Good day out at Cromwell Bottom yesterday, was chuffed to see
lots of Siskin & Goldcrest but no Redpoll which I was looking for,
and also good to see 4 Goldeneye and 3 Tufted Duck on the Ski Lake
though at a distance. 2 Buzzard were overhead, GS Woodpecker and
Green Woodpecker in the woods. sorry for so many pics.
A 2nd winter Iceland Gull has been seen on and off at some point each day in the last 3 days (12th, 13th, 14th January. Some nice shots on BS's 'West Yorkshire Birding' blog.
Elsewhere still a few Trans Pennine flocks of Pink-footed Geese being reported most days recently heading >W or NW.
Mixenden Reservoir. A report from BS on 9th Jan of a flock of 35 Redpoll adjacent to the reservoir tempted me up there - but they had disappeared without a trace. They could still be around the site .
Early afternoon with a scout around Cromwell Bottom I searched some of the tree belt areas and was fortunate to come across a decent sized flock of small finches. Mostly Goldfinch - feeding in the alders - fairly flighty as they kept moving around en-mass. Finally tracked them down without further disturbance. With them were at least 6 Lesser Redpoll and 8 Siskin.
A 'tit' flock was also about in the shelter belt with a few Blue, Great and Coal Tits, though the dominant birds were Long-tailed Tits, around 20+ and 3 Goldcrests.
Birds around the site came to 35 species including 4 Mute Swans, two of which arrived from high and landed on the ski-lake. Also nearby, 2 Teal, 1 Cormorant, Little Grebe, Goosanders, and Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker.
Freezing cold conditions with underlying snow up on the top this morning. JJL had the same thing in mind - possible Snow Bunting, but we drew a blank there.
Reservoir checked several times today till last light. No sign of the recent Smew - just a female type Goldeneye there all day and that was it.
One flyover Lapwing at Mixenden mid-day. Elsewhere - at least 3 skeins of Pink-footed Geese between 12:50 and 2:40 reported today heading west - 109, 200 and 150.
Snow Bunting found and photographed on Soil Hill on 1st January - a great find JJL.
Several of us checked the site in the fog this morning but it had gone. Just 4 Goldeneye present along with a Goosander and a Cormorant. Still, it's worth checking other waters in Calderdale in case it's moved to another nearby reservoir.
Extract on Smew - post 1950 - from 'The Birds Of Halifax' compiled by our Recorder N C Dawtrey.
Double checked the reports since 1999 - no further records until this one yesterday at Mixenden. Almost 23 years to the day - if I can count !!
Took an hour or so down there late morning in view of 'the clag' up on the hills especially when I checked Mixenden reservoir earlier. Perhaps just short of 400 gulls at Mixenden but nothing out of the ordinary amongst them other than a smart looking drake Goosander.
The river and the ski-lake were the most productive but the latter is difficult to scan successfully and it's easy to miss anything out of the ordinary.
River - 5 Little Grebe and 10 Goosander
Second winter Iceland Gull turned up there mid morning around 11:00 and stayed at least till 11:50 when I left the site. Not checked my photos as yet but it was a fair way off for the range of the Panasonic Lumix bridge camera. The bird seemed to have left the site early afternoon. NK and BS et al. Hopefully it will turn up again in the coming days (?)
Nick still has around 20 copies of the 2019 Bird Reports as yet unsold so please let him know if you would like to purchase one. It will help cover the costs of publication
The next report will be Nick's 30th consecutive one and is likely to be a combined one for 2020 and 2021 so publication will be in 2022. Any outstanding records for this year then please send them in by this year end. Thank you.
Domesticated Mallard: Khaki Campbell breed. This bird has "defects" - white at base of bill and on neck, and white primaries.
A couple of shots from Mike Henshaw from Monday 15th Nov. Thanks Mike.
Prompted by last weeks finding of a Tree Sparrow at a garden feeder at Slack (SiB). I thought it worth checking on any other reported sightings of Tree Sparrows in the last ten years. Specifically at locations that are away from the eastern end of Calderdale where we have a small number throughout the year.
Just a bit of an update from recent weeks of reports across Calderdale. I might not recall everything (!!) but maybe just a flavour of the autumn birds now the summer visitors are gone other than the occasional Chiffchaff or Blackcap.
October started off pretty well at Fly Flatts (BS then DJS)). On 9th October 44 Wigeon with 2 Pintail, 1 Teal on the water and 2 Black Redstarts nearby as well as Red Kite flyover heading >S.
The main Redwing arrival seemed to occur from around the middle to the end of October with Fieldfares shortly afterwards at the end of October and into November. Some big flocks, several hundred strong have been in the Walshaw / Blake Dean area as well as Luddenden Dean and Crimsworth Dean. A decent count of Bramblings (40+) were also in the Gorple area mid October and 30+ in Luddenden Dean by 23rd plus a few other single birds at Lightcliffe, Hardcastle Crags and Slack Top. Always a nice bird to look out for in winter, beech woodland and possibly garden feeders.
Wintering flocks of Redpolls and Siskins have been found in alders/birch and spruce at Ogden and other sites. A flock of c20 Redpoll were feeding in birch trees yesterday at Ewood Lane, Todmorden (RS).
The pick of the month so far seems to be 2 Great White Egret - a single flyover over Ringstone on 9th October(PD, DF, JM, AT) and another, heading west over Baitings Reservoir on 5th November (PGr). Also been a couple of sightings of Little Egret at Ringstone Reservoir recently.
Movement across our area of the Pennines of Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans was observed in late September and October though this main influx seems to have settled down now. Even so, 2 skeins of 'pinkies' have been reported today. Maybe of commuting flocks between Norfolk/ Linc's/ the Humber and Ribble/Southport/Merseyside/ Lanc's and Cumbria. Selecting the favoured feeding areas ?
Is this a Siberian Stonechat? NO - thanks Brian S - Sibe would have a full white throat. And if rump were visible it would be unstreaked orange in Sibe.
A late Wheatear
14 'Golden' Plovers here. Looking at photos after leaving, I am puzzled by the bird with grey wing coverts and a prominent supercilium. I don't think it has the structure of a rare plover, but am not sure whether it is just a different-looking Golden, or possibly a Grey? I'd be grateful for any comments.
61 Whoopers on the move over this morning >E and >SE 11, 36, 5, 9, viewed over Northowran, Wainstalls, Swales Moor and Ringstone plus others over Fly Flatts.
Earlier this week there were three Skylarks up there. This one sat up and posed for a moment - they don't often do that.
Local Walk today along Hag Lane and Ringby Lane.
Stonechat were in abundance with 8 being seen, 2
Meadow Pipits, 6 Linnet, 2 Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel
being pestered by Crows, Buzzards making lots of noise
but only one seen, House Sparrows, Starlings, Wrens, and
regular stuff seen.
Still 1 Wheatear here, (and 1 at Blackstone Edge).
Photo taken with Panasonic Lumix FZ82 bridge camera, with 60x optical zoom.
