Thursday 16th April a.m.
A cloudy start with a temperature of just 3.5°C on Harden Moor as I parked up & then took the footpath past the quarry.I was greeted by the song of a returning
Willow Warbler, one of several seen during my walk round.Also returning were
Sand Martins, but the surprise of the morning was when I was scanning some distant rocks there was a
Cuckoo.I headed towards it losing sight as the path dipped & of course when the rocks were back in view the bird was gone.I searched the area without success but did see a distant
Sparrowhawk, I headed back & spotted the
Cuckoo again near the quarry & managed to get a few pictures.Also seen were
Kestrel,Pied Wagtail,Redpoll,Mipits everywhere & a
Grey Heron flyover.N.P.
Keighley Moor Reservoir
I then tried a new location, Keighley Moor Reservoir which is closest to Oakworth.There is a bit of off road parking then its an uphill walk along a road to the lodge & then to the Reservoir, quite a distance.Fortunately I was rewarded with several
Wheatears near & on the dam wall,
Canadas &
Mallards on the water with the usual
Grouse,Curlew & Mipits.With Soil Hill,Queensbury & Ovenden Wind Farm all visible in the distance it didn't feel too much like the middle of nowhere.I headed back downhill,thankfully, & had the bonus of more Wheatears near the lodge giving me a total of 10 making the trek worthwhile.N.P.
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| Cuckoo |
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| First sighting of Cuckoo on a distant rock |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Kestrel |
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| our first Willow Warbler of the year |
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| Wheatear at Keighley Moor Reservoir |
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| male Wheatear |
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| female Wheatear on KMR dam wall |
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| Harden Moor 16/4/2015 |
Nice one on the Cuckoo Nigel, quite a few back now according to BTO.
ReplyDeleteCool - Well done , could it be a record , such an early sighting?
ReplyDeleteJohn
Thanks to both of you, really good to see the Cuckoo & get some pictures, don't know if its the earliest record spotted in the area John.N.P.
ReplyDelete