Redcar Tarn

Monday 9th September p.m.
 A trip this afternoon up to Redcar Tarn where it was cloudy, bit of sun then later the rain
came with a heavy shower, temperature 15°C.Plenty BH Gulls & Mallards with Canadas,
Lapwings & Starlings in a nearby field.The Lapwings flying about between the field & the
Tarn island, quite a few other birds about including Pied Wag,Coot & Moorhen.
We managed a few snaps before the rain came & us heading off.
c100 - BH Gulls
62 - Canadas
8 - Coot
5 - Jackdaw
63 - Lapwing
3 - LBB Gulls
c100 - Mallard
11 - Pied Wagtail
2 - Rook
25 - Starlings
plus others

Pied Wagtail

Jackdaw

Lapwings heading for the Tarn

Lapwing

Bath time for this Lapwing

Canadas & Lapwings

Redcar Tarn, Keighley

Local Walk

Monday 9th September a.m.
 A cloudy start to the day as my dad took the dog for a walk this morning with light rain from time
to time but some sunny spells too, temperature 8°C.Back to school for me so here is his report.
A walk through the village and along the Great Northern Trail to Hewenden Viaduct where the main
birds seen were House Martins,Swallows,Robin & BH Gulls on the reservoir dam wall & good
numbers in the surrounding fields.A Grey Heron was also at the edge of the reservoir, not a good
day for photos with just the old compact camera.Near the farm buildings at the end of Station Road
were 6 Pied Wags & 2 Mipits.
 Heading towards Hallas Bridge the sun shone on some trees where 3 Willow Warblers were seen
& 5 Mistle Thrushes were eyeing up the plentiful berries from the top of an electricity pylon.At Hallas
Bridge  a Dipper gave me the chance of a few photos for Danny's blog.

Dipper

Park Dam

Sunday 8th September a.m.
 Following our earlier visit to Harold Park we went the short distance down the road to Park
Dam, here seeing 78 Canadas grazing in the field explaining why there were none on the water
at our other site. We Headed to the water where there were 2 Mute Swans with 3 Juvs, 14 Tufted
Ducks, 3 Little Grebes & 2 Great Crested Grebes with 3 Juvs. Others included 12 Magpie,
Coots,Mallards & Moorhen with the sun shining a chance of a few snaps here.We headed back
to the car, as we got closer we heard the call chiff chaff several times coming from in front of us.
Then we saw the distant Chiffchaff on an overhead wire near where we were parked, we set off
towards it camera at the ready. Needless to say as we got closer it dived into the hedgerow, but
we could still see it as it darted about with a second bird. Then it popped out on top of a tree, snap
got it, then moving along it headed onto some railings near where we were stood. Perfect for a snap,
just one snag the sun was behind it so only got a silhouette, never mind we had a good morning.

Chiffchaff

Mute Swan Juv

Little Grebe

male Tufted Duck

Gt C. Grebe juv

Gt C. Grebe

Little Grebes

Mute Swans

Park Dam

Harold Park

Sunday 8th September a.m.
 A sunny start to the day with a temperature of 9.5°c on our arrival at Harold Park in South
Bradford.We headed towards the lake where there were good numbers of Mallards,BH Gulls
& Coots.We were pleased to see the Gt. Crested Grebe with two Juvs & a good surprise to
see two returning Wigeon. Others included Tufted Duck & Moorhen, we then headed down the
road to Park Dam - report to follow.

Coot

BH Gull

Moorhen

Wigeon 

female Tufted Duck

Gt C. Grebe Juv

Gt C. Grebe with Juvs

Wigeon

Juv after a fish from parent Gt C. Grebe

Harold Park

 

Leeshaw

Saturday 7th September a.m.
 We arrived at Leeshaw Reservoir with cloudy skies,blustery wind & a temperature of 9°C.
There was a Grey Heron under the dam wall, the water seemed quiet then four Goosanders
began to move along the far side of the water before taking off & flying into the distance.There
were several BH Gulls flying around with them unusually was a Ringed Plover which flew up
& down the far side.Then behind us we caught sight of a bird which had landed on a distant
wall, it was a small Falcon, our first impression was a Merlin.The bird took off swooping low over
the ground putting up c50 Mipits before it disappeared.Looking at the snaps we couldn't decide if
it was deffinately Merlin or possible Sparrowhawk.
 Another Rapter seemed to be in the area as in the fields on the other side of the reservoir c100
 Starlings & several Carrion Crows were put up by something.A Cormorant landed on the tower &
another two were on the edge of the water.A Curlew was also near the edge of the water & we
spotted a couple of Wheatear on a wall in the distance.
P.S. thanks to B.S. - West Yorkshire Birding for giving a positive ID for the Sparrowhawk.

Cormorant

Curlew

Goosanders

Grey Heron

Sparrowhawk 

Sparrowhawk 

Cormorants

Anglers Country Park

Sunday 1st September a.m.
 Dull cloudy skies today as we ventured out to Anglers CP near Wakefield,this is a large
lake which is close to Wintersett Reservoir.A strong wind was blowing on our arrival with
a temperature of 13°C, we were hoping to see the Black-necked Grebe that has been
reported here over the last few days but a Little Grebe was the best we could do. The
lake held large numbers of Canadas,Mallards with Tufted Ducks,Pochard & Gt C. Grebe
also present.
 We headed for the main hide which over looks some shallower water & is more sheltered
with a series of islands.There were plenty birds to see here including Cormorant,BH Gull,
Lapwing,Grey Heron,Mute Swan,Wigeon,Shoveler,Coot,Moorhen & Gadwall. Among the
BH Gulls was a Yellow-legged Gull we believe with it having a very pale grey back.
  The Little Grebe was the bird we kept an eye on most, maybe hoping it would turn into a
Black-necked Grebe but not today for us.We spent most of our time in the hide so there
were plenty other spots for it to go around the large lake.

Cormorant

YL Gull

YL Gull, 3rd Winter having a snooze

Gadwall

Pochard

Shoveler,Moorhen & Little Grebe

Wigeon & Little Grebe

Gt C. Grebe

Little Grebe

On the move

Bit of preening

Snooze time

View from the hide at Anglers CP