Tufted Ducks at the Tarn

Saturday 9th April a.m.
     Early this morning it was a bit chilly adout 5°C with a little mist. Tried a new
location Redcar Tarn above Keighley and was not dissappointed. There were
around 20 Tufted Ducks, about the same Mallards and a few Geese, including a
Greylag. There were also a couple of odd ball ducks. We saw 4 Coots, 6 Moorhens,
2 Black-Headed Gulls and a couple of Common Gulls flying about.
    The sun started to brighten things up and in a nearby field caught sight of two
Curlew and a couple of Lapwings a good start to the day.

Redcar Tarn Keighley

Tufted Ducks

Pair of Tufted Ducks

Black-Headed Gull

Moorhen

Curlew

Lapwing

Spring flowers being pollinated by Bees

Friday 8th April p.m.
Another great sunny day with temperature around 18°C more Daffodils
floweing along with Anenome. The Snakeshead Frittillarys are looking
very good this year with plenty Bees about pollinating them.

Daffodils in full flower

Another Daffodil

Anenome

Snakeshead Fritillary with Bee

More Snakeshead Fritillary with Bee

Jays in the woods

Thurday 7th April late p.m.
  A good bright sunny afternoon and evening temperature around 13°C.
Walking in some woods the other side of Bradford saw 8 Jays and a Mistle
Thrush. The Jays were forageing just outside the wood and the majority flew
off as I approached them, just got one snap. I went back into the wood and
caught sight of a couple of Jays in the trees. I also spotted a Mistle Thrush
building a nest, it made a rattling sound as it flew about.

Jay looking out from the wood

Jay in the tree

Jay

Jay showing more colour

Mistle Thrush

Mistle Thrush building a nest

Garden Visitors

Wednesday 6th April p.m.
    There have been more visitors to our bird feeder including a female Blackbird
sharing with a Goldfinch. A Chaffinch, which seems to prefer the scraps on
the grass and I took a picture of the sunset Monday night from the garden looking
West towards Haworth.
   Welcome Brian my first follower and thanks for your comments, tricky them
Ducks cross breeding making it difficult for me to identify them. Still all these
birds to learn about and with helpful comments like yours I'm making good
progress. The amount of different species and stages of their development means
I've alot to learn but really enjoying it getting out and about taking snaps.

Female Blackbird and Goldfinch

Chaffinch picking up scraps

Chaffinch forageing for seeds

Monday 4th April Sunset looking West towards Haworth 

Local Jackdaws

Sunday April 3rd a.m.
I took a walk locally this morning and got a couple of snaps of a pair of Jackdaws
at home on a nearby rooftop. They are noisy birds which seem to have their nest
inside the chimneys. I have noticed them here for a number of years and was today
able to get a picture of them. As I was taking the picture a Collard Dove fluttered
down and nestled in the tree at the side of me. I can't decide if it was just being
inquisitive or it wanted to pose for its picture taking, it showed no intension of
moving when I started to take its picture.

Pair of Jackdaws on local rooftop

Jackdaws on chimney

Jackdaws using chimney for their home

Collard Dove posing for a picture

  

St.Ives visit late morning

Saturday April 2nd late a.m.
    After our earlier trips decided to try our luck at St. Ives has usually been a
good source of bird activity particularly on the coppice pond. We were not
dissappointed with about 30 Mallards, 20 Canadas, 10 Coots and 2 Moorhen.
In addition we spotted a pair of Tufted Ducks for the first time and as we were
walking round the pond a Meadow Pipit appeared. This just capped another
great mornings sightings off.

Female Tufted Duck

Male Tufted Duck

Pair of Tufted Ducks

Meadow Pipit

 

Early visit to Leeshaw,Oxenhope and Ponden Reservoirs

April 2nd early a.m.
The sky was overcast this morning with light rain and the odd heavy shower but
it was mild around 13°C. We first went to Leeshaw Reservoir where we usually
find a variety of birds in the surrounding fields.We saw a male and female
Pheasant in the distance and later saw another two again in the distance. A little
Owl perched itself on a distant fence post,sadly out of range for my little camera.
The reservoir had arond 20 Mallards and 10 Canadas in the distance. There were
around 10 Lapwings in the fields and occasionally flying over the reservoir.Again
in the fields were some Canadas feeding along with a couple of Greylag Geese.
     We then moved on to Ponden Reservoir where there were a couple of Canadas
and about 20 Mallards, one was black maybe it was a young one waiting for its
adult plumage. As we were about to leave a couple of small Pied Wagtails
appeared who stayed just long enough for a quick snap shot.

Pheasant

Greylag Geese

Lapwing

Mallard Duck

Black Duck,possible Mallard young one

Pied Wagtail