Friday 9th May a.m.
These sunny mornings keep coming, today starting off at 8°C as I headed for the Lake at Harold Park. Here there were three Great Crested Grebes, Mute Swans, Coots, Moorhen and a Collared Dove.
Over the road at Park Dam a Great Crested Grebe had two chicks, others were Tufteds, Canadas, Mute Swan & Coots.
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| G.C. Grebe |
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| G.C. Grebe with two chicks |
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| Tufteds |
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| Mute Swans |
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| Collard Dove |
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| Canada |
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| Park Dam 9/5/2025 |
Thursday 8th May a.m.
A cloudy morning feeling cool at 8°C a quick visit to Leeshaw produced Little Owl, Curlew, House Martin, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Canada & Greylags.
I then parked up at Penistone Hill and headed off towards the Bronte Waterfall seeing Red Grouse, Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail and Hares on the way. The Waterfall area is a picturesque spot and I crossed the stream over the Bronte Bridge and climed the hill up the valley side. Then on towards Top Withens which is a long walk going up to the high Moorland. On the way a Stonechat posed for a few pictures and a Cuckoo was calling from a distant tree. Luckily when I reached Top Withens there was a bench for me to sit on and rest before the long walk back.
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| Stonechat |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Little Owl at Leeshaw |
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| Cuckoo |
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| Hares |
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| The History of Top Withens |
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| Top Withens |
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| View from Top Withens(Not far to go back) |
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| Bronte Waterfall & Bridge |
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| Bronte Waterfall & Bridge 8/5/2025 |
Wednesday 7th May a.m.
A cloudy start but warmer at 8°C with the sun breaking through later in the morning. I went for a walk on the Moors above Bingley starting off on Hawksworth Moor passing through Bingley Moor and finishing up at The Twelve Apostles Stone Circle on Burley Moor. The walk was pretty much up hill all the way, the first birds I saw were Lapwings, Skylark, Meadow Pipits, Pheasant and a Cuckoo was calling from distant Conifers. There were Curlews flying around as were Greylags, four of them landing infront of me, Red Grouse were also seen. It was quite a long slog up to the Twelve Apostles, below them was Ilkley Moor, I had my hat on, and a Buzzard passed getting a Curlew exited. I headed back seeing a Red Kite gliding over and just one Golden Plover landed some distance away, my next bird was a Stonechat. I was flagging a bit as the sun warmed things up but it was all down hill so a quicker walk back.
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| Stonechat |
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| Skylark |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Red Kite |
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| Lapwing |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Greylags |
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| The Twelve Apostles Stone Circle 7/5/2025 |
Tuesday 6th May a.m.
A beautiful sunny morning only 2°C but not feeling cold in the sun as I had a walk round Harden Moor. The Sand Martins were in their usual spot and Skylarks were up singing and a couple of Garden Warblers were in competition singing. The Cuckoo was calling and I saw it fly past a couple of times, others included Curlew, Lapwing, Chiffchaff, Wren, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Meadow Pipit, Robin & Dunnock.
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| Garden Warbler |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Wren |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Garden Warbler on Harden Moor 6/5/2025 |
Monday 5th May a.m.
A cloudy start as I walked around the edge of Cullingworth with a temperature of 6°C and a shower of light rain. It was an enjoyable walk seeing Goldfinch, Willow Warbler, Curlew, Chiffchaff, Green Woodpecker, Cuckoo, Oystercatcher and Pheasant. Walking back towards the village a Treecreeper landed about 3m infront of me making for some good pictures and finally a Grey Heron flew over.
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| Treecreeper |
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| Green Woodpecker |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Curlew |
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| Pheasant |
