Whiteholme Res'r and Withens Clough Res'r

I gave Whiteholme a try this morning after PG reported the Morecambe Bay look-alike yesterday !!
Shame there were no ducks or waders..............
Pretty misty most of the time as well
5 Wheatears,
2 Twite (near the catchwater inflow)
50+ Meadow Pipits
A few Red Grouse
1 Kestrel
And most unusual for up there - a single Magpie and a Grey Squirrel on the shorelines big boulders.

Whiteholme Reservoir

 

Withens Clough

1 Green Woodpecker

1 Peregrine flyover towards Cragg Vale

Yesterdays news

From Mike H - a Hobby - looks like a juvenile - over Brighouse - another nice one from Mike together with 2 early Redwings and a Goldcrest in and around his garden yesterday morning 29th September

And from Pete G yesterday
Whiteholme Res'r - 18 Teal - (loads of mud showing up there so it's well worth checking) !

Ringstone - 9 Wigeon, 14 Teal and c250 Lapwings with a few Golden Plover (6+) starting to arrive up there

Baitings - lots of Goldcrests

Withens Clough - 2 Wigeon

We walked from Luddenden Foot to Hebden Bridge and back, as early mist persuaded us to take 'the low road' though the gloom soon lifted. Not much about - not a Swallow anywhere !
1 Cormorant
1 distant Common Buzzard
2 Ravens >E over Luddenden Foot
2 Sparrowhawks
1 Moorhen on the Calder
4+ Grey Wagtails
1 Grey Heron juv - we got to withing 4 meters of it on the canal towpath - very tame !
And that was about it....with very few small birds about

Eclipse of the Moon

Eclipse at 03:46 this morning
Unfortunately there was no sign of any 'pinkies' flying across it... !

Lee Mount and Ringstone

The first 'pinkies' of the season - many thanks to a call from Oxenhope via BS I mananged to get one flock of 42 high and totally silent yesterday morning at 08:25 >SE.
Masses of them have been heading into the UK from Iceland this last few days !

I checked Ringstone later on in the morning but could only find a Common Buzzard nearby and a Cormorant on the res'r though there were lots of B H Gulls I couldn't track down the Med Gull from earlier in the week - though it could still be around (?)
Also 80+ Lapwings
c30 House Martins and c12 Swallows briefly feeding over the res'r though they soon moved on.

Fly Flatts etc

Just about completely dead at Fly late morning - the strong >W was no help at all though an Arctic Skua went west over the Oxenhope watchpoint earlier on -  thanks to HC and BS for passing the message on. It probably went through our area ! A nice bird to find inland as was a Redwing for BS over Queensbury this morning (see BS's blog - West Yorkshire Birding). Well done Bri.
Fly Flatts
2 Wheatear
6+ Kestrels
4 L B B Gulls
1 B H Gull

Withens Head (lots of activity with preparations for the upgrading of the wind-farm)
2 Wheatear

Ploughcroft - late afternoon 1 Common Buzzard soon legged it with the corvids giving it what for !

Lee Mount - 2 House Martins

Ringstone

1 Mediterranean Gull - 2nd winter bird with B H Gulls on the res'r at 18:20 last night headed off towards Scammonden at 18:25. A good chance it could be around today as there are a lot of B H Gulls maybe 200+ feeding in the nearby wet fields behind the embankment.
1 Cormorant

Fly Flatts

Yesterday late morning in a strong wind W F5 and some fine drizzle
1 S E Owl sheltering from the wind in a gully preening was nice to see - at a distance through the scope !
1 Wheatear
6+ Kestrels
c50 Meadow Pipits fairly high in small groups >NW despite the windy conditions
3 L B B Gulls
1 B H Gull
2 Canadas

Swales Moor - Ringby Lane

Good to meet BS up there late afternoon viewing 360 degrees from the top is easier with two of us.

There were up to 196 Goldfinch on the top - thanks to BS's magic camera and Bradshaw John doing the count later from the photo's !!! There could be even more up there. See West Yorkshire Birding blog for some great photo's as they were moving around from patch to patch of thistles.

Corvids mobbed a Kestrel and a L B B Gulls had a go at a Sparrowhawk .
1 Buzzard sp. went unidentified far across the valley toward Hunter Hill but unfortunately going in the opposite direction from our watchpoint before heading >SW
15 passerines flew over >S looking like Siskins but we couldn't be 100% sure of i d.

On the way down a female Stonechat turned up on the fence line but Bri had left for home in the opposite direction so missed out.

Walshaw Dean - 11am

360+ meadow pipits
Dozens of goldcrests in the plantation, but mostly heard and seen glimpses of, so a meaningful count was impossible
14 red grouse
1 cormorant flew over
3 kestrel
3 swallows
1 raven near the carpark

Lee Mount

This morning at 08:00 a small flock of Redpoll were heard passing over >SW but I couldn't see them so didn't get a count.

Ploughcroft

I only had time to check the lower end of Ringby Lane yesterday morning
1 Lesser Redpoll and 1 Chiff-chaff in the bushes at the bottom behind the house, along with 30+ Chaffinch's, 2 Bullfinch's and a small tit flock
18 Mistle Thrush >E
2 Jay >W
1 Sparrowhawk
c150 Goldfinch on thistles just up the lane on the hillside facing Holmfield
30+ Meadow Pipits around the site
c150 Swallows and c40 House Martins feeding high over Shibden valley were drifting >E

Jumble Hole

A single whitethroat was in the garden yesterday. Not sure if it was a lingering resident or a migrant.
A buzzard flew over at lunch today, with 60+ house martins accompanying (but not harassing) it.

Fly Flatts and Hunter Hill

From yesterday - I just arrived at Fly Flatts when I got a call from BS and DB about an Osprey heading over from the north towards Ogden around 11:00 so I shot down to Hunter Hill to see if I could pick it out from there. Sadly not - as I later found out that it had headed off east towards the north side of Soil Hill.
Thanks for the call lads. See BS blog for a report and NK's (Birdbrain) blog for some nice photo's of the bird over Coal Lane Ogden.

Hunter Hill 11:00 till 12:00 caught up with some movement
2 Cormorants >S
95 Meadow Pipits, 130 Swallows and 25 House Martins >W

Swales Moor

Ringby Lane for vis mig this morning for nearly 2 hrs but it was nearly impossible to count genuine 'movers'. There were so many birds around the site feeding and moving about all over the place it was impossible to tell which direction they were going in or more likely they were just feeding - with 130+ Swallows, 12 Skylarks, 200+ Meadow Pipits, 90+ Goldfinch and 80+ Linnets.
The highlight was a late Swift >W at 09:05
3 Sparrowhawks (1 >SW and 2 >NE)
2 Common Buzzards >SW
1 L B B Gull >NE
8 House Martin >NE
2 Chaffinch >NE
12 Siskin >SW

Northern England Raptor Conference

Once again the Calderdale Bird Conservation Group are proud to be hosting the annual NERF conference to be held at Rishworth School on Saturday 21st November, details below




The annual NERF Raptor Conference is being hosted by Calderdale in 2015 at the prestigious venue, Rishworth School.

The conference committee has drawn together an exciting and varied program that will address a wide range of issues that are of interest to Raptor Workers.

There is ample on-site parking. Registration, coffee and exhibitions will be available for delegates from 0930 and the conference will open at 10.00. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. In response to feedback from previous conferences years there will be increased opportunities to catch up with friends and benefit from those irresistible bargains available from the specialist retailers who cater for the birding community.

The NERF Conference is the primary training aid for birders interested in Birds of Prey in the North of England. This year’s conference will be opened by Superintendent Chris Hankinson, Chair of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime [PAW], Raptor Persecution Working Group.

Dave Leech, BTO, - an unmissable presentation will bring us up to date with the new mandatory procedures for using IPMR and making licence applications / compulsory returns.

Hen Harriers continue to dominate the concerns of Raptor Workers. Stephen Murphy, NE, and David Hunt, RSPB will give us full accounts of the highs and lows of the 2015 season.

After lunch Paul Irving, NERF Chair, will bring us up to speed with NERF’s activities over the last 12 months.

Raptor Workers are well that the severe reduction in Police resources is having a negative impact on their ability to respond to raptor persecution and the situation is likely to get worse in the foreseeable future. Raptor Workers invariably discover these offences and provide expert witness statements. With that in mind a member of the PAW Forensic Working Group will guide us through the techniques that we can use to strengthen Police investigations.

The Cumbrian Osprey Project is probably the most important Bird of Prey assisted breeding program ever undertaken in the North of England. Nathan Fox, Forestry Commission, will talk us through the trials and tribulations of the scheme over the last 5 years.

Delegate Fees
£10.00 for delegates aged 14 – 18 years and £22.00 for adults. Once again demand for places at this year’s conference is expected to be high. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

Booking forms are available from midgleybirder@yahoo.co.uk

Fly Flatts etc

This morning - with a change in the wind direction from >E to >NW and overnight heavy rain turned the far end into a bit if a bog !
1 Whinchat still there along with 5 Wheatear
c100 Meadow Pipits around the site
7+ Kestrel
1 Common Buzzard
1 Cormorant >SW
6 Swallows >NE
2 House Martins about
20+ Red Grouse

Withens Head Farm
In the shelter from the wind were 40+ Swallows and at least 8 House Martins around the farm buildings

Fly Flatts

Late morning at the northern end - drizzle and mist moving over with still an easterly wind.
1 Common Snipe was the only wader
1 Whinchat
5+ Wheatear
60+ Meadow Pipit
11 House Martins >NE
6 Swallows >NE
3 L B B Gulls and 2 B H Gulls
11 Carrion Crows
2 Canada's

Mount Tabor - 250+ Starlings was a good count nowadays !

Saturday

2 ring necked parakeets were a surprise over Jumble Hole this morning. First I've seen outside of London.

Later at Blake Dean:
- 45 swallows
- 2 grey heron
- 22 meadow pipits
- 4 kestrels, including one that caught a meadow pipit
- 5 grey partridge

Fly Flatts

I went soft this morning 11:00 till 12:30 - stayed in the car during heavy showers and short lived clear spells !
Despite the weather Meadow Pipits were on the move fairly high with 157 >S , 3 Swallows and 1 Pied Wagtail in the same direction.
1 Kestrel caught a vole
3 Wheatears on the walls at the northern end
1 Raven >N
6 Carrion Crows blogging
30+ Red Grouse were probably disturbed by shooters over the back of Nab Hill
Rained off !

Fly Flatts

This morning - all the duck gone from yesterday !
1 Dunlin turning from breeding to winter plumage
2 Lapwings >S
1 Snipe
2 B H Gulls
2 ad and 3 juvenile L B B Gulls
5 Wheatears
50+ Swallows and 2 Sand Martins>S
c50 Meadow Pipits - some blogging and others high over the moor >S
10+ Kestrels
Distant Common Buzzard