Harold Park

Saturday 11th January a.m.
 After some early rain it gradually brightened up producing some good sunshine later in
the morning, chilly though at Harold Park just 2.5°C.We arrived seeing good numbers
of BH Gull,Mallards & Coots with others including Moorhen,Mute Swan,Common Gull,
Tufted Duck & G.C.Grebe.
 We walked up to the small pond which unusually held 23 Canadas, also in the tree tops
we saw a Song Thrush & a couple of Mistles.Also in this area we saw other common
species & a charm of Goldfinch.Then high up in a tree we spotted a couple of Redwings
which were soon joined by others moving around,we counted 20 in all. We were happy
with a good selection of birds seen & so we moved down the road to Park Dam.
Report to follow..

Goldfinch

Mistle Thrush

Redwing

Moorhen

Gt C. Grebe

Gt C. Grebe in winter plumage

Goldfinch

     

Cononley Ings

Friday 10th January p.m.
 This afternoon I tried out a new site near the village of Cononley which is on the
other side of Keighley on the road to Skipton.This area is called Cononley Ings &
is an area of low lying meadow near the river Aire which often floods in winter.After
seeing reports of large numbers of Wigeon here after all the recent rains I thought I'd
give it a try.
  I parked up in Cononley village & headed down a track towards the site seeing plenty of
birds as I went including House Sparrow,Blue & Gt Tits,Chaffinch,Dunnock & Pheasant.
The track goes across a busy railway line so great care is needed when crossing it.The trail
as I went became muddier & in parts submerged under water, so it was hard going. I walked
for a mile or so before coming to the flooded areas.Some were full of BH & Common Gulls,
but then I saw Mallards & Wigeon,Lapwing,Pied Wags & a couple of Mute Swans.As I was
looking at the birds I also spotted the bonus of a Shelduck before heading back through the
mud & water.Wellies are a must for the route I took.
 As I went I bumped into another birder who told me there were Teal among the Wigeon, these
I had missed but looking through my snaps I found a Teal, so another tick.N.P.

Shelduck

Lapwing & Teal

Wigeon & Mallard

Shelduck,Lapwing & Gulls

Cononley Ings

Distant views at Cononley Ings

Cullingworth Pinkies

Friday 10th January p.m.
 A decent day today with some good spells of sunshine & a temperature of 6°C.
My dad had an afternoon off work so here's the first of his reports.
I had just finished topping the bird feeders up & straight away there were a couple
of  Goldfinch on them quickly followed by a male Bullfinch.As I was watching these
I glanced up to the sky & from our back door I saw Pink-footed Geese heading
West away from me.A quick dash for a camera & I managed a couple of record
pictures as they moved away.I estimated around 75 birds in the skien, a first for
Danny & I this year & also for our Cullingworth list.Time approx 12:30.
 As I headed out along Haworth Rd around 30 minutes later I saw another skien of
Pinkies again heading west roughly parallel to the road.I stopped the car & grabbed
my camera & got some pictures as they moved passed c100 of them this time.N.P.

Pinkies taken from the back door

Skein two taken from Haworth Rd,Cullingworth 

A great sight as Pinkies move past.

Yeadon Tarn

Sunday 5th January a.m.
 On arrival at Yeadon Tarn it was a much brighter morning with a temperature of 2°C.
There were good numbers of birds on the water which included 24 Goosanders which
is a record for us here.A small flock of Redwing landed in a tree near the road briefly
before moving on,Pochards were still present on the water along with 11 Mute Swans.
As we walked round a Pied Wagtail landed on a seat & posed for a couple of snaps,
also there were Cormorants & Gt Crested Grebes.A Kestrel briefly hovered near the
airport but soon moved off as a plane came in to land.
 We went home taking the moorland route & were rewarded by seeing a Red Kite near
Dick Hudsons pub.
c200 - BH Gulls
12 - Canadas
6 - Common Gull
10 - Coot
3 - Cormorant
24 - Goosander
4 - GT C. Grebe
1 - Kestrel
c100 - Mallard
11 - Mute Swan
1 - Pied Wagtail
8 - Pochard
20 - Redwing
12 - Tufted Duck
plus others

Cormorant drying its wings 

Goldfinch

Mute Swan

BH Gull getting its summer hood

Common Gull

Gt C. Grebe

female Goosander

male Goosander

Pochard

Redwing

male Tufted Duck

male Tufted close up

Pied Wagtail

Stocksbridge NR,Keighley

Saturday 4th January a.m.
 Another dull & overcast start to the day as we made our way to the BOG members only
Nature Reserve at Stocksbridge, where the temperature was 4°C.It was quiet on the water
with jut a few Mallards,BH Gull & Moorhen, there was a female & male Pheasant.The
bird feeders were busy with visits from Blue & Gt Tits,Chaffinch,Greenfinch,Dunnock,Robin
& Reed Bunting. There was also a Wren which made its way along the wall in front of the
hide which would not stay in one place long enough for a decent snap.

Blue Tit

Wren

female Reed Bunting

male Chaffinch

male Pheasant

Dunnock

Stocksbridge NR

Redcar Tarn

Friday 3rd January p.m.
 We arrived at Redcar Tarn where we had to dodge the heavy showers so we could walk
round in the strong blustery wind with a temperature of 4°C.All the usual birds were on show
with the addition of a Mute Swan which had a ZZ4 ring on its leg.
c300 - BH Gull
9 - Canadas
6 - Common Gull
15 - Coot
c300 - Lapwing
2 - LBB Gull
c100 - Mallard
7 - Muscovy Duck
1 - Mute Swan
2 - Pied Wags
c250 - Starling
10 - Tufted Duck
plus others

LBB Gull

Jackdaw

Pied Wagtail

Tufted Duck

male & female Tufteds

Lapwing

This BH Gull takes the biscuit

BH Gulls

Mute Swan with ZZ4 ring

Local Walk

Wednesday 1st January a.m.
  The New Year started dull but dry although by the end of our walk there was some light
rain with a temperature of 3°C.We headed with the dog through the village seeing Blackbird,
Collared Dove,Jackdaws,Magpie,House Sparrow & Starling as we headed towards Hallas
Lane.As we went down here we added Blue Tit,Great Tit,Woodpigeon,Carrion Crow,BH Gull
& Wren to our New Year's list.Then just before entering the wood we saw four Mallards fly
across in front of us, in the woods there seemed to be Grey Squirrels everywhere we looked
and the dog pulled towards them when they appeared, a couple of Jays here were good to see.
We stopped at Hallas Bridge & searched the beck but no Dipper today, there were more Mallards
on the small pond.
 We headed through the woods but only managed to add a Robin here, we came out of the wood
& across the field to Cow House Beck, it was very muddy here so we were glad that we had our
wellies on.We headed across the fields seeing many more Blackbirds & Gt Tits,then heading down
the valleytowards us we saw a flock of 30 Canadas & we got a bird snap at last.
  As light rain began to fall we joined Bingley Road & headed home.

Hallas Beck

Cow House Beck

Canadas on the move