Ogden Water and golf course.

Found very little this morning around the res'r  -  went to check for waders given the very low water levels and exposed shoreline. No waders but the gathering of gulls continues with c100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 8 adult Herring Gulls, 4 adult Common Gulls and 20+ Black-headed Gulls. Woodland very quiet. 

A Spotted Flycatcher was good to see in one of the golf course gully's catching fly's from the tops of rowans. Another Spotted Flycatcher was in Carrs Beck along with a striking male Common Redstart. A family group of 5 Whitethroat were enjoying the feast in blackberry bushes. Willow Warblers and Blackcap were flitting about in the hawthorn bushes with a few Linnets and Goldfinch nearby. Plenty Swallows about but no sign of any Swifts today.

A drake Common Scoter was at Fly Flats - thanks to BS.

Scammonden area

 

A few hours this morning with JB  produced , 2 Spot Fly , 1 Redstart , 9 Stonechat , Blackcap 7 , Whitethroat 9 , Willow Warbler 11 , Chiffchaff 17 + , Whimbrel calling heading s/w , + Green + GS Woodpecker , Nuthatch , Bullfinch 5 , Sprwk etc..

Blackstone Edge

Sparrowhawk (record shots only)

Wheatear

Juvenile Linnet. The underparts are very streaked, and the head is buff-brown

Blackstone Edge

Ringed Plover 1 juvenile. Head and breast markings brown

Dunlin 1 juvenile. The plain head is striking

Ringed Plover 6 adults

Wheatear 1

Kestrel female

Withens Head - 7th August.

 Just a check for Black Redstart but drew a blank there at this occasional, yet traditional migrant stop !

2 each of Wheatear, Stonechats, Kestrels, Swallows and Pied Wagtails late afternoon.

Shibden Valley

50 House Martins, (plus 5 Swallows - 3 ad, 2 juv). The outstretched wing in the close-up is brown, ageing the bird as juvenile.

Blackstone Edge

Little Egret 2. Flew west at 1045

Shibden Park

2 adult Little Grebes

Ogden Water - 5th Aug.

  This afternoon - not a lot that I wouldn't expect.

1 Great Crested Grebe - looked from a distance like an adult in winter plumage

c110 Lesser Black-backed Gulls 85% adults with lots to and fro to bathe, rest and preen.

3 adult Herring Gulls, 2 adult Common Gulls and around 30+ Black-headed Gulls.

2 Cormorants, pair Bullfinch, 3 Willow Warblers and 1 Sparrowhawk hunting low along the perimeter footpaths.

Beacon Hill

Little Owl: 2 juveniles

Blackstone Edge

Stonechat juvenile

Hebden Water

2 Dippers, 200m apart

Ringstone Edge

2 Continental Cormorants, P c sinensis. The rear edge of the yellow gular patch drops vertically from the gape.

This race is less bulky on average than British Cormorant, P c carbo. 

Cormorants seem to me to be much more common in Calderdale than they were 30 years ago. If this is a real increase, it is likely to be of sinensis, because they breed inland while carbo breed on the coast. It could be that most of the Cormorants we see now are P c sinensis. But we don't know this, because identifying Cormorants to race does not seem to interest many birders. (This does need a side-on photograph).

Ringstone Edge

Curlew: calling adult with juvenile.

Adult

Juvenile

Undisclosed location

Long-eared Owl

This is a different bird from the one photographed on 16 July. The belly streaks are thinner.  And where the upper face disc of the other bird is mainly orange, here it is mainly grey. Also, this bird was quite tame. It could be the young bird that was heard calling 5 days ago? It was only 100m from where the calls were heard, and no hunger calls were heard today.

Cold Edge

Tufted duck with 5 young

2 Scaup (14 July)

I've posted these photos because it is interesting to compare Tufted Duck and Scaup when plumage is no help telling them apart. Of the Scaup photos on 14 July, no. 5 is too distant to be useful, and nos. 1-3 are clear cut: no Tufted has a bill like those birds have. But the birds in photo no. 4 (reposted above) are more problematic:

- they have no tuft, but today's Tufted has none either (? moulted) - it does not even have a 'bump' on the nape;

- these Scaup's bills from the side are less massive than those in photos 1-3: they look similar to the Tufted's: they are probably broader but we cannot see that: (do female Scaup have smaller bills than males?);

- so (apart from their being with definite Scaups) it comes down to head profile: the highest point on the Tufted's crown is about half way along, and there is a slight bend at the nape - giving the head a squarish shape: in the Scaups the highest point on the crown is further forward - just behind the eye - and then the crown, nape, and hindneck curve smoothly downwards with no interruption - so the head does not look square.

Finally, a very useful thing I've noticed is that, when diving, Scaups tend to spend far longer under water than a Tufted Duck ever does.

Undisclosed location

Long-eared Owl adult. Repeated 'hunger calls' were heard, (first heard and identified by NK). Presumably the calls were from a hidden juvenile.

Cold Edge

Scaup: 4 juveniles

Cold Edge

Tufted Duck: 2 broods. Female + 3 young, female + 5 young

Cold Edge

Black-tailed Godwit

Halifax Railway Station

Goldcrest fledgling

Cold Edge

1 of 3 juvenile Stonechats