Redcar Tarn

Sunday 7th June a.m.
Another bright start to the morning the wind was still blowing up at Redcar Tarn but not as strong as yesterday with the temperature being 9°C.A mixture of Swift,Swallow,House Martins & Sand Martins were over the water with Coots on four nests.Two of the nest have been successful with there being two chicks in each.A flock of c150 post breeding Starlings were feeding in the surrounding fields & a family of various age LBBs were together in a nearby field.Other birds of note were Chaffinch,Pied Wagtail & Rook.

male Chaffinch

LBB Gull

family of LBB Gulls

Pied Wagtail

Starlings

Coot with two chicks

Coot family,Redcar Tarn 7/6/15

Harden Moor

Saturday 6th June a.m.
 A wonderful bright & sunny morning with a temperature of 8.5°C with just one catch a very strong blustery wind.This as we half expected kept the bulk of the birds down with movement often low & out of sight making for a difficult morning.One exception was a Garden Warbler which was up singing despite the wind.Other birds seen included Bullfinch,Song Thrush,Redpoll,Kestrel & Linnet.
The Cuckoo was heard again but not seen & a couple of fly overs firstly a Cormorant & later c20 Canadas, it was also good to see a pair of Reed Buntings & the Sand Martins were busy with their nests.The moor was lit up by masses of Cotton Grass which was great to see amongst the Heather.

Garden Warbler

Linnet

Redpoll

Song Thrush

Canadas

Cotton Grass

Harden Moor 6/6/15

Swillington Ings

Monday 1st June a.m.
 With a day off work & a decent forecast for this morning I decided to have a look at a new location Swillington Ings East of Leeds.On arrival the sun was out with a temperature of 10°C, I headed for Astley Lake where there were,Common Tern,BH Gulls,Cormorant,Shoveler,Gawall,Tufted Duck, Oystercatcher, & a Pied Wagtail.Then I had a look round the Reed beds seeing a Mute Swan with five Cygnets,Grelags with large goslings,Reed Bunting,Pochard,Swallows were overhead with c100 Swift.The highlight of the visit was finding four Black-necked Grebes looking magnificent in their summer plumage.I was surprised how big the site is & I only saw a small part of the area, well worth spending more time looking round Swillington Ings.N.P.

Black-necked Grebe

Pochard

Common Tern & BH Gull

Mute Swan & Cygnets

The magnificent Black-necked Grebe

Swillington Ings 1/6/15

 

Harold Park & Park Dam

From 30th May a.m.
 We had a late morning visit to Harold Park & Park Dam yesterday with some decent fine weather,
unlike this mornings heavy rain.A good mixture of birds at Harold Park but no Mute Swans,Swifts & House Martins were feeding over the water,Moorhens were enjoying the sunshine among the daisies.
It was great to see the pair of Great Crested Grebes with their two health chicks, one regularly having a ride on the parents back even though getting big at around three weeks old.
 Down the road at Park Dam again Swifts & House Martins joined by Swallows & a Sand Martin. There were two Mute Swans here along with Canadas,Tufted Duck,Little Grebe & some nesting Coots & good to see a Pied Wagtail.

GCG with chick riding on its back

Moorhen

Pied Wagtail at Park Dam

Grebes at Harold Park 30/5/15

Fly Flatts & Leeshaw

Saturday 30th May a.m.
Fly Flatts
 I started early making most of some dry sunny morning conditions & headed for Fly Flatts where it was feeling cold at just 5°C.There were good numbers of Canadas plus a Greylag was seen & Lapwings were making plenty of noise as they flew above me as I went down the path to the water. The path was waterlogged in places & very boggy in parts too so I was pleased I opted for my Wellies which kept my feet dry.Also overhead was a pair of Redshanks which again didn't seem happy by my presence, also in this area were a couple of Oystercatchers.As I walked along the banking I saw three Common Sandpipers & on the fencing below was a Reed Bunting.Along here the wind was blowing strongly & feeling the chill I soon headed back seeing Curlew & a Wheatear.
Leeshaw
 I headed down to Leeshaw for a quick visit getting close views of a couple of vocal Curlew, others being Lapwing,Common Sandpiper,House Martin,Swallow,Swift & Pied Wagtail.N.P.

Redshank

Common Sandpiper

Lapwing

Wheatear

Reed Bunting

Curlew

close view of Curlew at Leeshaw

Fly Flatts 30/5/15

Cullingworth Walk

Monday 25th May a.m.
Another dull morning as we set off on a walk of our local area with a temperature of 10°C seeing many common species on our route.The first surprise was a Goosander circling the top of the valley several times before heading off.also in this area were Whitethroat,Willow Warbler,Swallow,Swift & Long-tailed Tit.We then took a path uphill & along here saw Curlew,Mipits more Whitethroat,Linnet & a Little Owl.We heard the distant yaffle of a Green Woodpecker & for a change got a good view of it although a long way off.It didn't see us so we enjoyed watching it for several minuets, a real treat!
Further along a solitary Lapwing looked a bit lost with only Cows for company,also here Pied Wagtails.We headed back downhill for the local pond where we saw the Canadas with their goslings doing well also present Mallard,Mute Swan & Moorhen with the music supplied by Chiffchaff & Willow Warbler.We then headed for home happy after a good local walk with some good birds seen.

Green Woodpecker

male Chaffinch

Goosander

Lapwing

Linnet

Long-tailed Tit

Mute Swan

Song Thrush

Whitethroat

Cullingworth 25/5/15