Cold Edge

Reed Bunting 2. They were together, and I think are a pair, with the top photo being the male and the other 2 the female. The male shows signs of feathers beginning to wear away to reveal a black bib. The female has a pale throat and a thick black malar (or whatever we're supposed to call it now) stripe.

The bird with no tail

This tree is similar to the one in Newcastle, County Down, that has just been named Tree of the Year

Lee Mount - 7th October

What a start to the morning with a text from DJB with 7 Whooper Swans >SE over Soil Hill area at 08:50. Mmmm >SE that maybe in my direction so went out on the off chance they might show over here. 

Right on queue..just a few minutes later... 7 Whoopers quite high just to my east, no noise. but looked good against the grey sky. 

Thanks DJB and with a bit of luck thrown in !

Fly Flatts / Withens Head

1 Wheatear still present near the wind-farm yesterday (1st October) but it was so windy up there late morning today I failed to relocate it. A nice surprise was 13 Pink-footed Geese heading >W in the blustery conditions. They were getting higher and higher as I followed them out of site.

1 Raven landed on the mast briefly and a Buzzard headed >S over the wind-farm.

All I managed at Fly Flatts apart from 12 Carrion Crows and 4 LBBG's on the mud - and there is plenty of that. No waders, though I  scoped 3 Teal on a small pool. Distant Buzzard and 3 Kestrels.

Cold Edge

Sparrowhawk juvenile male

Tamer than an adult would be. Upperparts brown with buff fringes, (1 year and older - grey). Irregular fairly coarse brown barring on underparts, (female - greyer barring; adult - finer and more regular barring)

Pheasant: family party with 5 immatures - 4 female (shorter tail than adult) - 1 male (head and neck grey with just the beginnings of red wattle, but like adult does have buff spots on back and black spots on flank)

Cold Edge

Stonechat in the fog

'4 of 5 Pintails' - No, WIGEON - see Daniel's comment and my PS below. The birds were flushed by a dog walker, and flew east, just after I first saw them

Adult female Pintail have scalloped flanks, like Mallard, and none of these birds has that feature. 

The front, top middle and rear birds have plain chestnut flanks and blackish backs, which I think makes them eclipse males. The rear bird has 2 male-type scapulars: black with pale margins.

The lower middle bird has plain brownish-grey flank and - slightly darker - back. I guess this is a juvenile.

The bills comprise a pale grey triangle over a dark grey base.

PS (1 October): I was taken in by the seemingly long necks (? birds alert to dog walker) and did not think of Wigeon (!), but this is clear given the chestnut flanks of 3 of the birds, the visible white inner forewing, and the bills which in Pintail would be longer and less stubby.

Cold Edge

Tufted Duck, male coming out of eclipse. Juvenile would have a dark eye, and female would have brown back and brown flanks.

Stonechat female

Brookfoot, Brighouse

Probable Black-bellied Dipper, Cinclus cinclus cinclus. Upperparts brown, belly black to where it meets the white bib.

The third photo shows a small area of brown at the side of the bib. Certain angles show thin white fringes on some wing coverts and tertials, suggesting a first calendar year (1cy) bird.

All the Dippers I have seen in Yorkshire over 40 years have been on shallow watercourses with exposed stones providing perches. This bird was at the side of a deep wide section of the River Calder.

 

Cold Edge

Reed Bunting 2

1cy Lesser Black-backed Gull. The bird looks quite pale in the bright sunlight, but two features clinch the id.

1. The outer greater coverts are dark - the 'midwing panel' visible in flight. In Herring Gull all the GCs are the same colour as the median and lesser coverts.

2. The tertials are dark proximally and white distally: there is no white edge extending back to the greater coverts. Most often in 1cy LBB, a tertial has a dark centre with a straight edge joining a thin white border. While in 1cy Herring a wavy line typically separates the tertial's dark centre and pale border, giving the centre a shape that recalls an oak leaf: and the pale border goes back to the GCs.

Cold Edge

Lapwing 8, (with Canada Geese). In the top photo, the faces of the right two birds show the buff tone of winter plumage, and between them the three birds show (similar to Pied Wagtail!) winter's white chin and throat, and black breast band

Mistle Thrush and Kestrel

Moorhen juvenile

Pied Wagtail, with the white chin of winter plumage

Dead mole. Impressive claws!