Cullingworth and Hewenden Reservoir

Sunday 26th February a.m.
 A dull overcast morning with a temperature of 6°C as I made my way through the village seeing a good number of common species on the way.As I approached the Great Northern Trail I spotted Redwings in a nearby field which flew into a tree, there were c25 of them,also two Mistle Thrush joined them and a Song Thrush was nearby. I made my way on to Hewenden Viaduct from where I could see two Oystercatchers on the dam wall.Others here BH, Common and Herring Gull,Pheasant, Jackdaw and Canadas.As I walked through the woods I heard a Green Woodpecker calling and also saw a distant GSW and a Sparrowhawk flew over.
 Coming back as I crossed Milking Hole Beck I spotted a Dipper which I was able to get a couple of pictures of.From my usual view point of the top end of the reservoir I saw two Wigeon,a Teal, four Tufted Ducks and five Moorhen.Whilst I was here a Goldcrest appeared in front of me and soon after I got my first Treecreeper of the year.The footpath heading towards the farm was a boggy mess but I ploughed on through it, passed the horses and getting the usual Pied Wagtails at the farm before heading home.
Nigel.

Dipper

Goldcrest

Pheasant

Redwing

Treecreeper

Great Tit

Oystercatchers

Pied Wagtail

Robin

Song Thrush

male Wigeon

female Wigeon

Dipper

Hewenden Reservoir 26/2/2017

Yeadon Tarn

Sunday 19th February a.m.
 A visit to Yeadon Tarn this morning with cloudy conditions and the odd spell of sunshine with a temperature of 7°C.There was a Song Thrush giving a tune high in a tree and further round a second which was low enough to take a picture. There were 30 Coots with quite a few of them fighting as they do at this time of year, a good number of 23 Tufteds were counted. There were two adult and one Juvenile Mute Swan (Red Tag 024Y, 520Y, Yellow Tag 886). The highlight here though was four male Pochards and one female, always good to see these birds.
 Driving back passed the airport and on to Carlton Road a Red Kite flew low in front of the car giving a good view if only brief.
Nigel.

Mute Swan

male Pochard

female Pochard

4 male and 1 female Pochards

Song Thrush

BH Gulls

Coots fighting

Yeadon Tarn

Juvenile Mute Swan at Yeadon Tarn 19/2/2017

Lower Laithe & Leeshaw Reservoirs

Saturday 18th February a.m.
 A cloudy start but feeling mild with a temperature of 7°C as I headed for Leeshaw Reservoir. I decided to take the slightly longer route through Haworth so I could check the Lower Laithe Reservoir first. I was glad I did as there were three Oystercatchers on the valve tower area, so I parked up and walked down the hill to get some pics.The bad bit is walking back up the hill, there were Canadas, Mallards and Greylags on the water and in the surrounding fields I saw a Kestrel,Pheasant,Jackdaws and eleven Rooks.
 I moved on to Leeshaw where there was also three Oystercatchers but on a distant wall so no pics, there was a pair of Goosanders and a Cormorant on the water.In a nearby fields were c25 Canadas, c50 Starlings and 68 Lapwings.It was also good to see ten Mipits and three distant Curlew fly past, then in flew 47 Greylags some going to the water and the rest joining the Canadas.As it was time to go I but the camera back in its case and was about to get into the car when nine Curlew flew past just in front of me, Doh!
Nigel.

Oystercatcher at Lower Laithe Res

Mipit at Leeshaw

Cormorant and Goosanders

Distant Curlew over the Moors

Lapwings

Here come the Greylags

Three Oysterctchers at Lower Laithe Res

Lower Laithe Res 18/2/2017

Leeming Common Gull

On the 4th February I saw a Common Gull with what I thought was leg ring 1811, however this proved to be wrong as Brian from West Yorkshire Birding has been on the case.He has found out the leg ring was actually J811 and that it was ringed at Stavanger in Norway when it was one year old on the 9/12/13.The bird was sighted six times around Norway over the next two years then a gap until it reappeared when I saw it at Leeming.
Many thanks to Brian for taking the time to find out about this Common Gull giving an insight in to its history and origin.
Nigel.

Common Gull J811

From Stavanger in Norway to Leeming on 4/2/2017