Saturday 3rd January a.m.
Another cold sunny morning with the temperature at just -2°C as I paid my annual pilgrimage to the Peregrine Falcon in Keighley. Then a short walk along the River Worth which produce a pair of Goosanders.
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| Peregrine Falcon |
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| Goosander |
Friday 2nd January a.m.
A sunny morning but cold with any water frozen over with a temperature of -1°C as I headed through the village seeing several House Sparrows & Starlings. As I got close to the Reservoir a Kestrel was perched keeping an eye out, also Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush, Robin & Blue Tit were seen. The dam wall held six Cormorant and a mix of Gulls, there were two pairs of Goldeneye on the water with Mallards & Tufteds. There were c50 Canadas grazing in the field, others were Moorhen, Stock Dove, Gt Tit & Wren.
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| Kestrel |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Canadas |
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| Cormorants & Gulls |
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| Moorhen |
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| Tufted |
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| Wren |
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| Goldeneye at Hewenden Reservoir |
Thursday 1st January a.m.
A dry start to the new year but cloudy and cold at just 2°C, Bullfinch & Greenfinch were on the garden feeder before I headed up to the Tarn. Here there were c100 Canadas, Mallards, Coots, Moorhen, BH Gulls, Common Gull, Herring Gull & LBB Gull. Good to see the Pintail still present, others included Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Greylag, Pied Wagtail, Tufted, Starlings & Wren. A good start to my annual list, hopefully the dry weather will continue.
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Pintail |
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| Rook |
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| Tufted |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Coot |
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| Dunnock |
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| Greylag |
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| Moorhen |
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| BH Gull |
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| Common Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| LBB Gull |
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| Redcar Tarn 1/1/2026 |
Tuesday 30th December
This year was notable for the long dry spring followed by a dry summer meaning the local Reservoirs got very low and hose pipe bans were introduced. This caused some problems with a local Reservoir not accessible and others too low for the wading birds.
However I still had a good year which started off well at Leeshaw Reservoir with a Red-necked Grebe on the 2nd January. This bird was in the area for a few weeks and a lifer for me.
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| Red-necked Grebe |
On the 26th March I went to Swillington Ings and headed to Lowther Lake where a bird had been seen for some time. I was fortunate to find it a Red-Crested Pochard my second lifer and what a great bird.
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| Red-crested Pochard |
On the 1st May I went to TMR where access was a problem with Yorkshire Water and their contractors doing some work. As I drew closer to the Reservoir a bird was feeding in the edge of the water which was at a lower level than usual. As I walked round the Reservoir so the sun was on the bird I could see it was a Wood Sandpier. This rare bird was great to see locally and another lifer for me.
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| Wood Sandpiper |
On the 31st July I had a walk along the fringe of Cullingworth and was rewarded with a special bird a Wood Warbler another lifer.
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| Wood Warbler |
Finally returning to Leeshaw on the 11th August I saw three birds locally for the first time, Black-tailed Godwits, areal treat.
Black-tailed Godwits
Friday 19th December a.m.
A chilly 7°C up at the Tarn with some sunny intervals between the black clouds with a good number of birds. The usual mix of BH, Herring & LBB Gulls with c50 Canadas, a male Wigeon has turned up, maybe the same one from last year with the Pintail. Others were Moorhen, Goosander, Pied Wagtail, Tufted, Starling, Rook & Jackdaw.
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| Pintail |
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| Wigeon |
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| Goosander |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Herring Gull |
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| LBB Gull |
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| Moorhen |
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| Tufted |
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| Good number of birds |
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| Redcar Tarn 19/12/2025 |
