Cold Edge

Tufted Duck male

Soil Hill - 1st October

It was grim up there early afternoon - compared with the lower ground. I made a mistake of wearing boots and not wellies. What a muddy mess - but did I enjoy it...YES !

It was very similar to the top as it was many years ago, it turned up some very good birds then. The site still does !!

After being scraped off this year in late summer it leaves bare earth more or less all over the top.

Despite the look of desolation I came across a few interesting birds that I hadn't expected in the conditions.

1 Stonechat, 9 Skylarks, 40+ maybe up to 50 Meadow Pipits consistently wary of the 2 Kestrels showing interest.

Also a Snipe flushed and 2 Buzzards drifted south.

Cold Edge

1 of 6 Teal

Reed Bunting, Stonechat, and Meadow Pipits

Stonechat and Magpie

North of England Raptor Forum

 **NERF Raptor Conference 15 November 25, £20 delegate fee for under 25s*

The status of the Red Kite in NE England John Barrett

A life with raptors Brian Etheridge

The North Pennines National Landscape Chris Woodley-Stewart

Raptors and the work of the Rare Breeding Birds Panel Mark Eaton

The life of Short-eared Owls John Calladine

Nomad; the world of the Pallid Harrier Mike Henry

The Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme Connor Tomlinson

The full programme and booking arrangements for delegates will be available via the NERF website (*www.raptorforum.co.uk)*

Cromwell Bottom

1cy Goosander, (white line below eye and through lores to bill)

Also, 1 Kingfisher

Whiteholme

Midday: Meadow Pipit 15, Wheatear 2, Carrion Crow 2, Goldfinch 2 (1 ad, 1 juv)

Soil Hill

   A pleasant morning on Soil Hill with very little activity overall but a few standouts. The highlight of these, for me at least, were two Ring-necked Parakeets that flew south early morning. These were a patch tick for me, my 132nd species for Soil Hill. 

  Perhaps of more rarity interest was a Great Egret circling over Ogden at 09:10, before heading northwards, my second record here. There was not the movement of Pink-footed Geese that there has been on previous mornings, probably due to the fog across the tops, but a large skein of 241 birds did fly over Halifax at 09:20.

-Ring-necked Parakeet

-Great Egret

-Pink-footed Geese

In total managed 46 species today, the full list here; https://ebird.org/checklist/S275511164

Trektellen count here; https://www.trektellen.org/count/view/767/20250926

Ringstone Edge

Teal 10

Arctic Skua

 

Seen today on the path to Whiteholme Reservoir at 17.10 ....Amazing

Soil Hill & Ringstone Edge Reservoir

  A steady morning on Soil Hill with little moving until 08:50 when all of a sudden the skies above Halifax were filled with Pink-footed Geese. In the following 20 minutes I saw five large skeins all heading southeast and picked up by various observers across the area. But after 09:10 I only had one more flock, a small group of 15, which brought the morning total up to 931 individual birds as counted from the, albeit distant, photos I took of the flocks. No skeins noted in the Aire Valley today, all the birds I saw were heading down the Calder Valley.

  

  After this I went to Ringstone to look at the excellent assortment of wildfowl there, found by AC. For me the highlights were the three drake Pochard, my first in Calderdale since 2008, but the 13 Wigeon, 12 Teal and a Shoveler made for quite a spectacle, at least locally. Nice to see AC, AT and PD up there as well. 

-Pink-footed Geese

-Pochard

In total managed 42 species today, the full list here; https://ebird.org/checklist/S275198635

Trektellen count here; https://www.trektellen.org/count/view/767/20250924

Cold Edge

(Autumn) female Stonechat with weak supercilium and pale throat

A quiet day.....!

Started off the day with 58 Pink-footed Geese over  Lee Mount as I was checking the moth trap. Not very clear photos, they were so high up heading east, but good enough for a count.

I tried the top road watch-points at Fly Flats this afternoon but it was hard work in the brightness reflecting off the water which has massively increased after Saturdays rainfall.

2 Kestrels, 2 Wheatear, 4+ Stonechats, c60 Goldfinch on the thistles and 14 Lapwings on the shoreline with LBBG's and Black-headed Gulls to and fro - and that was about it !

Pepper Hill, Claremount

An hour or so on the hill top there this afternoon.

Many of the fields had been freshly cut and long grass left in rows though I suspect after the very wet day on Sunday that the farmer had not had the right conditions to bale it up. The Meadow Pipits (100+), Skylark and  corvids were making the most of the abundance of food in among the rows in the warm sunshine.

3 Stonechats nearby, 40+ Goldfinch, and 30+Linnets were also making the most from the fence lines.

1 Sparrowhawk buzzed through as well as just the one Swallow and a Buzzard was calling from Shibden Valley.

Also along the nearby lanes 3 Small Copper butterflies and a Red Admiral.