Saturday, September 13, 2008

No Wryneck

Hi,

This is my first blog as I am a pretty poor and inexperienced birder - but keen! I haven't dared blog previously as I don't see many rarities and don't want to bore but with the recent request for more blogs I thought I'd join in.

I have been up to the Wryneck spot for half an hour up to dusk but no joy. Very quiet with not a single swallow and only one mipit. Only other birds seen were corvids, a skein of 25ish geese heading W (think Canadas but at distance) and a beautifil sunlit kestrel on a wire just above Copley Wood. Also saw two bats and a nice young fox on the climb back to Birdcage.

My wife claims to have seen a carrion crow at Warley with brown (not white) wing feathers. Is this likely as I thought the juveniles just showed some white? Also in previous years I have seen up to 4 SEOs at Fly Flatts at once but none on several visits this year. I have noted several blogs with sightings at other sites so has it been a bad year or am I just being unlucky?
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6 comments:

Marrop said...

Hi Muxy

Today's is my first blog too & your comment about being a poor & inexperienced birder could just as well have been me speaking.
Oh well, everyone has to start somewhere! Good luck!

9:05 pm
Andrew Huyton said...

Hello to both of you, Calderdale is in general a very difficult area for birds in numbers however we do have some real specialities. All of our Owls can now be found in Calderdale some easier than others. Peregrine are here in good numbers with true status of Merlin unknown, Buzzard are scarce in the area other Raptors passing through the most common of these being Red Kite and Osprey. Twite is a bird of serious national concern with only 100 English breeding pairs left the area holding a high percentage of these. All 3 Woodpeckers can be found. Song birds are struggling with Pied Flycatcher and Wood Warbler the worst hit, certain sites such as Whiteholme and Ringstone are good for passage waders.
So as you can see there are birds out there but they can be hard work.
We do have a conservation arm to the group which has regular meetings and works hard to try and improve the situation, let myself or Nick Carter know if you'd like to get involved.
In the meantime don't be afraid to post any sightings we all make mistakes and the more sightings the better as this only helps us to gain a better picture of what is happening locally.
Happy Birding hope to see you around.

12:05 pm
Nick Carter said...

Welcome both! If need any advice, help etc don't hesitate to ask. Any bird sightings you have would be welcomed by the Halifax recorder (Nick Dawtrey) we use a computer program for recording sightings and I can let you have a copy on disc if you want one, just let me know and I'll pop one in the post. We produce an annual report based on everyone's sightings and have back copies of most years back to 1990 if you are interested.

5:42 pm
Muxy said...

Mick, Andrew and Nick, thanks for your comments. I would be interested in listing my sightings for the recorder so if you e-mail me marvinmuxlow@blueyonder.co.uk I will send my address for the disc. I would also be intersted in helping on the conservation side despite limited time cos of young family, please send more details. I may also be in touch for helpand advice!

8:05 pm
David Sutcliffe said...

Welcome to the blog Mick and Muxy. Please put your sightings on even if you think it's common stuff. The more widely we can cover Calderdale the better.

9:57 pm
David Sutcliffe said...

I think your Carrion Crow was probably one of this years juvs - they often have dark brown feathers on the back but this soon turns black generally by the end of autumn. SEO's have been very scarce this time at Fly Flats, although like you say in previous years it has often been a very good spot for them. Other sites this year in Calderdale have done ok but for some reason not at Fly!

11:12 pm

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