Village Walk

Thursday 21st April
A warm sunny day with the temperature reaching 22°C as the Easter holidays
get into full swing. As I walked round Cullingworth village there were alot of
birds enjoying the sunshine these included Starlins,Blackbirds,Collard Doves,
Jackdaws,Magpies,Swallowes,Great Tits,Blue Tits,Goldfinch,Crows and House
Sparrows. I took a couple of snaps along the way. When I got home the Goldfinch
were still making use of the bird feeder. Hope this weather keeps up, the forecast
looks promising.Happy Easter!

Pair of Starlings

Blackbird with a tastey meal

Great Tit

House Sparrow female

Swallow

Goldfinch still using the bird feeder

 

Local countryside birding

Sunday 17th April a.m.
     As we went on our walk we saw many of the birds that regularly visit our garden,
10 Goldfinch, 6 Blue Tits, 5 Chaffinch, 4 Greenfinch, 6 House Sparrow and 4 Great
Tits. We also saw a Pheasant, seems to be alot of these about in the countryside and a
Pied Wagtail. The highlight of the morning was to see our first Swallows, we saw
7 in total.There were a few birds we could not ID so we'll have to let them go untill
our knowledge improves over time.

Chaffinch

Goldfinch on the Holly tree

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Greenfinch

Pair of Greenfinch

Pheasant

First Swallow

Swallow

Local countryside views

Sunday 17th April a.m.
     Took a walk through the surrounding counrtyside this morning and of course
made use of my camera along the way. My bird sightings will follow later but
here are a few snaps to look at for now.

Cullingworth

Harden

Hewenden Viaduct

Wilsden

Bingley in the distance

Hewenden Reservoir

Hewenden

Trips to Fly Flatts, Pondon Reservoir and Trough Lane

Saturday 16th April a.m.
   We set off early this morning, it was bright and sunny 6°C and headed for Fly Flatts.
As we got higher on the moor the mist coverd the tops which was only slowly being
burnt off by the sun. We walked down to the reservoir seeing one bird which we think
was a Twite. The water and foreshore was quiet we saw 6 Mallards and 4 Canadas. As
we walked we saw one Red Grouse in the distance break cover. we headed back to the
car seeing a Kestrel hover for a miniute or so.
     We moved on to Pondon Reservoir which again was quiet we spotted 10 Mallard
and 6 Canadas. As we walked back to the car we spotted a Pheasant in a nearby field
which thankfully stayed in the open long enough for us to take a few snaps.
    On our way home we stopped and parked the car on Trough Lane and walked along
in the hope of sighting a Wheatear, we were not dissappointed. As we walked along we
caught sight of one on a grass slope in the sunshine, now 11°C. As we continued we
sighted a further four more on walls and boulders, meaning we had a great end to our
mornings birding.

Think this is a Twite

Kestrel Hovering

Pheasant

Pheasant

Wheatear 1

Wheatear 2

Wheatear 3

Wheatear 4

Wheatear 5A

Wheatear 5B

   

More from Bolton Abbey

Sunday 10th April 9:30a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
     More about my family trip to Bolton Abbey which lies in the Yorkshire Dales
on the banks of the River Wharfe. The mystery bird, this I saw flying low over
the river at high speed, about the size of a Starling with a brown capped head,
dark grey back and white chest. It rested on the side of the bank or a boulder in the
middle of the river before diving under the water for minuites at a time. After trawling
through my bird books, yes all you experienced birders out there, it was a Dipper well
known to live in this habitat but which I've never seen or heard of before. Some more
pictures below following on from yesterdays post.

Dipper feeding in the water

Dipper

Chaffinch Female

Mandarin Duck male

Grey Heron

Grey Heron

Female Mallard with her young ones

Bolton Abbey Day Out

Sunday 10th April 9:30a.m. to 2:00p.m.
     A trip for all the family today to enjoy the glorious sunshine with the
temperature up to 18°C , my main task with some assistance from my dad
was to get some good bird sightings and some snaps. Luckily we did both even
with our dog pulling us everywhere and particularly into the water for a drink.
    We walked through Strid wood up to the aqueduct then back along the other
bank hearing alot of bird life and seeing plenty as well. We saw 30 Mallards,
8 Goosander, a pair of Mandaring Ducks, 10 Chaffinch, 1 Grey Heron (juvenile),
2 Black-headed Gulls,10 Pigeons and a Red-legged Partridge. there were various
Tits flitting about mainly in the tree tops and we heard a couple of Woodpeckers.
There was a mystery bird which I'm trying to identify. Some pictures below
and will post some more tomorrow.

Looking up stream from Aqueduct to Barden Tower

Male Goosander

Grey Heron with two female Goosander

Grey Heron (Juvenile)

Pair of Mandarin Ducks

Red-legged Partridge

Ogden,Cold Edge anf Flyflatts

Saturday 9th April a.m.
     After our trip to the Tarn we went to Ogden water which was fairly quiet for
birds, saw a Robin and the usual Mallards and Canadas. On the way back to the car
we heard a bird in the top of a tree which I think was a Chiffchaff.
     The sun was bright now with the temerature up to 10°C and we went quickly
up to Cold Edge Dams which was again quiet with a couple of Mallards and
Canadas. As we approached the Dam I saw a bird which stayed for a couple of
snaps, I think it was a Tree Pipit,correction Meadow Pipit. We moved on to
Fly Flatts and had a walk along the road I saw two Curlew who appeared for a
few seconds above the moor as they changed location.The lake seemed quiet
from the road.

Chiffchaff

Cold Edge Dams

Cold Edge dams

Tree Pipit, correct to Meadow Pipit

Tree Pipit,correct to Meadow Pipit

Fly Flatts