Harden and Keighley Moor

Sunday 9th April a.m.
Harden Moor
 A bright sunny start here with a temperature of 10°C, it was good to see two Little Owls on a wall enjoying the early morning sunshine.There was also a male Pheasant with a couple of females near where I parked the car. It was good to see a few returning Sand Martins near the quarry for the first time this year, there was also a Little Owl here and a pair of Oystercatchers.All the birds seemed to be up singing this morning including Linnet,Willow Warbler,Blackbird,Wren,Robin and Chaffinch.It was good to see a group of six Lesser Redpolls, Curlew could be heard in the distance and a GSW flew over before I decided to try my luck elsewhere.

Lesser Redpoll

Willow Warbler

Linnet

Little Owl

male Pheasant

female Pheasant

Keighley Moor
 When I arrived here the temperature had risen to 13°C, at Slippery Ford there was a Dipper and a Grey Wagtail in the stream which got me off to a good start.As I started to walk up the hill towards the reservoir I could see six Lapwing in a nearby field and a Read Bunting was singing in a tree with another two lower in the tufted grass.I soon found my first Wheatear of the year and in all I saw five, Curlews and Grouse where vocal as usual seeing a couple briefly and Meadow Pipits were seen regularly on the long walk.At the Reservoir there were Mallards,Canadas and Greylags and it was good to see a pair of Stonechats before making my way back to the car and home.
Nigel.

Dipper

Read Bunting

Stonechat

male Wheatear

Wheatear seen on way from Slippery Ford to Keighley Moor Reservoir 9/4/2017