just into north yorkshire

 been a while over 10 years since i came over to the lower derwent valley 

first north duffield 

whooper swans 100+

bewicks swans 2 

wheldrake 

willow tit 3

great spotted woodpecker 1

lesser spotted woodpecker 1 drumming from trees near the priory 

lapwing 

black tailed godwit 3

golden plover 6

pintail 

wigeon

teal 

goldeneye 

wistow 

great grey shrike 1 very distant 

great spotted woodpecker 

on the drive home a few little egrets, buzzards and sparrowhawk 

redcar tarn

 storm malik 

pfft back in my day it was just windy 😝

so a windy saturday put paid to visit to derwent ings 

so off to redcar tarn 

the gulls have dropped in numbers but still entertaining watching them play with twigs, leaves and pebbles all good stuff 

herring gull 

playing 

common gull 

yellow legged gull

3rd cycle 

to the west

 first trip out of yorkshire this year 

the day got off to a great start on the way to mytholmroyd with a female type hen harrier between baitings and blackstone edge obviously dodging the fog 

into the bright yellow vw camper and off west to sutton manor just outside st helens 

colette likes art installations so "The Dream" was a must for her, very nice for an old coal mine not much bird wise but still a stunning piece of art 

The Dream

then we headed to southport with a brief stop at ainsdale sands 

stonechat

common scoter 11

jessie had a good run and roll on the vast beach had a brew courtesy of the van and off to hesketh bank,

nice spot had a look from the viewing area south of the carpark 

merlin 1

white fronted goose 1

pink footed goose 200+

wigeon

teal

black tailed godwit 3

little egret 3

yellowhammer 1 

snipe 

water rail 1

curlew 

kestrel 

little egret

at the carpark we were having a brew when a birder approached me asked were is best so told him about the viewpoint which he was grateful then i got the 'do i know you?' yes i said your mike stead from my old coach trips days as a teenager we had a brief chat nice guy 

chilled out saturday

 got to swilly about half 9 

astley had 2 gbbgulls and a 'graiseli' lbbgull also oystercatcher, 5 little grebes on the res 

1 or 2 red kites drifing over 

a chiffchaff called from trees by the riverbank by the hide 

water rails were quite vocal with 2 heard on wrb 

steady morning 

a few stonechats a nice group of bullfinch and a pair of pintails 

fairburn ings 

had to stop as the great egret was on new flash 

great egret 

seconds later a little egret flew over 

the area around the center had just one willow tit which i really enjoyed 

willow tit 

and the kowa tsn2 25x is stunning 

rothwell

 working in rothwell at the moment, between leeds and castleford 

nice town/village its neither just inbetween!!

had a group of pink footed geese 100+ over this morning heading west 

and got another scope.............kowa tsn-2 with 25x eyepeice and original stay on case

looks good but will have a good test at the weekend 

always liked kowa scopes, had the tsn-3 for much of the 90's and one of my first was a ts-9 from scope city owned by steve young 

as a 14 year old the ts-9 was ace but proberly crap 

but this 14 year old had a kowa so i felt like a proper birder 

quiet weekend but monday

 just redcar tarn this weekend 

the gull numbers have dropped  so very little gull news 

but still a nice spot 

herring gull

common gull

nothing special but a good few hours 

a nice dog walk sunday which jessie was very well behaved then the last stretch she turned into the usual hooligan but thats the "bear" 

back upto redcar tarn 

more common gulls around than yesterday 

common gulls

but very little else of note 

monday 

workshop day means a day of cleaning and sorting the machines out quite boring but its work but albert road res is opposite so always a chance of something like last years snow bunting 

i was sorting the van out just before 3pm when 2 gulls flew over 1  common gull  the other a 2nd winter/cycle iceland gull it was just above rooftop height stunning bird pure white primaries and soft brown mottling first ive seen for many years and the 4th ive found in calderdale 

great but brief gull 

snow and cold -8

 very cold as i left this morning -5 and had to scrape much ice off the van 

checked ringstone 

teal 5 

lapwing 27

then upto 1180 feet above sea level bitter -8 with a nw wind and lots of snow and ice 

some very hardy birds up here 

kestrel 1 

carrion crow 7

meadow pipit 1 

dipper 1 

goldfinch 2 bonkers 

reed bunting 1 female 

twite 57 

i wished id stayed longer but my fingers had froze to the point i could'nt use the camera 😱

warmed up a bit on the drive home and 2 siskins in the alder by my flat 

st aidens

 not a bad morning 

little egret 1

cetties warbler 2

curlew 11

black necked grebe 1 

very windy 

black necked grebe

west yorkshire year list 64

redcar tarn

 amazing light this morning 

common gull

colette turned up with jessie aka "the bear "we had a nice two laps of the tarn 

i stayed as i had 2 loafs to chuck. not many large gulls today but still great 

J1K4

norway 2016

rook

yellow legged gull 

herring gull 

not a bad morning 

happy new year

decided fairburn ings for dawn 

hoping for willow tit but no 

had a walk from the center over the coal tips 

quiet 

pick up hide a nice goldcrest 

put on great show 

the great egret was seen whilst heading to swilly 

very busy 

a warm morning brought out 5 red kites and 6 kestrels 

a few cetties singing and a pair of stock dove at the center