Fly Flats and Cold Edge

Fly Flats - unusual to see a Magpie up there high > N. Otherwise just some Red Grouse, nothing else! Reservoir starting to freeze over. !

 Fly Flats - starting to freeze over

Female Stonechat at Cold Edge
I couldn't get a decent shot of the male - he was a beauty !

Cold Edge
26 Mallard
1 f Teal
2 Ravens >E
1 Little Owl
Pair of Stonechat
1 Kestrel
4  Mistle Thrush
1 Fieldfare
Red Grouse
1 Goldfinch

Stansfield Close

22 Waxwings still - in Hanson Lane just by Stansfield Close in top of tall tree at 8:20 this morning.

Local Walk

     

            Took a walk for a couple of hours at dusk around
            Pepper Hill & Swalesmoor-:
            Pepper Hill-:
            6 Mistle Thrush
            2 Fieldfare
            6 Redwing
            3 Robin
            8 Blackbird
            3 Great Tit
            1 Blue Tit
            1 Little Owl
            Lots of Gulls, Starlings, Crows & Jackdaws
            Swalesmoor-:
            3 Meawdow Pipit
            1 Kestrel
            Gulls, Crows and Maggies.
            3 Grey Partridge.
            It's a shame the farm has cut down the Linnet
            and Twite tree nr the bottom of Ringby Lane.

       

       

News today

Walshaw Dean has at least 15 Crossbills very active giving good views late morning
NigelK

Also at least 6 Waxwings still at Stansfield Close briefly around 14:20 this afternoon from Mike H - they are very elusive at times !

From BL c50 Brambling at Pudsey Road, Cornholme, Todmorden.
Also from Withens Clough - the Brambling flock 70+ still present last week in the beech wood up the track from Withens Clough car park (just below the reservoir) above Cragg Vale. PG

More waxy pics

On the way to the opticians I stopped off at Stansfield Close this PM and found 6 Waxwings still feeding on the berries. BL reports 12 Crossbills at Sunderland Pasture yesterday with 5 there today.

Whiteholme Reservoir

Adult Kittiwake >NE from Pete G. 12:15 today.

Hanson Lane

20+ Waxwings still showing this afternoon at Stansfield Close from AS et al

Walshaw Dean

Walshaw Dean today. 4 Crossbills and c100 Brambling in the main plantation, 3 Stonechats nearby and plenty of Fieldfares. Dipper and 4 teal at Lower Gorple. Above digi scoped record shots, ps sorry for putting them on moth site by mistake.

Waxwings

Circa 12 waxwings showing well this afternoon on Stansfield Close.  They were roosting in some sycamores at the cul de sac end of the close and were putting in some periodic sorties to their favoured rowan.

Stansfield Close - Hanson Lane

Still a few Waxwings about (6+) at Stansfield Close area at 11:00 - but worth checking other areas of Hanson Lane and Pellon Lane as they are very mobile. Patience needed at times though the favoured tree is just in Stansfield Close on the right.
PG DJS and Pauline (hope you got some nice shots) ! from Keighley.

Yesterdays Waxwing in Action

             A few more pics from yesterday of the Waxwing, I hope
             they're still there as have not heard anything today.
             A Ring-Necked Parakeet was seen up Queensbury today
             in the Shaw Lane area by NK.

Soil Hill

Mid afternoon check up there 'thinking maybe'... Snow Bunting with BS but we drew a blank. Just a couple of Meadow Pipits on the top and a Blackbird.
It's a shame the previous bare gravelly areas are more or less all overgrown now other than one or two small spots and some sparse bare areas on the track and the mounds. Lets hope there is just enough to tempt them in soon.

Flighty Waxwing

 

            Waxwings still at Stansfield Close but very flighty, it was
            nice to meet some other birders up there as well, DS.DW.PD.BH
            and a fella from Huddersfield, got to be honest I thought they were
            Starlings in flight with the light being low until they settled on a
            nearby tree. What a find and what a beautiful bird.
            also 6 Blackbird, 2 Mistle Thrush and 12+ House Sparrows were
            present on the close and 10+ Starling and 2 Great Tit.
       

Waxwing photos from John Sykes - Stansfield Close, Hanson Lane

Waxwings Hanson Lane

Second time lucky.22 Waxwings at Stansfield Close, Hanson Lane today including one with a ring on.

Hanson Lane , Halifax

Waxwings still at Stansfield Close area today with up to around 20 still present till at least 14.35. GWD and SB

Hanson Lane

15 Waxwings Hanson Lane at st augustines centre. ( SB ) around 11:30 this morning.

Update _ 28 BIRDS in and around Stansfield Close mid afternoon showing very well. AH

Mixenden and Ogden

Mixenden Res'r - f Goldeneye and a f Wigeon

Ogden - Kingfisher at the top end and not a lot else. Good to see Nigel up there doing the rounds as well though conditions were very wet this morning !

Claremount Hill

          A walk for an Hour around Claremount Hill
          on a cold & dismal morning produced-:
          4 Whooper Swans ( flyover )
          5 Robins
          2 Goldfinch
          2 Goldcrest
          8 Blackbirds
          10 Rook
         1 Wren
          3 Grey Partridge
          Gulls, Jackdaws, Crows & Magpies.
          Pied Wagtail

          Garden -:

          1 Robin
          6 Goldfinch
          2 Mistle Thrush
          8 Starlings
          2 Blackbird

Ogden and Mixenden

Ogden
Kingfisher and Dipper in the usual spot - the ponds by the pump house below the embankment mid-morning.
Not a lot else around other than 127 Mallard, c40 Black-headed Gulls, 10 Common Gulls and 1 Herring Gull.
Hard to find any passerines anywhere with the snow falling !

Mixenden Reservoir
Just 1 female Goldeneye and a few Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls and one Herring Gull
::
Ovenden Way - no sign of yesterdays Waxwings (checked at  08:30 by AH) and still no sign late morning.

Ogden etc...

Ogden
I went to see if the pair of Pintail were still about but couldn't find them in the pouring rain !
c20 Canada Geese
c80 Mallard
2 female Teal
1 Kingfisher and a Dipper in the pump house ponds area below the embankment (viewed from the promenade with binoculars)

Mixenden Reservoir
Just a few Black-headed Gulls and 2 Common Gulls
1 Grey Wagtail

Fly Flats
Nothing except sideways rain !

King Cross
After a report this morning from AH of c12 possible Waxwings flying towards Sowerby Bridge about 08:30 - I went to check later morning. No Waxwings found but there are numerous Sorbus sp... loaded with berries in that area alongside the main road near the big traffic junction and Fire Station and near Tesco etc.
Well worth keeping an eye in that area.
Also this afternoon from Andy - at least 2 Waxwings in Ovenden Way - half way up on the left hand side around 15:30. Well worth a check there tomorrow - or anywhere else with berries on trees !

Fly Flats

Appalling conditions up there this morning with a rain driving >NW making viewing pretty tricky !
2 Carrion Crows
1 Canada Goose
c40 Mallard
3 x second-winter Herring Gulls >N - they don't seem to be phased at all by bad weather.!

Ogden

Pair of great looking Pintail at Ogden near the duck feeding area. Found by CK on Sunday morning -quite a rarity for Calderdale. When we were there today they would not waken up.! BS has some nice shots on his West Yorkshire Birding blog.
Not a lot else at Ogden other than 2  fem Goldeneye briefly and a flock of maybe up to 50  Chaffinch  on the weedy res'r bankings at the top end of reservoir.

Wrecked seabird. No corpse available.

A seabird thought to be Manx Shearwater was picked up alive outside Walsden on 2nd November, along Rochdale Road towards Summit.

The finder took it to Hirds Vets near there where they tried to feed it on fish.

Halifax branch of Hirds vet passed it on to the Creature Comforts animal-aid man, but despite his best efforts at rehabiltation, it died. I persuaded him to dig it up from where he had buried it but he couldn't find it.

Last record I can find is one in 1962 found exhausted at Causeway Foot and later released at Ogden Reservoir.

There are several old records before this.

13th Nov

Walshaw Dean, 5 or 6 Crossbills still in the plantation, 1 Stonechat, 2 Buzzards and a flock of 30 Twite reported by MKF. Lower Gorple, unidentified pipit, suspect Rock or Water on call but nearly dark when seen, Dipper and 5 Herring Gulls. BL reports at least 9 Crossbills at Sunderland Pasture above Withens Clough today. Above photo by DF today at Walshaw.

Edge Lane, Colden. Early pm

- 4 little owl
- 1 common buzzard
- 21 fieldfare
- 1 kestrel
- 1 herring gull

12th Nov

Roils Head today, 1 male Stonechat, 10 Redwings, 1 Grey Partridge at Tower Hill and a Snipe at Highroad Well Moor (4 yesterday). Also had 9 unidentified ducks flying north over Queensbury, over Ogden and towards Thornton Moor.

Fly Flats and Cold Edge

Early afternoon
Fly Flats
4 Teal

Cold Edge
9 Wigeon
2 Tufted Duck

Ogden

It seemed fairly quiet first thing with nothing on the water other than the usual Mallard and 27 Canada Geese.
The Canadas were feeding on the shoreline weed fringe along with c30 Chaffinch.

Elsewhere the Tit flock was proving pretty elusive though I eventually tracked them down high in the canopy of the pine woodland where I was looking for Woodcock - but drew a blank there!
There were 30+ birds in the roving flock - unusually the most prominent bird being Goldcrests.

Mixenden Reservoir

Thought it might be worth a check this morning in the wintry showers. Never know what might turn up at this time of year !
1 f Goosander
2 Teal
1 f Goldeneye
65 mixed gulls - Black-headed and Commons with - 1 ad Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Ogden

First thing this morning from BS - 9 Whooper Swans left >E just as Brian arrived about 07:45.

Todays news

 9 Whooper Swans (including 3 juvs) on Baitings Reservoir found early afternoon (PG). They were still there when I called and were close in at 15:40 - then dogs appeared on the shoreline and they were off towards Ryburn and I lost them behind the trees so don't know if they went down there or towards Ringstone or Booth Wood Reservoir or moved off altogether.(?)

Still a few Crossbills, but mobile, at Walshaw Dean and nearby plantations (MH et al)

Report of a Little Egret around 13:30  >NW over above Cottonstones area (JG) so maybe heading towards Cragg Vale or the Calder Valley (?)

c300 Golden Plover in freshly manured fields at Ringstone along with a good number of Lapwing, Starlings and Black-headed Gulls - worth keeping an eye on that area but it's mostly a scope job to pick anything unusual out of the hoards of birds.!

Kingfisher at Ogden

                Kingfisher showed well today at Ogden even tho the
                lighting for pics was terrible, only seen one before at
                Ogden down by the promenade at long distance, no
                Mandarin ducks today or if they were there I didn't
                spot them.