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
