struck down with gastric flu for a week left me feeling weak and tired
30th october
st aidens
hard work walking this large reserve but managed to the osprey showing really well over astley lake
after an hour i was fucked and headed home after seeing great egret osprey and water pipit
early november was a washout so nothing
yesterday was family stuff but started the day at cromwell bottom lnr which i still call elland gravel pits
what was once a beautiful area for birding with 2 lagoons a marsh and scrubland has now after 30 years just become a wood between the river and canal
i first visited in 1987 and it soon became my local patch from 1988 to 2000 i was obsessed by the place just 10 minutes away on the push bike sometimes i would visit 3 times a day
it would never rival the places further east like fairburn or wintersett but for me it was heaven
seen and found birds
bittern
little egret
egyptian goose
barnacle goose
scaup
honey buzzard
caspian gull
glaucous gull
iceland gull
little gull
little tern
arctic tern
sandwich tern
short eared owl
redstart
tree sparrow
spotted sandpiper
grey headed wagtail
siberian chiffchaff
water pipit
rock pipit
firecrest
smew
slavonian grebe
lesser spotted woodpecker
jack snipe
happy memories
12th november
cromwell bottom
sparrowhawk 1
g s woodpecker 1
redwing 13
cormorant 6
bullfinch 5
siskin 12
kingfisher 1
and just 23 miles down the motorway...........st aidens
different world stunning place
arrived at 11 spent nearly 2 hours before dads 80th birthday meal
cetti's warbler 12
bearded tit 5
great egret 1
little egret 2
stonechat 4
black necked grebe 1
pintail 2
and t-shirt weather in november unreal
great egret
a meal at the cross keys in hillam was really good a little gem
and the bird of the day a long eared owl which flew across the road above ripponden a nearly hit the van
