BTO Atlas

Fieldwork starts from 1st November if anyone is interested in signing up to survey the birds in Tetrads (2km x 2km squares) in the winter and breeding season for the British Trust for Ornithology.

This is the third year of field work and there are still some vacant squares in our area.
If you need further information go to bto.org/atlas/ and have a look - it's not too difficult !

Cold Edge - Hunter Hill

Hunter Hill - Vis Mig
Saturday 31 October 2009
7:00 to 10:00 - Mist with poor visibility first thing, brightening later and cloud lifting.
Wind SW F1 to F3. 10c to 12c
All birds W to SW unless stated otherwise
Cormorant 1 N
alba wagtail sp. 1
finch sp. 8
Sparrowhawk 2 N
Fieldfare 443
Greenfinch 1
Dunlin 2
Redwing 277
Goldfinch 4
Black-headed Gull 1
Mistle Thrush 4
Siskin 18 N
Stock Dove 4
Jay 1
Linnet 2
Woodpigeon 293
Starling 1305
Meadow Pipit 45
Chaffinch 46
-
Totals: 2458 individuals, 19 species, 3:00 hours
Present: Kestrel 1, Pheasant 2, Lapwing 60, Black-headed Gull 97, Common Gull 35, Green Woodpecker 2, Wren 1, Magpie 13, Jackdaw 33, Carrion Crow 35.

Ringstone

1m + 3f Goldeneye on res this afternoon. Still hundreds of GP, Lapwing & Gulls in surrounding fields.

Cold Edge - Hunter Hill

Watchpoint seen centre right - from the top of Slaughter Gap

Vis Mig Friday 30 October 2009
Counting period: 8:30-11:30 Weather: 10c mist and low cloud, poor visibility improving slightly by 11:30. Wind SE F2 -F4

Mallard 1 S
Fieldfare 141 S and 110 N
Goosander 1 S
Redwing 9 S
Sparrowhawk 1 S
Mistle Thrush 3 S
Stock Dove 2 S
Jackdaw 16 S
Woodpigeon 8 S
Rook 2 S
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 S
Raven 2 N
Meadow Pipit 10 S
Chaffinch 6 N

Totals: 313 individuals, 14 species, 3:00 hours

Present nearby at Cold Edge and Mixenden Res'r: Canada Goose 1, Barnacle Goose 1, Black-headed Gull 62, Common Gull 12, Green Woodpecker 1, Meadow Pipit 88, Robin 1, Stonechat 1, Jay 2, Magpie 18, Carrion Crow 38.

Comments: Poor visibility and very little movement this morning other than 141 Fieldfares S and 110 N (but they could have been the same birds returning or disorientated in the mist?) 88 Meadow Pipits were feeding in the nearby quarry and most of the Carrion Crows were around a possible sheep carcass on the moor.

Fieldfare and redwing bonanza

At the top end of Stoodley Glen this afternoon there were uncountable numbers of fieldfares, redwings and starlings feeding on hawthorn and rowan berries. Uncountable because they filled the sky at times, wheeling round and coming back.

Also present were a kestrel, and right on the edge of Erringden Moor at 240 metres, blue and long-tailed tits.

We had gone up to look at one of Calderdale's few wild crabapple trees, to get a GPS fix on it for the Halfax Scientific Society botany group. My interest in ornitho-botany led me to speculate if the the small (1" - 2.5cm) apples might be eaten by birds to enable the tree to regenerate, but no sign of that. I think the tree's strategy is that small mammals might gather the fruit and store them away, after which some of the seeds might grow, as jays do with acorns.

Pink Feet

c100 > S over Skircoat 10.30 am.

Gorple & around.

Pair of Whooper Swans on Lower Gorple Res. Several hundred Fieldfare in the heather & in flight (no Redwings); SEO; Merlin; small flock of Long Tailed Tits; Goldcrest; lots of Mipits & Red Grouse; plenty of Wrens - hardy little chaps.

The Hen Harriers which were roosting in the area seem to have moved on - or been moved on? Any sightings, please let me know: timeatonwalker@msn.com .

Ringstone & Rishworth

Over 400 Golden Plover + 230+ Lapwing at Ringstone this afternoon. Big flock of BHG with a few Common Gulls. 6 Snipe; 2 Reed Bunt; 14 Goldfinch; 2 Redpoll; 3 Moorhen; 150+ Starling; 2 Pied Wag; 1 GC Grebe. Too many silly little aeroplanes!

30 Twite still at Derby Delph Quarry.

Redwings and Fieldfares

Had 9 Redwings on a Rowan tree in the garden this morning including what looked like an immature bird.

A bit later walked over to the Pennine Way via Strait Hey below Stoodley Pike and saw a flock of c. 150 Fieldfare - photo here includes only c. 100 of them:
This a good place to see Mistle Thrush all year round and Redwing and Fieldfare through the winter.

EGP - This am

Did anyone pass the gravel pits this am?
I was passing at 7am and got about a 1 second glance of what appeared to be about 12 swans. It could though have been 2 swans and the rest geese as the glimpse was fleeting.
Can anyone confirm swans on there today?

Fieldfares and Bramblings

4 Bramblings and 53 Fieldfares at Sisley Lane, Mankinholes at 11:00 this morning. Fieldfares took off from trees and flew SW into the mist.

Good news for Tree Sparrows

I am pleased to be able to report that the application to SITA for funding to carry out the proposed Tree Sparrow project at Jay House Lane has been succesful. As a result of the efforts of the Countryside Unit (in particular Edie Jolley and Hugh Firman) and part funding from the CBCG the project will now be able to go ahead. Several people have played an important role in obtaining this funding which alongside the hard work on the ground by people such as Sean Gray, Jane Uttley etc will hopefully enable us to improve and extend the suitable habitat for this species at its last (?) remaining site in Calderdale.

Thanks to all those who have worked to achieve this.

Yellow-legged Gull at EGP 24/10/09

1 adult conveniently perched on a buoy between 15:00-16:00hrs today, also present were:

3 Mallard
22 Tufted Duck
2 Great-crested Grebe
2 Cormorant
1 Grey Heron
1 Sparrowhawk
12 Coot
84 Black-headed Gull
16 Common Gull
1 Kingfisher
2 Grey Wagtail
2 Song Thrush
1 Redwing over S
10 Goldfinch
2 Siskin

Further information at this site during the last week:

2 Mute Swan present on 20/10
Maximum count of 27 Tufted Duck on 21/10
1 juvenile Goldeneye present from 18/10 to 22/10
3 Great-crested Grebe on 22/10 & 23/10
2 Lesser Black-backed Gull W on 22/10
16 Redwing on 20/10
20 Goldfinch on 20/10

Hunter Hill (watchpoint)

Mixenden Res'r from just below the watchpoint this morning

Hunter Hill (watchpoint)

Top - Slaughter Gap looking north towards the Withens




Middle - Watchpoint looking SE towards Mixenden

Bottom - Watchpoint is up in the mist (from near Ogden Golf Course

Cold Edge/Hunter Hill

Vis Mig
Cold Edge, Halifax (W Yorks, England)
Counting period: 9:00-12:00
Weather: 9 degrees C. Thick mist down to 300m, below that still misty visibilty to 2km. F0 to F1 as the mist cleared by 11:20
Observers: Dave Sutcliffe

Common Snipe 2 N
Blackbird 4 S
Chaffinch 72 N
Black-headed Gull 2 N
Fieldfare 151 SW
Brambling 2 N
Woodpigeon 51 SW
Redwing 19 SW
finch sp. 12 N
Skylark 10 SW
Rook 1 SW
Greenfinch 36 N
Meadow Pipit 68 SW
Raven 4 NE
Goldfinch 8 N
alba wagtail sp. 1 SW
Starling 54 SW

Totals: 497 individuals, 17 species, 3:00 hours

Present: Cormorant 1 (Mixenden Res'r), Mallard 26, Tufted Duck 1 (Cold Edge Dams), Goosander 3 (Mixenden Res'r), Sparrowhawk 1, Pheasant 1, Black-headed Gull 30, Common Gull 15, Little Owl 1, Wren 3, Dunnock 1, Robin 1, Great Tit 1, Magpie 14, Jackdaw 23, Carrion Crow

Comments: Very quiet early on until the mist started to lift a little below 300m after 10:30. Finch flocks were moving N just below the mist as were the Fieldfares but the Meadow Pipits were flying straight through it. 4 Ravens together heading NE towards Soil Hill were a bonus.

Lee Mount

Yesterday:
c50 Pink-footed Geese >W at 5 pm

Today:
c100 Pink-footed Geese >W at 3 pm (perhaps this was the same flock seen by Mike Stead over Hove Edge this afternoon)

Hove Edge -late pm

c100 Pinkfeet fairly low and heading N/NW
25 Goldfinch flying over housing estate (and almost outnumbering Sparrows as a garden visitors)
2 Redwings on the golf course; 150 seen overhead on the 15th.
Coal Tits displaying as if it's Spring already: Dunnocks observed displaying as well.
Nuthatch - possibly 2 calling
Treecreeper

Dipper at Dean Clough on 21st- a traditional nesting site.
nearly 100 Mallard and 6 Canada Geese on canal in centre of Brighouse.

bradshaw

one cormorant flew over me, going north.
later it flew back over me going south!

Ringstone Edge early afternoon

Lapwing - 13
Golden Plover - c. 200
Starling - 27
B H Gull - 52
Common Gull - 12
Moorhen - 1 adult and 1 imm.
Widgeon (male)
Canada Goose - 34

Bradley Hall area & Hartshead

Kestrel
2 Grey Wagtails
Pheasant
Goosander (female) with 12 Mallard
Heron
Kingfisher
2 Mute Swans flying E over the Calder

Hartshead
2 more Pheasant
2 more Grey Wagtails
150 Woodpigeons on farmland with
250 Crows, Jackdaws and Rooks

no sign of Yellowhammers at either site

Cold Edge - Hunter Hill

Vis Mig
Counting period: 7:25-11:05
Weather: 4c rising to 5.5c Wind F3 to F5 SE. Broken cloud to the east and cloudy to the west reasonably good visibility throughout
Observers: Dave Sutcliffe

Moving birds
Grey Heron 2 >S
Stock Dove 3 >N
Rook 8 >N
Canada Goose 1 >S
Woodpigeon 52 >S
Raven 2 >N
Barnacle Goose 1 >S
Skylark 2 >S
Starling 28 >N
Mallard 5 >S
Meadow Pipit 51 >S
Chaffinch 18 >N
Fieldfare 110 >N
finch sp. 2 >N
Sparrowhawk 2 >N
Redwing 11 >N
Greenfinch 1 >N
Black-headed Gull 62 >S
Mistle Thrush 6 >N
Crossbill 4 >S
Common Gull 6 >S
Jackdaw 17 >S

Totals: 395 individuals, 23 species, 3:40 hours

Present: Tufted Duck 1, Kestrel 4, Green Woodpecker 1, Dunnock 1, Robin 1, Magpie 2, Carrion Crow 72.
4 Crossbills came over from Ogden direction towards Mixenden plantation and 2 Ravens over made up for an otherwise quiet morning for migrants

Copley Data Centre to Sowerby Bridge

A walk along the river without any bins but none the less a detour through the fence area produced a Female Teal and a Jay. Other than that lots of tits and crests calling especially near the HBOS bottom carpark. A group of 6 Canada Geese were the only inhabitants of the river.

Ringby Lane (Swales Moor)

This afternoon
2 Skylark
12 Meadow Pipit
1 Reed Bunting
c50 Carrion Crows
25 Jackdaws
1 Sparrowhawk

Ploughcroft
1 Great black-backed Gull >N
6 Common Gull >SW
1 Kestrel
2 Jays
120 Woodpigeons going to roost in Shibden Valley

Rough Top and Strait Hey this morning

Flock of c. 42 Redwings along with 12 Mistle Thrushes, no Fieldfare yet. Also Kestrel, 14 Meadow Pipits and a flock of mixed tits including 15 Long Tailed.

Shibden Park

1 Wigeon reported on the lake yesterday from PJWS

Cold Edge/Hunter Hill

Vis Mig - Location - Hunter Hill - (Thrushes, Starlings and Crossbills)
Saturday 17th October 2009
Counting period 07:20 - 10:20
Weather - 7 degrees C wind NW F1 clear to the east and cloud to the west becoming hazy F2 by 09:30 and by 10:00 temperature to 9 degrees C

3 seperate hour counts and totals of moving birds SW to W (unless stated otherwise)

Meadow Pipit - 72, 16, 10 = 98
Fieldfare - 346, 413, 642 = 1,401
Redwing - 190, 128, 184 = 502
Starling - 301, 211, 256 = 768
Blackbird - 0, 12, 1 = 13 >N
Mistle Thrush - 0, 21, 5 = 26

Chaffinch - 12, 3, 6 = 21 >N
Greenfinch - 2, 7, 0 = 9 >N

Woodpigeon - 125, 66, 7 = 198

Lapwing - 13, 0, 28 = 41

Jackdaw - 34, 21, 12 = 67

Herring Gull - 0, 2, 1 = 3
Lesser B B Gull - 0, 0, 1 = 1
B H Gull - 89, 12, 8 = 109 >S
Common Gull - 0, 0, 1 = 1 >S

other moving birds (first hour)
alba wagtails 2
Linnet 1
Mallard 3 >E
Snipe 2
Golden Plover 1
Stock Dove 1
Greylag Goose 21 at 07:45

other moving birds (3rd hour)
Skylark 2
Goldfinch 6
Crossbill 31 came directly overhead from Ogden direction calling as they headed towards Roils Head/Calder Valley? I have since spent some time cleaning up my scope after I foolishly placed my coffee on top of the scope as the crossbills flew over!

Total moving birds - 3,328 individuals of 25 species

Other birds present
1 Green Woodpecker, 3 Little Owl, 6 Magpie, 20 Carrion Crow, 2 Pheasant, and 1 each Robin and Wren

Heath Hill Road

Greenland Wheatear at Tower Hill from Nick Dawtrey

Todmorden 14th October

A semi-birder friend of mine spotted a group of six Goldcrests picking insects off a house front on Wellington Road. I've told him it was probably a family group from this summer's breeding, but I wonder if that is actually the case?

Ringby Lane (Swales Moor)

2 Snipe
20 Goldfinch
5 Linnet
43 Starling >N
25 Meadow Pipit
1 Little Owl

3 bat sp.. flying about high over Shibden Valley (above Lee Lane) catching insects - these totally threw me at first as from a distance they looked like Snipe in erratic flight once over, then through the binoculars like Swifts then Swallows till I got the scope on them. No idea what species of bat but they were quite large and flying at the height I would have expected Swifts to feed then diving down steeply to catch insects and going up high again to feed. Any ideas on sp..?

Hunter Hill

Vis Mig today 07:15 to 10:15

Very light variable W to NW to N, mist down to 300m but watchpoint just clear with clear visibility across the valley and mist at lower levels in the Calder Valley. 9 to 11degrees c and intermittent drizzle
What a contrast to Tuesday morning!

Fieldfare 17>N
Starling 47 >N
Redwing 16 >N
Reed Bunting 1 >N
Mistle Thrush 1 >N
Woodpigeon 23 >SW
Chaffinch 13 >SW
Brambling 1 >SW
Greenfinch 2 >W
Goldfinch 2 >W
Lapwing 26 >W

Meadow Pipit 89 came in 'dribs and drabs' from the north and dropped into Hunter Hill quarry - still feeding there at 10:15

Other birds present
1 Little Owl, 11 Grey Partridge, 1 Red-legged Partridge, 5 Pheasant, 20 Carrion Crows, 12 Jackdaw, 4 Jay, 12 Magpie, 1 Green Woodpecker, 35 B H Gulls and 1 each of Wren, Dunnock, and Robin.

Heath Hill Road

Posting for Nick Dawtrey - At Tower Hill (up the track just east off the road between Mount Tabor and Newlands today)1 Greenland Wheatear still there from yesterday by the manure stack at around SE054262

WALSDEN

One barnacle goose with Canada geese on Rochdale canal at Walsden. Near Bankwood House/Cottage, Lanebottom. Our son saw it at 2.00pm today and it's still there tonight at 5.30pm. It was sitting on the wall of the cottage holding court in front of a group of mallards.

Lee Dam this morning

8 Goosanders (all female)
4 Teal (all female)
Moorhen
17 Meadow Pipits in fields above

Warley

Took a walk around Warley this morning:
Green Woodpecker
c. 15 Mistle Thrushes (although I was hoping for Redwings)
Jay
11 Common Gulls
3 BH Gulls
Grey Heron overhead
Kestrel being mobbed by a crow

Rocks Road, Savile Park

From the promenade - 1 adult Peregrine (probably a male) on the E side of the tower facing Savile Park this afternoon.
Also through the scope c 180 Lapwing flying over the fields behind Norland Moor (Greetland area)
1 ad L B B Gull >W

Brookfoot/Elland GP

Ski Lake 14 Tufted, 18 B/H/Gulls, 3 Common and 1 L/B/B/Gull, 3 Grey Heron, 3 Cormorants, 1 Kingfisher. Fishing Lake. 2 Nuthatch. 10 Blackbirds, 1 Female Tufted. Photo of Mandarins taken last week.

Ogden Garden

Seven Redwing landed on a cherry tree this morning and stayed for about ten minutes

Hunter Hill

Vis Mig 07:00 till 12:00 noon
4 degrees c and no wind at 07:00 rising to 9.5 degrees c with a light W wind at noon - good visibility throughout

5,942 Redwings >SW (a couple of minutes from recieving a text from BS at 07:45 (thanks Brian) they came over from Queensbury/Swales Moor heading towards the Calder Valley and they didn't ease off until c11:00)
690 Starling >SW
754 Fieldfare >W (but they started coming through from Soil Hill area from 09:30 until 11:30)
196 Meadow Pipit >SW
127 Jackdaw >SW
116 Woodpigeon >S
58 B H Gulls >S
44 Greenfinch >SW
41 Chaffinch >SW
12 unidentified finch >SW
25 Mistle Thrush >W - mainly with Fieldfares
12 Goldfinch >SW
12 Skylark >W
11 alba Wagtails >SW
8 Goosander >N
6 Blackbirds >W (with Fieldfares)
5 Linnet >SW
4 Snipe >S
2 L B B G's >S
4 Common Gull >S
2 Cormorant >N
1 Grey Heron >W

Other birds present - 1 Pheasant, 1 Little Owl, 7 Magpie, 1 Wren, 1 Great Tit, 2 Stock Dove, 3 Kestrel, 3 Sparrowhawk, 1 Bullfinch, 1 Canada Goose with 1 Barnacle Goose and 2 Greylag Geese came from Cold Edge into Mixenden Res'r, 6 Jay, 1 Green Woodpecker, c20 Carrion Crows and 6 Rooks.

Rishworth Twite.

Upto 80 birds at Rishworth feeding station this morning. My Nyger must taste better than most!

Fly Flats and Cold Edge

Fly Flats
1 drake Goldeneye there this afternoon
No Twite or Wheatears
1 Canada Goose with a broken wing
41 Meadow Pipit >NE over Ovenden Moor
2 Raven
1 Kestrel

Cold Edge
20+ Mallard
1 Grey Heron

Also nearby a female Merlin landed on a post over the moor to preen for at least half-hour

Elswhere - 16 Lapwings >E over Bradshaw

Pepper Hill/Ploughcroft

Pepper Hill
Common Buzzard today at 13:00 came over Ringby Lane/Swales Moor mobbed by a corvid. It went to a great height as we watched it for around 5 mins or more drifting over Halifax towards Norland/Ringstone area.
11 Linnet >NW
1 Skylark >W
20 Meadow Pipits >NW

Also present
15 Mistle Thrush, c60 Starlings, 6 Goldfinch

Ploughcroft
2 Herring Gulls (adult and juv/1st winter) >W
1 Little Owl

River Calder E and W of Brighouse

Dipper behind the 'Avocet' factory
Chiffchaff near EGP
2 Jays, one 'bathing' at the water's edge
12 Canada Geese
3 Little Grebes - look like juvs
Kingfisher
Grey Wagtail
12 Moorhens inc those on Anglers lake

Bradley Hall area:
Kingfisher
local resident reports Dippers rearing two young near Anchor Pit Lock
Chiffchaff with mixed Tit flock
2 Treecreepers
2 Jays
Pheasant flushed opposite the Old Corn Mill
2 Grey Wagtails
180 Crows, Rooks and Jackdaws in a mixed flock on fields
30+ Goldfinches in and out of hedgerow with
at least 6 Yellowhammers, including 3 males: these flew down to take food off the ground at the edge of the field.

Ringby Lane (Swales Moor)

This afternoon;
2 Skylark
15 Meadow Pipits
4 Linnet

1 Little Owl aat Ploughcroft

soil hill-yesterday afternoon

a walk up to soil hill yesterday in the wind. at first i thought i shouldnt have bothered as there was no bird call and besides crows mobbing a kestrel way off no sign of life at all. as soon as i walked onto the top however i flushed a snipe. it flew forward and landed at the first scrape. i saw it land by a aptch of bulrushes so tip-toed over to it. however as soon as i got there the snipe rocketed out of a bunch of grass-not where it landed and as it did so a second eurupted from a nearby scrape. i managed to get a few quick shots but the one here is the only decent one which shows and snipe traits. they flew off towards ogden and warley moor.

after walking round the top i had only flushed a skylark i headed down to the pools i managed to find nothing on the way down but when i got there a pair of mallards were flushed. after a qwuick scout round ispotted a stonechat on the wires going over. i tried to sneak closer to it but it saw me and flew in to the reeds. there it was joined by a second.

there were no other birds besides these, the kestrel was flying about a bit and two mipits flew over but besides that nothing of any note.

Lee Mount

20+ Redwings and 40+ Starlings through >W at 08:00
2 Swallows >S at 12:15

Jumble Hole

A party of 12 redwings came from the east and turned south towards Stoodley Pike.
Great views of an adult green woodpecker.
Also: bullfinch
Nuthatch
GS woodpecker
A small flock of siskin over
Lots of roving groups long tailed tits
1 Jay
Grey heron
Kestrel
M sparrowhawk

Lee Mount

Redwings heard going over this evening

Ringstone Res'r

Mid-day
c250 Golden Plover
c185 Lapwing
2 Snipe
c120 Starling
1 L B B G
80+ B H Gull
18 Common Gull
1 Moorhen
2 Reed Buntings

Hunter Hill

Vis mig 07:00 till 10:00
Wind light SE - 5 to 7c with good visibility
Birds >S unless stated otherwise

Meadow Pipit - 56
Woodpigeon - 224 (they nearly all came down into Mixendedn Res'r plantation)
Greenfinch - 2
Pied Wagtail - 5
Siskin - 2
Grey Wagtail - 1
Chaffinch - 4
Goldfinch - 4
Cormorant - 2
2 Grey Heron >W

1 Crossbill over headed down from Ogden direction towards Mixenden plantation at 09:15

Redwing - 160+ at 09:05 were seen over Ogden, dropping into the plantation en mass. Then at 09:30 they headed down towards the Ogden golf course to feed in the fields. They were spooked by a Sparrowhawk and headed back into the plantation at Ogden at 09:55.

Other birds:
8 Grey Partridge
62 Jackdaws and c80 B H Gulls heading towards Wheatley Valley (from the roost)?
1 Canada Goose and 1 Barnacle Goose flew over from Cold Edge and dropped into Ogden
1 Pheasant
6 Jay
3 Kestrel
2 Sparrowhawk
1 Wren
9 Carrion Crows

redwings

some redwing movement with flock of c 30 over sowerby bridge and about 10 near hubberton

Ogden/Fly Flats

Ogden
4 Siskin over Back lane along with 1 Skylark and a few Mipits
2 Stonechats in Ogden Clough
2 Gt Spotted Woodpeckers
1 Cormorant
3 Reed Buntings near the golf course

Nab Hill
2 Ravens >W
1 Common Buzzard
1 Kestrel
1 brief view of a possible Peregrine mobbing the Buzzard but at a distance

Fly Flats
No Twite
1 Mallard - and that was it apart from a few Mipits!

Lee Dam and Healey Dam this morning

5 goosander (1 male, 4 females)
grey heron
moorhen
14 LT tits
kingfisher
and a roe deer

Mandarins at Brookfoot

Spotted 3 mature Mandarins(2 M 1 F) onthe river bank at back of avocet works,light very poor so only managed 3 poor shots which I will post later,they flew off up-river towards Elland. Also seen 3 Goosander, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Kingfisher, 3 Grey Heron, 6 Jays and many mixed flocks of tits.

ogden

Mid - day
1 Tufted Duck
55 Common Gulls
11 B H gulls
1 Grey Wagtail
1 Dipper
1 Green Woodpecker
30 Jackdaws >N
2 Redwings and 15 Mistle Thrush >SW
40+ L T Tits (they seemed to be all around the res'r footpaths)
2 Treecreepers
c12 Goldcrest
1 Sparrowhawk
28 Goldfinch
c20 Meadow Pipits

North Dean wood - Sunday morning (Oct. 4th).

Main highlight was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker along the top path leading to Greetland.
Also in same area a couple of Nuthatches in amongst a roving party of Long-tailed Tits etc and 1 Roe Deer.

Charlie.

Ploughcroft,upper Shibden Valley and Ringby

Ploughcroft
1 Little Owl
1 Chiff-chaff in the garden at the top by the cross roads with L T Tits
26 Meadow Pipits
2 Red Fox - large cubs

Upper Shibden Valley
2 Ravens over high >NW calling
1 Redpoll (flyover)
2 Swallows
1 Sparrowhawk
12+ Jays
c80 Lapwing over the fields towards Queensbury/Denhome Gate Road
1 Grey Heron
2 Bullfinch
40+ Woodpigeons

Ringby Lane (Swales Moor)
40+ Linnet
c10 Goldfinch
12 Meadow Pipits
40+ Carrion Crows

Withens Head/Fly Flats

This afternoon
1 female Merlin on Fill Belly Flat carried prey across the moor to a rock to feed
No Twite at Fly Flats feeding station although seed is still being put down
1 Wheatear still at Withens Head
No sign of the Black Redstart either there or at Slade. It was there from at least 21st August until at least 17th September

Interesting sightings this week

1st Oct 6.40pm, Bull Green car park, Hx
- 150-200 Pied Wagtails arriving to roost in the three small maples

2nd Oct 2pm, Canal Bank near Bradley Hall (in Calderdale)
- Chiffchaff still singing

2nd Oct 4pm, near Battyford
- newly fledged Swallows

Cold Edge/Hunter Hill

Vis mig 07.00 till 10.00
Wind WSW very strong, bright spells and blustery showers (hard work)!
Meadow Pipit - 28 >S
Woodpigeon - 3 >S
Goldfinch - 1 >S
Wigeon - 4 >S
Greylag Goose - 2 >N
Mallard - 6 >SW (well they were trying to go SW but after c 10 mins battling against the wind they gave it up as a bad job and came down towards Mixenden)

Mixenden Res'r
Canada Geese - 14
Stock Doves - 3

Northowram Vis

A real cracker of a morning started with a steady stream of meadow pipits going s/w the largest flock of 35(70 + in all),1 lBBGull n/w then 1 Pink footed Goose n/w,1 Great spotted Woodpecker south,1 Blackbird high s/w,2 swallows s/w,1 Redwing s/w and then an amazing Snow Bunting which flew in from the n/w flew round the field twice before heading off s/w( sorry for no text phone playing up).Thats my second snow Bunt in 9 years at this site.

Rook Survey 2009

Many thanks to everyone who took part in the nesting rooks survey throughout Calderdale this year. The information was presented to the C B C G meeting last night.

1,913 nest were found in the Halifax Parish in 1964 from 37 sites (average 51.7 nests per site)

1,986 nest were found in 1975

864 nests were found from 50 colonies in 2009 throughout Calderdale (average 17.23 nests per colony)

If anyone would like a full report please let me know and I can email or post a copy on to you.
Well done everyone for providing all the information and especially to the Halifax Scientific Society who undertook the 1964 and 1975 surveys.
Dave

Ogden

Syke Lane and up to Soil Hill this afternoon;
1 Swallow
2 Snipe
1 Wheatear
c20 Linnets

4 Stonechats together on Foreside Lane (near Denholme Clough) 1 Little Owl and 1 Reed Bunting

Cold Edge/Hunter Hill

Vis mig 07.00 to 10.00 all birds SW> unless stated otherwise
Meadow Pipit - 236
Skylark - 15 N>
Linnet - 25
Chaffinch - 9
Goldfinch - 6
Jay - 4
Pied Wagtail - 6
Lapwing 19 E>
Snipe - 2 W>
Mistle Thrush 36 W>
Grey Heron - 1 N>
B H Gull - 1 W>
Goosander - 8 W>
Pink-footed Goose - 8 W>
Phylloscopus warbler 1

Other birds (not migrants) included
1 Green Woodpecker
1 Little Owl
1 Reed Bunting

Coach Road, Brighouse - am

A male Lesser pecker - about 400 metres from nesting site watched earlier this year
A male G S pecker nearby
2 Nuthatches, with possibly a third nearby: birds 'hoarding' nuts in old tree trunks
3 Jays, one collecting acorns from the ground and taking them to nearby trees
Sound of a Tawny Owl calling distantly at the top of the wood - but at 11.00 am ?
Plus - 107 Mallard on the canal in Brighouse, pm