Leeshaw & Leeming

Saturday March 16th a.m.
Leeshaw Reservoir
A cold dull damp morning on our arrival at Leeshaw Reservoir with a temperature
of 1.5°C,luckily the fog was higher up so we had some reasonable visibility.Not good
for taking snaps with the grey skies but managed a couple to keep things going despite
this we still saw some good birds.My first Curlew of the year here with a good number
of Lapwings, some displaying now a good sign of spring .Oystercatchers were moving
around and there were some Pied Wagtails.
c50 - BH Gull
2 - Cormorant
10 - Canadas
5 - Curlew
2 - Greylags
35 - Lapwing
3 - Oystercatcher
4 - Pheasant
4 - Pied Wagtail
plus other common species

Oystercatcher

Pied Wagtail

Leeming Reservoir

 A little warmer here at 3°C but still dull & Overcast skies,we started well seeing two Pied 

Wagtails on the Dam wall & a Rook landed briefly in front of us.Walking down the muddy

path along side the reservoir we heard & then saw a Curlew fly over,a good site tick for us,

which was quickly followed by another when we saw a Lapwing fly over.On the water were

Canadas & Mallards plus the Drake Goldeneye was still present. We saw a few Robins & a

Song Thrush was singing in a distant tree, a good few other common species were seen rounding

off a good mornings birding.

Drake Goldeneye still present.

Harold Park & Park Dam

Monday March 11th p.m.
 A day of sunshine & snow showers with a cold North Easterly wind blowing making
it feel even colder. My dad had an afternoon off work so he decided to do some birding &
take some snaps for my blog heading off to Harold Park & Park Dam, here is his report.
 It was a cold 1°C on arrival at Harold Park where I was pleased to see the Black Swan 
was still present along with the pair of Gt Crested Grebes.Other birds included Canadas,
Mallards,BH Gulls,Mute Swan,Moorhen,Coot & Tufted Duck. I managed to get some
snaps in the sunshine before another light snow shower arrived and I retreated to the car
and went down the road to Park Dam.
 Here it was -0.5°C and with the wind blowing across the water it felt colder although the sun
was back by now making it a lot more bearable.There were several House Sparrows around the
area where I parked,walking through to the Dam where there were several birds on the water.
These were BH Gulls,Common Gulls,Coots,Moorhen,Canadas,Mallards,Tufted Duck &
a distant Gt Crested Grebe. I caught sight of a Carrion Crow coming from a stand of trees
in the distance,it was joined briefly by a Kestrel which then retreated back towards the
trees where it disappeared. The Gt C. Grebe started heading towards me so I sat down for a
while hoping to get a snap of it in its colour breeding plumage.It got half way across the Dam
before turning back,so no snap today and time for me to head home.
All the snaps were taken at Harold Park.
P.S. I have just read the report by NK on his Birdbrain blog of his visit earlier in the day and
I too missed the so called resident Pochard,Teal & Scaup on the description sign.

Black Swan

Mute Swan

pair of Mallards

Tufted Duck

Harold Park's small pond partly covered by ice

Lister Park

Sunday March 10th a.m.
 A cold wind was blowing on our arrival at Lister Park making it feel colder than the
-0.5°C temperature with dull overcast skies & occasional light flurries of snow.The
water level was down in the lake due to some repairs being carried out on the lake
wall.There were still plenty birds on the water including Canadas,Mallards,Coots,Moorhen,
BH Gulls & Tufted Duck.It was also good to see the return of a pair of Goosanders, with 
the water level lower there was a Pied Wagtail feeding in the edge which quickly flew away.
In the cold conditions there was very few birds to see in the wooded area of the park.
c100 - BH Gull
65 - Canadas
5 - Carrion Crow
15 - Coot
c50 - Feral Pigeon
2 - Goosander
c50 - Mallard
6 - Moorhen
1 - Pied Wagtail
24 - Tufted Duck
17 - Woodpigeon

Mallard

Tufted Duck

Canadas

female Goosander

male Goosander

repairs on the lake wall

Lister Park

Redcar Tarn

Saturday March 9th a.m.
 A dull morning with some heavy rain and drizzle, feeling cold at just 1.5°C.We
decided to go up to the Tarn where the usual wildfowl were present along with
various hybrid Ducks.
c50 - BH Gull
2 - Canadas
6 - Common Gull
12 - Coot
3 - Jackdaw
1 - LBB Gull
c50 - Mallard
1 - Moorhen
10 - Tufted Duck

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Coot

BH Gull summer plumage hood almost complete on some birds.

Hybrid Ducks

Moorhen

LBB Gull

Dowley Gap

From Saturday March 2nd a.m.
 No birding today so here is our report from Dowley Gap yesterday where the sun
shone with clear blue skies & a temperature of 6°C.With the sun out Blue Tits,Wrens
& Dunnock were all singing well and some long enough for a snap.Mallards & Greylags
were on the canal & there were good numbers of Pied Wagtails along with a couple of
Grey Wagtails in the water works area, although difficult to make out in the filter tanks
with the bright sunshine.With the Aqueduct closed for repairs we just observed the River
Aire for a while, soon being rewarded with a group of four Grey Wags on the opposite
bank & a flash of blue as a Kingfisher flew past towards the Aqueduct.We then headed
back along the track towards the canal when all the Pied Wagtails lifted giving us chance
to estimate there were around 30.We didn't spot what had caused them to lift but as we
walked along the canal there was a Kestrel perched in a tree which was the likely culprit.
2 - Dunnock
20 - Greylag
6 - Grey Wagtail
1 - Kestrel
1 - Kingfisher
7 - LT Tits
12 - Mallard
30 - Pied Wagtail
10 - Wren
plus other common species.

Wren

Blue Tit

Dunnock

Kestrel

Pied Wagtail

Grey & Pied Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

Four Grey Wagtails

The view upstream into Hirst Wood

  

Leeshaw & Leeming Reservoirs

Saturday March 2nd a.m.
 A bright & sunny start to the day with a ground frost as we went the long way
round to Leeshaw Reservoir via Cold Edge Dams with a temperature of 1°C. We
were hoping to see a Grouse but were dissapointed & we saw no sign of Curlew yet
either.We did see Canadas,Greylags,Mallards and a Robin singing merrily.Another
couple of birds were also singing and showing briefly from time to time among the
Conifers which we struggled to ID, however we did get a snap of it which helped us
see surprisingly it was a Goldcrest,there were also a pair of Chaffinch singing.We moved
on passed Fly Flats where there was a good number of Canadas onto Leeshaw Reservoir.
 Leeshaw Reservoir
 Here it was good to see a pair of returning Oystercatchers fly over the water & land on a
distant wall.There were BH Gulls on the water with Greylags,Canadas & Pink-footed Geese.
The Cormorant was in its usual spot on top of the tower & some Lapwings had returned to
the surrounding fields.
11 - BH Gull
19 - Canadas
13 - Greylag
9 - Pink-footed Geese
2 - Oystercatcher
1 - Cormorant
6 - Lapwing
Leeming Reservoir
 Here there were Mallards,Greylag,Common Gull,BH Gull, on the water & we were also
treated to a male Goldeneye which was unexpected. A Pied Wagtail appeared near the
overflow channel quickly followed by a Grey Wagtail which gave us the run around as we tried
to get a snap. A Jay flew over the water & landed in a distant tree & a bird soared above us,
we were unsure about what this was. It was quite high we decided on a Kestrel although we
don't normally see them soar like this one did,maybe it was enjoying the rare blue skies & warm
sunshine.
 Later in the morning we went to Dowley Gap,report to follow.

Goldcrest

Canadas & Greylag at CED

Canadas coming in to land at Leeshaw

Oystercatchers

Greylags with Pink-footed Geese behind

male Goldeneye at Leeming

Kestrel we think soaring high

Pied Wagtail

Leeshaw Reservoir

A distant Leeshaw

Leeming Reservoir