redcar tarn

 yep again but its great park up throw bread and see what turns up 

the hybrid gull is still here and is the first to get the bread 

hybrid 

no mark on p4

brown upperwing 

very much a lbb gull underwing 

herring gull 

despite the summer look 

no caspain gull today 

i tried went through 3 loafs 

great fun 

redcar tarn the fog has gone

 left home at 720 and headed for kieghley  pick some bits uo from sainsburys so i can have currywurst for tea scrumy and fast

my top tip for redcar tarn is take bread or leftovers..........gulls will eat anything! so sit down and throw bread not many gulls early on but by time the sun came out lots loafing around 

the hybrid was still as usual very aggresive and spent the morning chasing other gulls, the 3rd cycle caspian gull came in and showed well 

caspian gull 

still have a loaf of bread.........if the caspian gull is in the middle of the tarn it wont come for it but if its closer then it will 

caspian gull 

very few lesser black backed gulls , common gulls today 

canada goose

mallard

something ive been wanted to photograph coots fighting 

brutal

elland gravel pits retrospective

 this morning had my first ever walk around scamonden res despite the rain it was nice felt wierd to be walking under the M62

soaked to the skin i checked west yorkshire birding and bri had done a post on elland gravel pits a place i really enjoyed from 1987 to 2001 14 years wow 

i first visited in may 1987 i was still at school so dad took me , remember machines still working in the lagoons which are now overgrown 

it really was a great place.......the following year i started working and had a bike so i would make the 15 minute ride down the valley, inspired by bill oddies "gone birding" which i used to get from the libary, until i could afford my own copy 

the lagoons were still a work in progress and just pools of water  with no vegitation but the autumn of 88 was great wader year so apart from little ringed plover which tried breeding i recorded ringed plover, redshank,green sandpiper,greenshank,dunlin it was stunning 

the place was usually quiet of people just the odd fisherman on the canal or the fishing lake 

many sedge warblers used to be here and the odd lesser whitethroat 

in 1989 

the lagoons in summer used to get lots of lesser black backed gulls bathing in the late afternoon and within a week pull in little gull and little tern and proberley a yellow legged gull but back then it was just herring gulls 

i did find a pair of lesser spotted woodpeckers displaying and nest building stunning sight 

sadly overtime my memory has become hazy old age i guess 

but elland gravel pits for a brief time was great 

best birds 

bittern 

smew

slavonian grebe

scaup 

red breasted merganser

redstart

siberian chiffchaff

little gull

little tern

sandwich tern

arctic tern

iceland gull

short eared owl

tree sparrow 

honey buzzard

spotted sandpiper 

grey headed wagtail

waxwing

egyptian goose

lesser spotted woodpecker

green sandpiper 

greenshank

black tailed godwit 

jack snipe 

sadly today the area is overgrown in many places, i still go a few time every year but its not what it used to be.

i always hoped a group would form for the site as the RSPB once had its offices in the mill by avocet 

there is a group now running the site but sadly its self serving 

a sad end to once great site 

fog fog fog and more fog

 stranded yesterday as 4'' of snow came down overnight managed to get the van about 10 meters  up the hill but nope stuck

st aidens 

my heart wasnt in it but had to get out 

parked at the end of fleet lane 

the river aire was full 

lemonroyd bridge 

old lock 

the thing is its old but still working in my lifetime i did wonder about the electic points you can see in places which operated the lock 

https://www.methleyarchive.org/minnet-collection/lemonroyd-locks-mppt036/

just had a short walk but a nice one 

a few goldeneye and teal alongside the causeway 2 cettis warblers near the crossroads, a male goosander over the canal 

2 snipe came off wrb and a little egret over erb 

pretty much fed up with the weather i made the short journey to fairburn. 

a quick loop of the visitor center 

the feeders at pickup hide were busy i enjoyed the nuthatch and coal tit plus a nice great spotted woodpecker 

broke free from christmas

christmas is just another day 

i have no children just one ex-step son  and we never got on so christmas is meaningless  

but birds dont stop for christmas 

so redcar tarn around midday 

at -3 not the best place but it got brighter 

the dodgy gull is still here and becoming very tame 

if this bird had been seen in israel what would it be? but its not 

the adult yellow legged gull still here 

bottom pic the bird just left of center darker but not as dark as a lbbgull has a common gull look 

nice jackdaw 

heavy cloud redcar tarn

 murky and no light till spring 

yellow legged gull adult 

not seen this bird before 

redcar tarn

 around 9 the caspian gull was sat on the water preening then headed off west to feed 

murky morning heavy cloud 

the gull is still here and im still not seeing yellow legged gull in its appearance nothing the dark mantke and eye to me indicate something else but what?

maybe casp herring lbbg so many questions on this bird 

weekend of fog

 well a weekend of fog and more fog 

hoping it mught be clear higher up i headed to redcar tarn on saturday morning........visibility about 20m 

pants

so headed to the disused brickworks in hipperholme, not been for over a year but its spooky on your own you hear every sound 

but i like it some really good graffiti 

sunday 

more fog even though it a clear cold night 

breakfast at parents then yep redcar tarn...........and yes more fog same as yesterday 

caspian gull 3rd cycle still present 

plus the hybrid gull 3rd cycle which is thought to be a yellow legged gull and on birdguides as such 

i must do a post later on why its a hybrid 

so goodbye from a foggy king cross