local birding in halifax and just a bit of randomness thrown in for good measure
15th october
small flock of whooper swans calling around 10pm seemed to be heading east
19th october
just about to head out to cock hill to look for the comet when i noticed a large pale bird heading up the valley , it dissapeared behind the chimmneys giving me time to get the bins, bit shocked to see a great egret heading past the water works
20th october
3 bramblings at daisy bank made my 100th bird this year for mytholmroyd
cormorant
lots of walking around erringden moor which i like due to its somewhat varied habitat
resulted in
3 whinchats
3 little owls
1 blackcap
1 lesser whitethroat
a nice flock of lapwings and golden plover
a trip to scarbourgh 21st-22nd was pants with only a arctic skua and sooty shearwater seen at cloughton
28th september
morning in hebden coffee and charity shops, then around midday i headed off up erringden birding was bitty with 30+ pink footed geese heading nw 3 little owls 5 stonechats 4 raven after 6 miles my feet were killing and headed over stubbs field as i walked over paddy bridge a calling bird stopped me dead a yellow browed warbler!!!
it was with a tit flock feeding in the sycamores along paddy bridge road, still present on sunday but moved to the corner of stubbs field great bird
most of my birding has been around mytholmroyd, colettes garden or air space above is great for just sitting and watching
1st july greenshank west calling over garden
13th july wood warbler broadhead clough
18th july barn owl over the garden at dusk
28th july hobby seen from the garden for an hour feeding amongst black headed gulls watched it catching flying ants a great display hirundines seemed non-plussed
4th august a long 7 mile walk resulted in a yellow wagtail in fields near my favourite area pinnicle farm
5th august small flock of common scoter flew west 22:15
so thursday 13th june im outside the house enjoying my black coffee and ciggie when i look up and see a little egret flying quite low overhead heading west towards hebden bridge, it was quite a surreal moment but a great sighting for me and the garden list only my third ever in calderdale semi-retirment from joinery is good
bit of a slog this weekend for birds
i was struggling to see anything other than breeding birds namely house martins sand martins over the house plus lots of swifts and swallows,grey wagtails are doing well with at least 6 pairs seen on various walks
a raven over on saturday evening was the first for a few weeks and 2 buzzards soaring high over the valley when around 11am a slimmer thinner winged raptor appeared quite high being mobbed by crows bins grabbed and i was looking at a female type marsh harrier coming down cragg valley it then started circling reaching the river getting higher and higher before heading east down the river excellent bird
a nice walk on saturday morning very warm with a nice breeze
a cuckoo sang for ages from daisy bank a lone lost looking lapwing flew south a snipe drummed and and a curlew curlewed which was nice
2 gulls flew east lesser black adult and herring gull 3rd year lots of meadow pipits and skylarks singing then as i reached the head of the woodland a large raptor flew purposley towards the wood a large accipter
overall a bulky solid looking bird and quite a curvy appearance not the small angular look of sparrowhawk, never got much on plumage as i was looking south-south-east into the sun so it was more of a shillouette but as it dropped below the trees the browner upperparts were seen,it just glided into the woods and must have been the same bird i saw last week soaring above the valley
last week it wasnt as straight forward as it gave the usual chameleon views at first it looked like a falcon then a buzzard
a crap description of goshawk
after getting back enjoying the weather a bird was high up heading north grabbed the meopta bins a red kite!!!! it had some lost feathers to the primaries which match a photo on facebook of one seen near hebden bridge a few days earlier
so at my second home in the Royd im sat in the garden with colette and jessie enjoying a beer with loads of house martins and a few swifts over the garden great sound then around 2038 a large bird appears high over the garden a gull a buzzard no a osprey heading sw fantastic bird and a garden tick stunned we enjoyed our evening but colette had northern lights on her mind now colette has always wanted to see them and despite trying a number of times failed. so she goes to bed around 2245 i stayed up but headed to bed around 10 minutes later. at 2320 my phone buzzed with a message from the swillington bird group saying "northern lights over the reserve now" off outside in dressing gown took some crap photos but was sure i saw some green/purple so i woke her at 2330 with the words "there here"within seconds she was up.......and what a display the colours changed from blue to purple to green it danced in the sky stunning just stunning
saturday jessies days of long walks on the moors are in the past but me being giddy just had to have a walk so five miles later im back with a cuckoo heard and goshawk in flight giving a great view plus redpoll
great weekend
well our annual trip to sussex for the boys birthday
left mytholmroyd at 3am and had a good drive down the A1 A14 M11 before hitting the M25 around 7 am then it went tits up after crossing the QE2 bridge
whoever designed the junction of the M25/M26/A21 was on drugs or something , why does the M25 which is a circular motorway just continue onto the A21!!! leaving us having to come off the M25 on a slip road to get back on the M25 typical british planning, then 6 miles of roadworks with only 1 group of workers with only one of them digging.
we were now fed up having being on the road for 6 hours so came of at the A22 stopping at Knights garden center for a rest.
arriving in brighton we parked up and found all the ticket machines are now "pay by phone" not a problem i have the app! just to throw some more fucks into our day the app needs updating so 10 minutes later i try to pay nope card declined try again the same. colette trys same thing! nice of brighton to discriminate people who dont have a smart phone. gave up and headed to brighton marina to stock up for the week at asda then headed to buckle holiday park near seaford
well what a dump nearly every caravan looked dumped
note gaffer tape over window
03/05
Tidemills
spent most of the day here usual warblers plus a very showy lesser whitethroat and some very nice stonechats
back at the van i was checking the birdguides app when a reported kentish plover came up at Tidemills within 10 minutes i was on site to see nothing oh well.
sat on the beach at 21.30 enjoying a beer when a whimbrel flew over calling
04/05
Tidemills
weather better but same birds though another lesser whitethroat singing near the campsite and a very small movement of black headed gulls east
mid morning finally headed to brighton to see the boy and his girl lots of hugs and chats as we walked along the seafront in sunny warm weather, we explored the lanes then the north laines.
i was shocked that the tapas bar i visited some 25 years ago was still going when i went out with a local lass who went to sussex uni good days
05/05
wind gone se
so i missed the pom skuas and black tern but i did get gannet 19 whimbrel and 9 common scoter before heading on foot to cuckmere haven some 4 miles away. a long boring slog along seaford front before reaching splash point. a few birders but no point chatting as the southerners are just ignorant so up and over the hill
seaford
after getting to seaford head the view of the seven sisters is stunning birding took a backseat as i just gazed over such a wonderful view
seven sisters
cuckmere haven
more lesser whitethroats great song lots of little egrets but not much else but a great walk one to be proud of.
got the bus back
an evening seawatch produced 3 gannets 3 sandwhich terns 21 common scoter 3 whimbrel
then a bbq with the boy
06/05
a day to forget
woke to rain at 0630 rescued as much as we could given our pitch was 4 inch deep in water
last month i was given an invitation to join a walk at cromwell bottom nr to answer questions on my time there in the 80's/90's
well yesterday the walk was great with allan and stuart, at times i was more intrested in birding watching my first sand martins of the year plus willow warbler the best for me were 3 blackcaps singing stunning birds
also had a guided tour of north cut which is the old tip and some great work done on the habitat i also enjoyed seeing lots of familys out with kids anything that involves getting people to even just have a walk in nature can only be a good thing
a bog standard campsite (springhall farm) just 30mins walk from seahouses
set off friday lunchtime due to the van needing a new back box, awful drive up the A1 taking 5 1/2 hours but worth it just for the views from the site of the farnes and bamburgh castle, evening spent in the awning due to rain but nice and warm
saturday
lazy morning and then headed to seahouses via shoreston hall onto the beach, this part of the world has the best beaches, vast clean sand its a beautiful coastline
a couple of stonechats in the dunes, sandwich terns over the sea were my first ever in march, the rocks approaching seahouses had curlew,turnstone,dunlin and redshank.
the usual eiders in the harbour were fun to watch as was the long tailed duck which ive not seen since our trip around scotland 2 years ago. colette found a grey plover on the sand at the outer harbour wall.
look around seahouses we found a place selling scotch pies warm not bad but the puff pastry top was odd
headed back to the campsite around 1ish via the same route but i wanted to have more of a walk so headed up the road to monks house a place ive read about for years mostly through bill oddies books, monks pond was very active with gulls but also gadwall and tufted duck great little place.headed back via some footpaths and lanes lots of yellowhammers singing and loads of chiffchaffs and chaffinches
more yellowhammers back at camp and a sparrowhawk over
sunday
holy isle
we have been before but chose to explore the village rather than follow the crowds to the castle, sat for a while looking over ST Cuthberts isle
colette found a red throated diver close inshore very nice. visted the lindisfarne mead shop drank mead bought mead its a nice drink! and after a nice few hours we had a brew in the van then headed to berwick. tried and failed to get something to eat, so back to seahouses for fish and chips from neptunes not brilliant but not bad just a normal fish and chips had better.
then we chose to head home due to rain on monday morning which would make putting everything away a nightmare, it was warm in the sun and all the dew had dried off, so on the road for 1730 and back home for 2100 for more mead!
monks pool
whilst waiting at the top of free school lane for my brother to pick me up for the trip to selby for mothers day heard whooper swans calling sounded to be heading west but given the fog not seen
we always go away for colettes birthday, so this year we headed to allonby in cumbria
lovely airbnb across from the beach
