Whiteholme

Whooper Swan 10. Flew off ESE

8 of 15 Golden Plover

Shibden Valley

Grey Wagtail

Whiteholme

Redshank 2

10 of 25 Golden Plover

Walshaw Dean

 A pleasant afternoon, overcast with no breeze, and the sunshine was limited to about half-a-minute.

A flock of 20+ Long-tailed Tits moved apace through the conifer plantation. Also a couple of Blackbirds in there as well as a Robin. 

Our main aim was to check out the spot,photo below, where the recent Siberian Stonechat had been seen, Plenty of Stonechats about along with a few Reed Buntings in one area of rock, stone walls and grass/heather on the east side of the lower reservoir. At one point 8 Stonechats were on a fence line with others in and out of the vegetation, all obviously feeding well. Difficult to get an accurate count though 15+ (maybe nearing 20 !). No sign of the Siberian bird. Could it still be nearby ?

Little else other than at least 3 Kestrels and 2 Buzzards en-route and a flock of around 40 Redwings passed >W. Also from Steve B were 15 noisy Fieldfares in the Sycamore trees.

Whiteholme

Raven 1. Flew off south

Also: 2 Ravens north at Blackstone Edge

Whiteholme Sunday morning

 A great morning to be out with fog in the valley's and swirling fog on the tops.

Pink-footed geese 525 all WSW in 6 skeins

Jackdaw 217 in one large noisy flock WSW

Whooper Swans 5 WSW

Also about Hen Harrier , Merlin, Buzzard , Kes , Mipits 86, Reed Bunting 16 , Widgeon 4 , Teal 1 and 1 Golden Plover on the shoreline

,

Siberian Stonechat (Maurus) Lower Walshaw Dean

 

Ryburn

 Mandarin 2 females (grey bills)

Whiteholme and Soil Hill

Whiteholme today from MH - in a strong blustery wind but good visibility.   A cracking start with 17 Stonechats along the long drain,. 2 Reed Buntings, female Merlin, 16 Golden Plover  and 41 Pink-footed Geese >W

Soil Hill for me - just on the summit. No sign of any moving birds in the drifting mist and light drizzle. Similar count from my previous visit with 9 Skylarks, c 30 Meadow Pipits, 1 Stonechat , 2 Grey Partridge and plenty Pheasants.

Beacon Hill

1 of a flock of 15 Mistle Thrush

Also: parties of 12 Greenfinch and 9 Goldfinch, and 1 female Chaffinch

North Halifax

 A struggle to find much today on Hunter Hill and Carr's Beck and nothing at all on Mixenden res'r other than a few 'loafing' Black-headed Gulls.

2 Pied Wagtails, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Mistle Thrush, 1 Meadow Pipit, 2 Stonechat, 1 Raven (heard) along with the usual corvids in abundance. c160 Woodpigeons flushed from the beech trees as the farmer was rounding up his flock of sheep.

Whiteholme Res'r

 Today's news from MH. Well done braving it out in the strong blustery wind ! 

41 Golden Plover, 47 Pink-footed Geese >W, 11 Meadow Pipits, 1 Raven, 1 Red Grouse and Whooper Swans heard but unseen in the mist.

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