the road, so we found a place to pull in.We thought we might
get a snap of it, we soon realised there was a pair hunting in the field.They were just out of
range as they hunted but kept coming over to the side of the road & landing on top of two
Telegraph poles. We were parked in between & although the light was poor managed to get
some snaps.It was fascinating watching them hunt with both the male & female on the same
pole at times.At one point the male landed on a wall just in front of us with something he had
caught.We watched them for half an hour before they moved on and we abandoned our plans
& headed home delighted with our early morning treat.

male Kestrel

female Kestrel

pair of Kestrels

male on wall just a few meters away from us in the car.

    

Redcar Tarn

Sunday 20th October a.m.
 Yet another cloudy start to the day, but things slowly brightened through the morning, on
our arrival at Redcar Tarn above Keighley the temperature was 11°C.There were good
numbers of BH Gulls,Mallards & Coots on the water.Canadas,Lapwings & Starlings were
feeding in the surrounding fields & the Grey Heron was on the island.It was also good to
see a Robin & a couple of Pied Wags were flitting about.
c100 - BH Gulls
13 - Canadas
14 - Coot
7 - Common Gull
1 - Grey Heron
78 - Lapwing
1 - LBB Gull
c100 - Mallard
6 - Muscovy Ducks
3 - Pied Wags
1 - Robin
c50 - Starlings
6 - Tufted Duck
plus others.

Black-headed Gull

Common Gull

Common & BH Gull

Grey Heron

Tufted Duck

Lapwing

Redcar Tarn

Harold Park & Park Dam

Saturday 19th October a.m.
Harold Park
Another foggy morning meant a later start over at Harold Park,South Bradford as things
gradually brightened up late morning with a temperature of 12°C.The lake was full of Coots,
we counted 78 but just one Canada, two Great Crested Grebes were present & the pair of
Mute Swans had two juveniles with them.Others included Tufted Duck,Moorhens with juvs
& Mallards.
 We walked further up the Park to the small pond, this area was busier than normal with birds
flitting about in the tree tops.There were good numbers of Thrushes including Mistle,Blackbirds
& a couple of Redwing, leading us to think migrants had boosted the numbers.We also saw a
flock of birds feeding some going quickly over our heads in more ways than one,our best guess
would be Goldfinch, we did ID two of these along with a couple of Blue Tits & a Chaffinch in a
nearby tree.

This Pigeon posed so well we couldn't resist

Great Crested Grebe

Mute Swan

Mute Swan Juvs

male Tufted Duck

Moorhen

Moorhen Juv

Mistle Thrush

Redwing

  Park Dam
 In the nearby fields on our arrival at Park Dam were 38 grazing Canadas, in the hedgerow were
more Blackbirds with the resident House Sparrows. The lake held Mallard,Coot,Moorhen, a pair
of Great Crested Grebe with a Juvenile & three Little Grebes, two possible Juvs.

Little Grebe-poss Juv

must be lunch time

Adult & Juv Little Grebes

  

Redcar Tarn

Sunday 13th October p.m.
 A poor morning forecast so we had a lie in for a change, rain & cloud stayed around until
late afternoon.With some brightening skies we decided to pay a quick visit to Redcar Tarn,
here the temperature was 10°C, the brighter weather soon turned to light rain so we just had
time for a quick walk around.
 Still good numbers of Mallards & BH Gulls & the 13 Goosanders were still present.The Grey
Heron was again on the island, & the other was on a distant wall with a mixture of Lapwings,BH
Gulls & Starlings in the field at the back of the Tarn. There was a couple of LBB Gulls & 3
Common Gulls, the old resident domesticated Greylag was joined by another Greylag & several
Canadas. The usual assortment of Hybrid Ducks were present with a group of white Geese which
could be possibly described as Hybrid,Common,Farmyard or Feral Geese take your pick.

Goosander having a stretch

Grey Heron

Canada & Greylag Goose

Geese

Lapwing

Lapwings sheltering on the island

Dowley Gap & Hirst Wood

Saturday 12th October a.m.
 It was a dull gloomy start to the day with spells of drizzle & a temperature of 10°C on our
arrival at Dowley Gap.Along the canal there were a pair of Mute Swans & a few Mallards,
the water treatment area held BH Gulls,Pied Wagtails & a single Grey Wagtail.As we went
over the aqueduct a Nuthatch was in the top of a tree & a Jay & a pair of Canadas flew over.
On the River Aire were more Mallards & a single female Goosander, on our way back we
also saw Goldfinch,Wren & Robin.

Goldfinch

Mute Swan

Pied Wagtail

Goosander

Canadas flying over

Robin

Leaves dropping as Autumn sets in along the canal

Dowley Gap Locks