Thursday, March 19, 2009

Lee Dam and Langfield Edge

Spring is with us and the hills are alive with the sound of......erm....Skylarks and Meadow Pipits.

At Lee Dam:
Moorhen
Grey Heron
Long Tailed Tit - 2, collecting nesting material
Jay - 2
Goosander have disappeared as is usual around this time of year.

At Langfield:
Meadow Pipit - 14
Skylark - 11
Curlew
Reed Bunting - 3
No sign of Twite or Wheatear yet.
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3 comments:

David Sutcliffe said...

About 3 years ago, on a lovely spring day in April I walked from Stoodley Pike to Warland Res'r along the ridge. The number of Skylarks on the top was quite amazing and in my experience unprecedented in Calderdale. This must be an important area for them , lets hope it stays that way!

6:57 pm
Phil Wood said...

I was at Lee Dam and Longfield Dam on Tuesday morning, and while there were no Goosander at the former, there was a pair at Longfield Dam which flew off S just after I got there.
There were also 2 M and 2 F Goldeneye at Longfield, and a M Stonechat over the road, which is not a species I remember being here that often.
Plenty of Skylarks heard from Langfield Edge, but hardly any M Pipits around the road, and sadly no Lapwings at all.

7:33 pm
Jeff Cox said...

Dave - yes you're right about the Skylark numbers. I did a Skylark survey for the BTO on part of where you walked in the late 90's and numbers have increased since then.

Stonechats have been increasing in numbers here over the last few years and I hope this trend continues - even had one on my garden wall last year before it realised where it was and flew off.

The Goosanders seem to spend their time commuting between the River Calder/Rochdale Canal down in the valley and Lee Dam/Gaddings Dam (less frequently) and the Pond. They head off in late March - to where, I know not.

9:32 pm

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