Albert Road / Pellon Reservoir

Nick asked me to post these photos of an adult Yellow-legged Gull he took on Friday 19th Jan from Asda car park, with other gulls on the roof of the reservoir buildings.

Yellow-legged Gull at the top of each picture along with 1 Herring Gull (pink legs). Also a few Common Gulls and Black-headed Gulls and a Jackdaw.

Mixenden and Ogden

Mixenden Res'r - still nothing much doing at this site recently - same today. It's really been dead !

Black-headed and Common Gulls with an occasional Herring Gull bathing then passing through and just the one adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Fared slightly better at Ogden with 3 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls though I went searching for the recent Redpoll flock and maybe a chance of finding the Common Redpoll individual that was seen there earlier this week. I did find a Siskin flock of c30 birds in the alders at the north end, 3 Lesser Redpoll with them.

Also a Barnacle Goose with the Mallards - probably the same as the one at Cold Edge yesterday though maybe same as the one with the Canada flock at Brearley over the weekend.

1 Sparrowhawk, Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Bullfinch and not a lot else.

Soil Hill

  After yesterday's success with finding Jack Snipe, today Harry Coghill and I headed back up, this time equipped with a thermal imager, and hoped to try to find an individual before it flushed. We were in luck, as although there was much less activity than the previous day, we were still able to locate one Jack Snipe trying its best to remain motionless so that we might not spot it. 

  This is the third time I have been able to locate this species using this method before they fly off. It is amazing to see them like this.

-Jack Snipe

In total managed 29 species this afternoon, the full list here; https://ebird.org/checklist/S158558263

Soil Hill

  After flogging away since November without any success, today finally produced my first Soil Hill Jack Snipe of the winter. And not just one; in total three flushed out of their regular locations. Presumably a byproduct of the cold weather we are experiencing, as well as the water level dropping in their preferred wet areas. 

  Hopefully they will linger into the spring, but we will have to wait and see. 

-Jack Snipe

In total managed 26 species this afternoon, the full list here; https://ebird.org/checklist/S158507683

Ogden

  A trip down to Ogden with Harry Cog & Charles Gunn in search of a year-tick of Kingfisher turned up trumps when filtering through the Redpoll flock on the south bank. In addition to at least 20 Lesser Redpolls, there was a bird that had the impression of being larger and certainly greyer. Additionally, photos showed white undertail coverts and whiteish flanks, and we concluded that the bird was certainly a Mealy (Common) Redpoll. 

  Sadly, due to the heavy footfall of the public, the flock was quite mobile and getting good pictures proved difficult. It took us some time to confirm the bird's identification, and not long after the flock flew off into the woodland and could not be located despite two hours of searching.

  I shared the photos with a few birders I know who were happy the bird was a Mealy Redpoll, but any critique of the identification is appreciated. Thanks to CG for the 'back of the camera' photo, showing the pale undertail coverts. 

-Mealy Redpoll

In total managed 32 species today, the full list here; https://ebird.org/checklist/S158137322

Soil Hill

Afternoon visit today once the morning drizzle had passed. Fairly steady birding overall, but three skeins of Pink-footed Geese were the highlight, all passing west over Halifax.

1st Skein of 83 at 11:35.
2nd Skein of 41 at 11:40.
3rd Skein of 186 at 12:30

Other birds of note included my first Lesser Black-backed Gulls (four) since the 30th of November

-Pink-footed Geese & Wainhouse Tower

In total managed 29 species this morning, the full list here; https://ebird.org/checklist/S158026693