Harold Park and Park Dam

Sunday 20th March a.m.
 A wonderful sunny start to the day as we made our way over to Harold Park where the temperature was 7°C on our arrival.We were greeted with a male Chaffinch singing as we made our way to the lake where there was the usual selection of birds.The Gulls were high in number with c150 BH & 20 Commons, there was also a Herring Gull which was constantly bathing itself & preening its feathers which was most inconsiderate as we waited for it to be still for a snap.The small pond was quiet but we did see a Starling in a nearby tree which had the sun on it showing what little gems these birds are when seen in the right light.
 We moved down the road to Park Dam where we saw a pair of GC Grebes doing their courtship display, there was also a third bird here.We then caught sight of a distant bird through the bins which looked different then as it came a little nearer we were sure, a male Shoveler, this was our first time to see one in the Bradford area a real treat.Others here included Cormorant,Tufted Ducks,Canadas but we were unable to spot any Little Grebes.
 Well pleased with our efforts and being good weather we decided to stop off at Soil Hill on our way home to see if we could get our first Skylarks of the year.We went along the main track to the summit first hearing then seeing around a dozen Skylarks rounding off a great morning.

Herring Gull

BH,Common & Herring Gull

Moorhen

Starling

GC Grebe at Park Dam

male Shoveler at Park Dam

Tufted Duck

Skylark on Soil Hill

Starling in the sun at Harold Park

Park Dam 20/3/2016