Cold Edge

 Goosander 1 pair

Cold Edge

 5 Whooper Swans. Thanks to Djs for alerting me.

Photo taken with Lumix TZ80 pocket camera, with 30x optical zoom.

Cold Edge

 Teal: 2 males, 1 female

Burning heather on Midgley Moor - viewed from Wainstalls

Cold Edge

 2 Oystercatchers

Cold Edge

 Male Goldeneye, and 3 Mallards

Pepper Hill

 An hour or so on the top above Claremount and Boothtown late morning produced, for me anyway, the first Skylarks of the year. Three of them in the sheltered fields facing east. No song heard here as yet though they do sing early in the year. I got their call several times, it reminds me of.... 'cheerup' .....'cheerup' !!

The Skylarks were with c60 Redwings, 4 Mistle Thrush and a single Song Thrush with 10+ Meadow Pipits in an adjacent field. There could have been more though they were possibly hidden in the longer grass keeping low down in the blustery wind.

Shibden Park

 A Nuthatch was throwing bits of stuff out of a hole in the trunk of a tree, about 4 metres above the ground. I don't think our Nuthatches excavate their nest holes, as a rule. So it's most likely that it was clearing out either remains of a nest from last year or debris that had somehow got into the hole.

Shibden Park

 9 Coots (and 6 Moorhens) here today.

Fly Flats

Poor conditions up there as I met with a hail storm late afternoon and a gusting westerly.

1 Curlew was the best I could do other than 28 Greylag Geese heading >N over the moor.

Withens Head - 10 Fieldfares in the field opposite the wind-farm with c110 Starlings.

A really good find for PD and AT at Ringstone this afternoon with  a drake Gadwall. Such a scarce bird in Calderdale.

Also from late morning - 2 Whooper Swans >W over Ogden towards Cold Edge around 11:30 (NK). 

I thought they might come down at Cold Edge dams given the poor weather conditions but there was no sign of them there, thanks to a check (AR).

Shibden Park

 Little Grebe

Lee Mount etc........

Last night I heard noisy flock of Whooper Swans heading over - maybe >W. It was 22:40 and no chance of seeing them in the dark. Always great to hear though. Maybe more within the next month or so as they head back to Iceland for their breeding season.

Checked Mixenden Reservoir and Fly Flatts this morning in case they had dropped in overnight but no show. Plenty Black-headed and Common Gulls at Mixenden with 5 Herring Gulls (4 adults) and an adult L B B Gull. Just a Cormorant to add to that, it flew off >S

3 Lapwings at Withens Head, opposite the wind farm, and c50 Starlings braving it out in the cold, wet and blustery south westerly. 

Yesterday we found 5 Goldeneye (3 drakes) at Withens Clough reservoir. 1 adult Herring Gull on the water and c20 Reed Buntings in and around the res'r cottage.

Around and about........

4 skeins of Pink-footed Geese reported heading west today, starting with c170 from (WG) at around 09:00. Then 46 heading towards Scammonden (DR) a few minutes later. Next were 40 over Shibden then over Lee Mount at around 15:05 and (AC, DJS) and finally 45 over Slack Top around 15:35. 

3 Brambling at Roils head shelter belt from NCD this afternoon. Several reports of wader passage through our area with small numbers of  Golden Plover, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Curlew, Snipe and a Ringed Plover reported in the last few days.

Goldcrests, Siskin, Long-tailed Tits, Treecreeper, Kingfisher and Dipper from Ogden.

 Ogdenwater

Kingfisher perched on low branch near the Ogden Clough in flow this afternoon.

Mistle Thrushes

 2 singing today: 1 in Shibden Park (photo), and 1 on Beacon Hill. Also 2 west over Beacon Hill.

Fly Flatts etc

Fly Flatts. An early returning bird report from BS this morning with an Oystercatcher. I had  a trip up there late morning. It was still there sheltering on the west bank as the weather closed in and the rain came sideways. Not much else there other than 4 Mallard hunkered down and Red Grouse on the moor. An early lamb with the flock didn't look too happy !

On the way back I checked the fields opposite the wind-farm. Around 180 Starlings and 20 Fieldfare.

Cromwell Bottom for an hour or so this afternoon didn't turn up a lot. Usual species including 3 Goldeneye on the ski-lake and 2 skeins of Pink-footed Geese battling against the blustery westerly wind - 134 at 15:00 and 98 at 15:45.

Pink-footed Geese

Cold Edge

 Barnacle Goose

Shibden Park

 13 Redwings

 A few images from last week's visits to Cromwell Bottom and Jay House Lane. The ringed Tree Sparrows on Jay House are of particular interest to Steve who is logging their sightings after his ringing.

The Siskin were sometimes in with a large flock of Goldfinch. Redpoll were very few and far between.

The Goldeneye could be very elusive and distant at times. Some days I was unable to locate them. Nice to see the males displaying in courtship.

Shibden Park Mute Swans

For much of last year, after the male with a damaged bill was taken away, there was a lone female on the lake. In December it was joined by a second bird (reported to, not seen by, me). Then both birds departed, so that in late December no swans were present. Now, however, there are again 2 swans present. I think they are a pair, from the size difference of the swellings at the bill base. And the distal half of each bird's bill is pink: does this mean they are quite young birds?

Ogden and Luddenden

This morning - really quiet in the woodland and no sign of the recent Iceland Gull since Monday.

1 Green Woodpecker heard

1 Treecreeper

6 Lesser Redpoll

Plus just a few of the usual species.

Luddenden this afternoon

1 Dipper in the stream near the church and Grey Wagtail there also.

2 Long-tailed Tits in the graveyard

1 Great-spotted Woodpecker heard

c70 Jackdaws over Booth

Late afternoon move of Pink-footed Geese heading >W with 4 skeins between 15:50 and 16:30 - 167, 60, 40 and 44.

Ringstone Whoopers

Great find by AT yesterday with 9 Whoopers on Ringstone.

I was undecided  whether to venture out but his whatsapp alert made it an easy choice, cheers Alan

As it turned out, it was a good decision and I was fortunate to be stood in the right place when they took to the air.

The birds left at 15.50, first flying South/West before doubling back and heading North.

 

 

Some recent news...........

The recent 2nd winter Iceland Gull was seen at Ogden on Monday 17th early afternoon (BS) but no reports since then, though it could still be about.

Nine Whooper Swans were on Ringstone Reservoir yesterday (19th) leaving to the north late afternoon (AT and PD). 

I managed a couple of visits to Cold Edge dams recently - 38 Greylag Geese and 6 Canada Geese there today (20th) but on the whole the area was pretty quiet in the icy cold conditions though the dams were still clear of ice. There were 2 Meadow Pipits near the top dam and 2 Moorhens by the bottom pond. Apart from that there was little else other than Black-headed and  Common Gulls loafing around with one adult Herring Gull flyover.

'Winter Watch' on Tuesday got off to a great start with an amazing presentation about Jack Snipe. We don't get many records of them in Calderdale but we know they are here in winter - they are just so difficult to find. Well worth watching on 'catch up''.

Cromwell Bottom 17/01/22

 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.

Ogden

 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.

Pair of Stonechat on Ringby Lane off Swalesmoor Road yesterday as well as a fly-through Great Black-backed Gull.

From NCD - a small flock of Brambling, with Chaffinches, around the shelter belts at Roils Head.

Withens Clough

 Late morning we had a trip up there. very few species but some quality

First off with an adult Great Black-backed Gull fly through >W. It was the only gull seen but that will do !

Peregrine distant and a pair of Goosander on the res'r.

25+ Reed Buntings were around the reservoir cottage - highest count for me here.

As we were about to head home then two skeins of Pink-footed Geese (94 and 41) came over close together at 13:45. Always a bit special as they to and fro across the Pennines in winter.

Mixenden Res'r and Cromwell Bottom - 10th January

 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 .

Lots of gulls on the reservoir banking with a total around 400. Mostly Common and Black-headed Gulls with just 3 immature Herring Gulls. 1 Grey Heron and not a lot else.

----------------------

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.

Soil Hill etc....

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.

16 Pink-footed Geese went west soon after 11 am but very little else on the top other than 17 Fieldfare feeding along the shelter of a stone wall must have been struggling to find food.

One Sparrowhawk flypast as well as a few gull species. That was it !

Another small flock of 'pinks' heard heading west in the dark tonight around 20:45 over Barkisland (TW)

First light this morning over 50 Magpies were seen over Lee Mount coming out from the local roost.

One pair of Magpies are already attending to a nest in Shroggs Park. A Song Thrush was also singing at first light but it didn't sing for long. 

Mixenden Reservoir and Soil Hill

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.

Mixenden Reservoir

The site turned up another 'belter' late afternoon yesterday (28th Dec) from BS with a red-head Smew. It's been a long time since this species was recorded in Calderdale, maybe even as far back as 1999 though I will have to check the records since then. 

Pictures from BS on his West Yorkshire Birding blog along with a drake Common Scoter there at the same time for good measure. Well done Bri. 

What an end to the year - unless you find something else in the next couple of days.

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 !!

Cromwell Bottom

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

Ski-lake - 2 Whooper Swans arrived soon after 12:00 (maybe the same two reported at Ringstone Reservoir earlier. They left there at 11:37 (GS, RR)

2+ Teal

3+ Tufted Duck

Pair of Goldeneye

Thanks for the attached photos of the Whoopers taken later on by M St.

Beacon Hill

1 male Siskin

 Also (in Long Lane) 2 Tree Sparrows

Mixenden Reservoir

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 (?)

This is the best I could do (on the shoreline just left f the Cormorant) looks darker zoomed in ! 

Thought at first second winter but not sure now after looking at the photos ?

It was probably attracted in by the number of gulls that use the reservoir to rest, preen and bathe. Around 120+ B H gulls, 150+Common Gulls, 10+ Herring Gulls and one L B B Gull (the latter looked very dark like intermedius). Impossible to get an accurate count of gulls as they were coming and going all the time.

Also present Grey Heron (flyover), Cormorant and Sparrowhawk

Shibden Valley

 Blackbird

Report 2019

I have had a few people wanting the 2019 report so I have dropped 10 copies off at Woodlesford News, GO LOCAL shop at Pellon- Mount tabor price £6. I am still working on the next one which will hopefully be out sometime next year.

Bird Reports

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.

Shibden Valley

 Redwing