Harold Park & Park Dam

Harold Park
A foggy start to the day & still murky when we arrived at Harold Park with a temperature of
8°C.The main birds here were Canadas,Mallards,Tufted Duck,Coot, with a group of BH Gulls
flying over.The pair of GC Grebe were still present & also Swallows & House Martins were
feeding over the water.
10 - BH Gull
15 - Canadas
10 - Coot
2 - Gt C. Grebe
7 - House Martin
c40 - Mallard
15 - Swallow
4 - Tufted Duck
plus others
Park Dam
 A short drive down to Park Dam with the day gradually brightening and the temperature rising
to10°C.Here we had a nice surprise when we saw a Grey Wagtail for the first time at this
location. Good numbers of Swallows were feeding over the water, others seen were GC Grebe,
Canadas,Coot,Mallard,Moorhen,Mute Swan & Tufted Duck.
5 - Canadas
5- Coot
3 - Gt C. Grebe
1 - Grey Wagtail
4 - Mallard
1 - Moorhen
1 - Mute Swan
25 - Swallows
6 - Tufted Duck
plus others

Coots were squabbling

Canadas

Grey Wagtail

Gt C. Grebe

Good of the Gt C. Grebe to come say hello to us

Swallow Collage

Harden Moor

From Saturday 26th April p.m.
 After a wash out yesterday morning & an afternoon spent out it wasn't till evening
before we got a chance to do some birding.There were a few sunny spells but still it
was fairly cloudy with a temperature of 12°C on Harden Moor.Some good birds were
seen with the highlights being,Kestrel,Redpoll,Willow Warbler,Bullfinch,Blue Tit,Song
Thrush,Sand Martin & Chaffinch.

male Bullfinch

female Bullfinch

male Chaffinch

Blue Tit

Willow Warbler

Redpoll

Redpoll

Yeadon Tarn

Wednesday 23rd April a.m.

 A great sunny morning at Yeadon Tarn with a temperature of 12°C when we arrived.

The water held the usual Canadas,Mallards,Tufted Ducks,Mute Swans,Coots,Moorhens

& Great Crested Grebes.A Kestrel made an appearance near the airport & it was also good

to see a Grey Wagtail a bird we don't often see here.There were a couple of Chiffchaffs singing

we located one of them but struggled to get a snap through the branches of the tree. We were

patient though, sometimes you can see the bird perfectly well with the naked eye then when you

look through the camera it seem to disappear. A couple of Swallows were flying low over the

water & we also had a flyover of seven Greylags.

  The stars of the morning though were three Common Terns which were on the wooden barriers

at the airport end of the Tarn. They took off a few times doing a circuit of the Tarn we tried to

get a flight shot of them, but could only get them in silhouette, mind you they still look quite good.

Common Tern

Common Terns in silhouette

Chiffchaff

Grey Wagtail

Gt C. Grebe

Common Tern stretching its wings

Local Walk

Wednesday 23rd April a.m.
 A bright sunny start to the day as we took the dog for a walk through the village & up to a
local pond.Along the way seeing Swallows which are now back in good numbers,Chiffchaff
singing & our first Willow Warbler of the year.At the pond there were Moorhen, Mallard and
Canadas.Heading back we could here Pheasants. We also saw Song Thrush,Wren,Goldfinch & Greenfinch.There were plenty House Sparrows seen throughout the walk there are at least
seven colonies around the village all with 10+ birds. The highlight for me was when we spotted
five House Martins above the village back in their usual spot, a pleasure to see them return.

Swallow

Willow Warbler

Record shot of House Martin

Swallow in the morning sunshine

 

Redcar Tarn

Sunday 20th April a.m.
 A visit up to a chilly Redcar Tarn with a temperature of 6°C with cloud & just the odd sunny
spell.Canadas,Greylags,Mallards,Tufted Ducks,BH,Common & LBB Gulls were all present.
Coots were nest building & Swallows were low over the water.A Skylark was singing with
others present being Pheasant,Jackdaw,Lapwing & Curlew.

Skylark

Tufted Duck

LBB Gull

Rook

Rook & LBB Gull

Greylag

Swallow

Skylark

Leeshaw area

Saturday 19th April
 A frosty start to the day with a temperature of just 1°C on our arrival at Leeshaw
Reservoir.There were good numbers of Geese,Lapwings, Oystercatchers and Pheasants
in the surrounding fields.Curlews were still present,Pied Wagtails also & Swallows flew
low over the water.Also good to see the return of a couple of Common Sandpipers on the
waters edge.
  We decided to move a short distance away to the bottom of Penistone Hill that has a track
which leads to the other side of the reservoir, it can also be walked from Leeshaw but its
uphill & a fair trek.At the side of the track the field held Pheasants & Lapwing & we also saw
a single Wheatear.Also on the moor in the heather we saw a Red Grouse, after enjoying the
view of the reservoir we headed back along the track to the car. As we approached the road we
saw a small flock of around twelve birds fly into a nearby field.My dad thought they were Golden Plover so we walked down the road to check out the field where they had landed.There were
Sheep in the field and among them the field was full of Golden Plover in full breeding plumage.
We got as close as we could from the road & took some snaps,if only they were a bit closer but
at least we saw them, we counted 90.Also in the field was an Oystercatcher & a couple of Curlew,
another fantastic end to a good mornings birding.
29 - Canadas
2 - Common Sandpiper
5 - Curlew
90 - Golden Plover
c40 - Lapwing
10 - Meadow Pipit
6 - Oystercatcher
14 - Pheasant
6 - Pied Wagtail
1 - Red Grouse
5 - Swallow
1 - Wheatear

Common Sandpiper

Pied Wagtail

Oystercatcher

Pheasant

Red Grouse in the Heather

Wheatear

male & female Golden Plover

returning Common Sandpiper

Field full of Golden Plover with the Sheep