Luddenden Dean

This afternoon from Castle Carr Road looking towards Crow Hill on Midgley moor

Looking down the dean towards the Calder Valley

With thanks for the tips from Jeff and Nigel to be able to post photo's again.

Castle Carr Road and Luddenden Dean

Cold northerly up there today 0 degrees c and 32" of snow on the moor.
Highlight of the afternoon was 12+ Reed Buntings - 2 on the wires and fence line near Wainstalls, another 2 on the edge of the moor along the road then 8+ in the shrubbery by the top lodge. This is a favourite winter spot for them for some reason, there could have been more!
4 Stock Doves
3 Fieldfares
2 Red Grouse

In the upper dean around 'The Lowe' - no sign of any types of L T Tits!!!
1 Green Woodpecker
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
20+ each Blackbirds, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tits
40+ Chaffinch going to roost - possibly a lot more?
10 Goldfinch
6 Greenfinch
1 Kestrel
c40 Carrion Crows

Total of 24 species today and just made 50 for the year total so far (local) with Green Woodpecker and Reed Bunt.

Hope to be able to post some photo's later with a bit of luck.

Jayhouse lane

Top of Jayhouse this dinnertime.

Tree Sparrow 35+,Starling C50,Meadow Pipit 14,Chaffinch 2,Goldfinch,Blue Tit,Wren,Dunnock,Blackbird,Robin and Pied Wagtail 2.

Sunday stroll

A walk yesterday starting at the Shepards Rest Todmorden upto Gaddings Dam, across to Stoodley Pike and back via Mankinholes produced,

Pair Goldeneye on the dam, pair of Ravens by the Pike, lots of Chaffinch, Blue tit, Great tit, Coal tit and Long tailed tit, around the gardens around Moorland View along with a GSW and at least 3 Lesser Redpoll.

c70 Fieldfare, c100 Starling along with a few Redwing, 2 Greenfinch and 5 Goldfinch in fields adjoining Mankinholes Methodist graveyard.

No sign of the local Little Owls.

Stealing eggs comes home to roost

A man from Upper Cumberworth near Huddersfield has been prosecuted for having 548 eggs held illegally, including  170 stolen from nests.

http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2013/01/11/man-in-court-over-illegal-haul-of-hundreds-of-wild-bird-eggs-86081-32585364/

Good work by the police and RSPB.

Photo's !

Has anyone got any tips on uploading photo's from 'My pictures' to the blog. Both myself and Nick are having the same problem with it.
When clicking on 'insert image' everything has changed - you now get the option to post from URL, phone, webcam or Picasa but not from 'my pictures ! there must be away round it if anyone knows??

Other news today

c100 Pink-footed Geese west over Jay House Lane, Clifton around 10.50 this morning and 4 Wigeon at Ringstone Res'r earlier on (DF)

Pair of Stonechats still at Lower Walshaw Dean (MH)

A good flock of c230 Lapwings  near Shelf Moor- see Brians blog - West Yorkshire Birding

new years catch up

a belated happy new year to all

i have recentley moved to mytholmroyd so hopefully will get to see some good birds around the area

had a nice walk today around the area

mute swan 1 sowerby bridge
goosander 4 luddendean
little grebe 1on the calder near sowerby bridge
grey heron mytholmroyd
dipper 2 caldene
nuthatch 1 caldene

Swales Moor

I tried again on the top this afternoon but it was pretty dead !
1 Great Spotted Wodpecker >E, 1 Greenfinch and 1 Pied Wagtail >W - they were the only movers other than gulls in the far distance.
28 Fieldfares on the top along with 6 Goldfinch and c50 Carrion Crows

Photo competition

This is the pic I've entered, the title of the comp is "best wildlife encounter". After this guy woke me from my tent 3 nights on the trot by pawing at the tent and then became a regular around the site causing a bit of mischief it was hard to pic another. This hasn't been cropped he was happy to come within 4 feet of us.
Thanks for your support. 

Mute Swan Sowerby Bridge

Great to see this scarce bird for Calderdale, not sure if it's the same bird I saw at the end of last year. Also today male and female Goosander on the river Calder and a Kingfisher again on the River Ryburn.

Photo competition

Andy Huyton one of our local photographers has entered a photograph into the competition on the website detailed below, the winner is selected on a vote, please visit the site and consider voting for his image "Face to Face", I think it is currently on page 3. There is no monetary prize but the winner will have his photo published in BBC Wildlife I believe. Would be great to have a local birder with a photo in such a respected magazine! http://www.discoverwildlife.com/wildlife-nature-photography/photo-contest/january%202013%20photo%20contest:%20my%20greatest%20wildlife%20encounter?page=2

Ringstone Res'r

This afternoon - again in the drizzle. I could only find a few corvids along with a good number of B H Gulls (c250) and Common Gulls (c80)  but nothing different with them.

Swales Moor

I tried up there for an hour and a half this morning to see if I could pick up any further 'pinkie' or gull movement but conditions not good and non seen.
1 Grey wagtail
1 Chaffinch
3 Common Gulls
7 Stock Doves
All the above >SW
Usual corvids including c45 Carrion Crows and the 'top' was dead - no larks, pipits,finches etc now that it's its all rye grass up there!

Possible loss of National Wildlife Crime Unit

Britain's National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), which leads the fight against the burgeoning illegal wildlife trade, may be facing the axe. The National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) is a British national police unit that gathers intelligence on wildlife crime and provides analytical and investigative support to police services.

Wildlife crime of all types is rapidly growing across the world, with elephant and rhino poaching both hitting new highs in 2012; organised crime is increasingly involved. Illegal bird trade, smuggling amphibians, raptor persecution and rhino horn are key operations.

A mere £136,000 has yet to be signed off by Home Office and funding expires 31/3/13. DEFRA have agreed their share.

If you feel strongly that this funding should not be removed please consider signing the government e petition that can be found at 

https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43978

Cold Edge and Hunter Hill

Around the dams and Moorlands Farm and the Withens today along with a check on part of Hunter Hill. Not a lot about though c65 Pink- footed Geese headed over the dams west at 12.45  was a good spectacle. (sorry ,11.45, thanks for the correction Bri, dont know how I got to BST so soon in the year)
1 female Kestrel
1 Sparrowhawk
1 adult Peregrine straight through looked like a male
2 Greylag Geese
1 f Goldeneye
15+ Starlings
Red Grouse on the moor
45 Carrion Crows
Hardly any passerines
4 Herring Gulls >SW

ooops - nearly forgot! - a big brown Gos being flown on Hunter Hill.

Brighouse

Jay House Lane
C.20 tree sparrows today at approx 1.15pm.

Other news today

Lee Mount - 3 new year birds today from the garden with a Nuthatch visiting the feeder and a Grey Wagtail flyover. Across lunch time a Great-black-backed Gull went over.
c20 Redwing were around first thing this morning as well as a Jay.

Just a couple of reports of 'pinkies' moving today with 3 skeins >NW heard, but not seen, over Ringstone late morning (GS) as well as a good number of B H and Common Gulls and a few Herring Gulls through. Also 3 Snipe seen there but conditions not good for viewing with fog rolling in.
c50 'pinks' over Elland GP at c12.30 (NR)

Other news today

From NK a report of 2 Grey Plover on Soil Hill this morning but they flushed and were not relocated though I did follow up checking the fields on the north slope and Raggalds flood.
4 Skylark on 'the hill' was about all I could find on the top though there were around 40 Fieldfare and c200 Starlings on the fields down towards Bradshaw.

Mixenden Res'r
7 Pinkies went through low, not making a sound!
3 Goldeneye (1 drake)
13 Goosander
16 Mallard
c80 Starlings
While I was at Mixenden I could hear guns blazing somewhere on the distant moors - I hope all the pinks got through unscathed.!

1 Lapwing at Mount Tabor and 18 Redwings on the landfill near Moor End

A Peregrine - male I suspect, was over the moor near Jct 22 of the M62 this afternoon splitting up a group of c30 Woodpigeons, but missing out on a kill.

2 Ravens also reported nearby today (MH)

More pinks tomorrow (?)!!

Pinkies

Another fantastic day with another good movement of 1,000+ through Calderdale, all more or less W or NW starting off with reports of 155 and 51 through around 09.30 then mid to late morning 7, 70, 50, mid afternoon 300+, 200+ and c100 and probably still going after dark ?
Thanks to everyone for all the skein messages which were coming in thick and fast - even getting forwarned of birds heading our way through Horbury!