Ogden

A late evening visit in the hope of Grasshopper Warbler turned up trumps with a single bird singing in the juncus near the lower end of the golf course.
Loads of Swifts feeding over the marshy areas and just a few Swallows
Grey Partridge also heard calling up the hillside
2 Kestrels
Also nearby a juv Tawny Owl hunger calling and an adult Tawny Owl on a telegraph pole at Whitegate

Ringstone north shore pools

Evening visit with AH tonight, great to see the pools created on the north shore have become established habitat and even better to have a Green Sandpiper and LRP on them :). Single Yellow Wagtail also nearby. Apologies for the picture quality they were taken on my phone.

Green Withens

2  Common Sandpipers
2 LRP's
still there this morning
2 Ravens displaying impressively overhead
also a Buzzard food-calling in Lightcliffe area recently.

Other news today

Elland GP from Steve and Tony

2  Scoter there on the ski lake this morning. 

Ringstone

1 Yellow Wagtail

1 Dunlin

1 L R Plover

Common Sands

Fly Flatts

Nearly 2 hrs in the car late afternoon while it poured continuously up there. I was waiting for a break to see if any terns etc were drifting through but got absolutely nothing - well, other than the resident 400+ Canada's and 2 Common Sands!

Withens Head was marginally better with 2 Wheatears ( juvs) opposite the wind farm car park along with 1 each Curlew and Lapwing

New Wind farm Data....................

A new study just published in the United States has estimated that around 573,000 birds were killed by wind turbines in 2012 (including 83,000 birds of prey), in increase of 30 per cent on a previous estimate by the US fish and Wildlife Service in 2009. Bats are even worse hit, says author K Shawn Smallwood, and probably top 888,000 killed per year.

Clearly this has serious implications for the renewable energy industry, which bases much of its investment and publicity on the safety and environmental sustainability of the machines. Smallwood also believes his figures are underestimated, owing to the incompleteness if reports of bird and bat deaths from different states, in particular Texas.

Added to this, wind farm legislation in the USA is being loosened, with permits to allow the killing of Bald and Golden Eagles, Whooping Crane, Piping Plover and California Condor by wind turbines all under review or being granted in some states. 

Despite being based in incomplete data, Smallwood suggests that there should be greater transparency in reporting the deaths of flying animals in the States as well as a cross-state standard method of measuring and comparing figures. Even so, the increase in deaths suggested by the more rigorous statistical methods are worrying indeed, and should provide justifiable concern for both conservationists and the renewable energy industry in Britain and Europe.

mytholmroyd

a nice 2 hour walk around the area this evening

swallow 46
house martin 18
swift 16
dipper 3
grey wagtail 5
pied wagtail 3
great spotted woodpecker 1
jay 2
black headed gull 1
goldfinch 7
greenfinch 2
willow warbler 2 juvs

How to complain about the Harrier hating Councillor.

Follow this link for info on how to object!

Unbelievable

For something shocking go to this link

Fly Flatts

Fly Flatts
Early afternoon
3 B H Gull including 1 juv
410 Canada Geese
10 Greylags
2 Common Sandpipers
2 Curlew still with juv/s
2 Golden Plover
90 Lapwings came in from high NE to rest in fields with Canadas then 32 of them left and went high >SW
30+ Red Grouse including large chicks eating seeds off grass stalks
1 Kestrel
10+ Swallows and similar number of Swifts >SW
20+ Meadow Pipits and still feeding young

Plenty Nyger seed down again at the feeding station - but not a sign of any Twite !

Withens Head
1 juv Wheatear feeding along the low wall near the farm along with a juv Stonechat
3 Curlew
1 Oystercatcher
8  Starlings
20+ Meadow Pipits

Ringstone

One juvenile LRP and one male Yellow Wagtail this aft.

Dippers

1 adult feeding in Hebden Water in Hebden Bridge centre this evening, flew S towards R Calder.
Also 1 adult in Walsden Water at Gauxholme on Sunday 7th July that I neglected to post.

wood warbler mytholmroyd

a wood warbler singing this evening by the footpath alongside the railway track about 1/4 of mile east of the railway station

Luddenden Dean

I checked the Redstart area this afternoon without success
1 Curlew still on Midgley Moor
1 Green Woodpecker
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
1 Nuthatch
1 Treecreeper
1 Little Owl
2 Kestrels
c50 Woodpigeons
6+ Stock Doves
1 Jay
6 Mistle Thrush
10+ Linnet
20+ Goldfinch
c4 Willow Warblers calling

Castle Carr Road
A nice resting flock of 90 Lapwings in one field
1 Curlew
c180 Starlings - mainly juveniles
c20 L B B Gulls, 1 B H Gull and 1 Common Gull  all >SW
1 Skylark
A few mipits still feeding young

Luddenden Dean

 Adult male Stonechat

Luddenden Dean (upper)

An interesting afternoon up there today with a Red Kite over really high >E at 3 pm (with apologies to the grapeviners - no signal up there!)
1 Stonechat
1 Reed Bunting
Pair of Blackcap
5+ Willow Warblers
Pair of Kestrels
A pair of Mistle Thrushes with 3 juvs
1 Green Woodpecker
Meadow Pipits still feeding young
2 Ravens high >NE
Several Swifts, Swallows and 2 House Martins

Ringstone Res'r

Late morning visit produced 2 Yellow Wagtails, probably the same 2 found by DF the other day. One very bright individual and a much duller bird with it. They were on the shoreline for a while but kept moving off into the fields nearby. Y wags a really good bird for Calderdale in recent years and it was good to see these two feeding rather than the usual flyovers.
2 Common Sandpipers
55 Lapwing
3 Cormorant
1 Kestrel
2 Pied Wagtail juvs
2 House Marin
2 Sand Martin
c30 Swallows
1 ad L B B Gull
4 B H Gulls
1 Willow Warbler feeding along the shoreline
A few Linnets and Meadow Pipits
1 Swift
2 Ringlets, a few Meadow Browns, Small Heaths and Small Whites

 2 Yellow Wagtails on both pictures above - one much brighter than the other - rubbish shots I know but there for the record !

Some decent shoreline appearing

Buzzard

Above Scout Rock, Mytholmroyd. Yesterday at 17.05 a buzzard being mobbed by two carrion crows. The buzzard had rather tatty feathers.

Ringstone

Two Yellow Wagtails on the shoreline at Ringstone this aft.

Cold Edge

This afternoon, it got warmer as the afternoon moved on.
Still a few waders about including 1 Snipe, 1 Oystercatcher, 2 Curlew, 1 Common Sandpiper and c 20 Lapwings.
Pair of Little Grebe + 2
5 Teal
1 Tufted Duck
c30 Mallard
1 Moorhen
1 Grey Heron
15 B H Gulls
3 L B B Gulls
c 20 Linnet
A few Meadow Pipits
c 8 Skylarks
c30 Swallows
c 50 Swifts very high >SW
c35 Starlings

More Ringlets today mainly around Cold Edge lower plantation but also a few elsewhere including 2 opposite the windfarm car park. A few Meadow Browns and lots of Small Heaths, 1 Tortoiseshell and around 10 whites mainly distant.

Wheatley Valley

Without the car today so I had a couple of walks across the former landfill site opposite Shroggs Road and below Brackenbed. Hardly any birds about in the scorching heat but butterflies were pretty good with an equal share of Ringlets and Meadow Browns, a few Speckled Woods, 1 Tortoiseshell and hundreds of Small Skippers. Other Skippers might have been present as well but my skill in identification of the others is suspect !!
Most of the butterflies were in the large flat grass area and around the fringes

Surprise too were 2 House Martins over Lee Mount - a rarity up there this year and also c40 Swifts went high SE mid afternoon