Walk around Hewenden Reservoir

Monday September 5th a.m.
  This morning was sunshine and showers with a temperature of 13°C. Near to the
 Reservoir there was a tree surrounded by bramble bushes where we saw a Willow
Warbler,Blackcap,Robin and a Blue Tit. At the far end of the Reservoir there was a
small group of six Canadas and three Cormorants with their wings out stretched which
would have made a great snap. Sadly something startled them and they went back into
the water. Through the woods there were a lot of mushrooms including the poisonous
Red Cap Toadstool. Walking back along the edge of the Reservoir we could see a
total of six Grey Heron and one of the Cormorants had caught a fish. One of them
took to the sky to give us a distant snap. There were a couple of Swallows and House
Martins about as well as a Pied Wagtail.

Poisonous Red Cap Toadstool

Pied Wagtail

Canadas

4 Grey Heron and 6 Canadas

Two Cormorant

Cormorant

Grey Heron

  

Hallas Bridge and Goitstock Woods

Sunday September 4th a.m.
  We repeated our walk from earlier in the week hoping to see some good birds again. It
started bright and sunny although the clouds were never far away the temperature was 13°C.
We saw plenty Starlings on the roof tops and TV aerials and a Grey Heron flew over.
There were plenty of Swallows about feeding low over the fields and then going onto the
wires where I counted 62. We saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker in a tree along with
a couple of Starlings and Chaffinch. In the field there were more Starlins feeding along with
Pied Wagtail. It was quiet around Hallas Bridge with nothing seen in Hallas Beck today,
through Goitstock Wood we saw a Robin. On towards Cow House Beck nothing much
about, as we walked back towards Bingley Road there were Long-tailed Tits,Blue Tits
and Goldfinch. This hillside has Gorse and Bramble patches on it which we think might
be a good spot for Linnets but we didn't see any. Another Grey Heron flew over as we
headed for home.

GSW 1

GSW 2

Starlings

Chaffinch

Swallows gathering on the wires

Ogden and Leeshaw Reservoirs

Saturday 3rd September a.m.
  A dry mild start to the day with a temperature of 14°C, Ogden was fairly quiet this
morning there were around 100 Gulls. There was plenty of shoreline but no sign of
any waders,Tufted Ducks still present but we couldn't spot the Little Grebe which has
been present recently. A Kestrel flew above disturbing the Gulls, as we came back
down to the promenade end the were Swallows and what we think were Sand
Martins feeding above the trees. Another Kestrel hovered in the distance and we
saw a Grey Heron. The usual Mallards were in the feeding area with a couple of
Dunnocks and Robins. One Robin which still seemed to me molting some feathers
and acquiring its red breast hung around for a couple of snaps.
 At Leeshaw things were also quiet we saw Gulls,Mallards and Grey Heron before
the rain came and we decided to go home.
Ogden.
c100 - BH and Common Gulls
5 -LBB Gulls
20 - Sand Martins
10 - Swallows
c70 - Mallards
3 - Tufted Duck
2 - Kestrel
1 - Grey Heron
2 - Dunnock
2 - Robin
Leeshaw
c50 - BH Gulls
11 - LBB Gulls
10 - Mallards
2 - Grey Heron.

Robin

Tufted Duck

Dunnock

Grey Heron

Kestrel

Robin

Leeshaw

Redcar Tarn

Monday 29th August p.m.
  We went up to Redcar Tarn this evening to see if we could see a couple of unusual
geese that my Grandad said he saw here on Saturday. When we arrived at the Tarn it
was raining and only 11°C, so we sat in the car for a while. We could see the usual
numbers of Mallards and a high number of BH Gulls. The rain stopped and so we
walked round the Tarn seeing Lapwing,Coot, Moorhen,Pied Wagtail and Meadow
Pipit. It wasn't until we were completing the circle of the Tarn as it started to rain that
we spotted a different Goose stood on a Coots nest. We didn't recognise it,we took
a few snaps and rushed back to the car as the rain got heavy. We sat here for a while
and saw the unfamiliar Goose by the car with another one the same. We took a couple
more snaps and then went home to look in our bird books where we could see they
were a pair of Egyptian Geese. An unusual bird for this region and thanks to my
Grandad for the tip.
c200 - BH Gull
c100 - Mallards
c50 - Lapwing
25 - Coot
5 - Moorhen
4 - Pied Wagtail
2 - Egyptian Goose
1 - Meadow Pipit
1 - Tufted Duck

Egyptian Goose

Egyptian Geese

Egyptian Goose

Egyptian Goose and BH Gull

Redcar Tarn Keighley

Hallas Bridge and Goitstock Woods

Monday 29th August a.m.
  A bright sunny morning with a temperature of 10°C, we headed for Hallas Bridge,
all seemed quiet just seeing two Pied Wagtail and five Swallows flying low over the
fields. At Hallas Bridge we saw a Mistle Thrush, we had a good look round at the
bridge,you never know we might just spot a kingfisher,but no not today,but our
luck was still in when we saw a Dipper. This bird stayed for a long time so we got
some good snaps and a good view of it. We carried on out of the woods on to
Bents Lane where we saw more Swallows and a flock of c12 Mistle Thrushes
and a distant Kestrel. Back through the wood and out into the fields, we crossed
Cow House Beck where we saw four Grey Wagtails. Near here we saw a
Sparrow Hawk which went into a tree full of birds namely Long-tailed and Blue
Tits. They stayed put and waited for the Sparrow Hawk to fly off then the all came
towards us giving us a good view of the Long-tailed Tits. Further on we saw a Grey
Heron fly over, a Willow Warbler and as we came home along Halifax Road more
Swallows on an overhead line,Goldfinches and  a flock of House Martins feeding
above the trees.
c40 - Swallows
c40 - House Martins
13 - Mistle Thrush
10 - Long-tailed Tits
6 - Goldfinch
4 - Grey Wagtail
2 - Pied Wagtail
1 - Dipper
1 - Kestrel
1 - Grey Heron
1 - Sparrow Hawk
plus other common species

Dipper

Mistle Thrush

Grey Wagtail

Grey Heron

Sparrowhawk

Kestrel,Long-tailed Tit,Goldfinch and Dipper

Spot the birds in this tree

 

Hewenden Reservoir and Countyside

Sunday 28th August a.m.
  This morning started off sunny with a blustery wind blowing, clouds began to appear
and there was the odd light shower, the temperature was about 10°C. We walked on
towards Hewenden Reservoir there were 6 House Martins feeding above their nesting
sites in Cullingworth and there were Gulls flying over in twos and threes. There was little
else about other than Crows and Collard Doves until we reached Hewenden Viaduct,
from here we could see a field full of around 100 Gulls,mainly BH with 10 or so LBB.
Also from here we could see 10 Swallow feeding above the trees, on the Reservoir
there was a couple of Mallards, the lone Swan, a couple of Gulls and Canadas.Walking
through the surrounding woodland there was very little to see although we could hear various
birds.Coming back round the Reservoir we saw a Rainbow in the distance and got a closer
view of the Gulls. Close by we saw c80 House Martins feeding around and above a large tree.
  This is my 100th post since I began in February after seeing Brian's blog and deciding to
have a go myself. With my dads help I've seen many birds locally and on Reserves which
has been great and the internet allows me to share my pictures and sightings with everybody.
You get some bad days when your lucky if you see a Crow and others when I've seen
Dippers,Curlew,Cuckoo and only yesterday a Kingfisher. I'm looking forward to my first
Autumns birding when migrants are passing through and Winter visitors return.

Gulls

More Gulls

House Martins,had to clean my screen to see some of these!

Keighley Nature Reserve

Saturday 27th August a.m.
  This morning started off bright and sunny with a temperature of 10°C. We went to
the BOG members Nature Reserve in Keighley as we know there has been regular
visits by a Kingfisher recently. There were 12 Mallards, 1 Canada, 2 Coot, 2 Moorhen,
1 BH Gull and many other common species. After we had been there about 15 minutes
the Kingfisher appeared on a wire in front of the hide where it stayed for a while.This was
the first time I have seen a Kingfisher and so I was delighted, I took some snaps, the
Kingfisher came back a few time and so we had some great views as it caught a fish.

Kingfisher 1

Kingfisher and Mallard 

Kingfisher 2

Kingfisher Collage