Cromwell Bottom Day

    Thought I'd pop down to Cromwell Bottom for a hour yesterday
    as I haven't been for a while, nothing on the river as it was very
    high and fast moving so I then stayed at the bird viewing area for
    a while but it was very poor lighting for photography which was
    a shame because the birds were doing there best for me,
    Blue, Coal, Great Tit and LTT, Robin, Reed Bunting, Nuthatch,
    Blackbird, Dunnock, Bull and Chaffinch kept popping into the
    area with Corvids on the outskirts and a Cormorant flyover.
    3 Great Black Backed Gulls flew over Claremount Hill on
    Saturday morning early doors and the Sparrowhawk but she
    didn't catch anything this time, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Wren,
    Robin, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Collared Dove, Great
    and Blue Tit have been visiting the garden along with a couple
    of feral Pigeons.

Gutted

    Gutted when I got home from work yesterday and found
    a Mistle Thrush wrapped up in an old teacloth that the wife
    had wrapped it up in after trying to revive it, she said it had
    flown into the window after being chased by our daily
    Sparrowhawk who has already claimed a Goldfinch and a
    Collared Dove out of the garden, I used to like seeing it but
    Im fed up with it now as the Dove and thrush were getting
    quite tame towards me, Ive a Robin that eats out of my hand
    so Im hoping that stays safe,  I know its nature but its still
    upsetting she was a beauty.

   Good turn out at the Calderdale Bird group last night and
   bought myself a 2016 Northern Raptor report.

 

                                          Missy the the Mistle Thrush

Garden Visitors

   Day off today but wasn't venturing out in this weather 

   so just had a garden watch and there was plenty of visitors

   to the garden, 12 Goldfinch, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Bullfinch, Wren,

   Robin, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Blackbird, Jay, 2 Collared Dove,

   2 Pigeons, 6 Jackdaw, 5 Crow, 6 Magpie, Dunnock, 2 Blue Tit,

   1 Sparrowhawk flythrough, and a surprise and a first for the 

   garden was a Rook on the bird table, 8 Starling.

  

   The birds are deffo storing for the cold as they went through 

   the food like wildfire and I was up and down like a yoyo with

   having to keep filling the feeders and table.

   

   

More pics from Leighton Moss

     Just thought I'd put on a few more pics from Sunday as
     I can't get out and about during the week anymore with
     work and the dark closing in, though I did see a Peregrine
     attacking Starlings over the Bradford Park Avenue football
     ground today at about 2 O'clock.

   

Leighton Moss Trip

   Decided to make the trip to Leighton Moss on Sunday
   despite being full of man flu and getting up late so had
   to rush about to get to the coach on time, the day was
   going from bad to worse as I witnessed a dead Badger
   at the side of the road on the Elland bypass which was
   sad and put on a downer for a while, anyway I managed
   to catch the coach and off we went.

   It was quiet on the water at the Eric Morecambe hide but
   I got my first sight of a Great White Egret even though it
   was far off in the distance and a Brambling made an
   appearance in a field along side the mud track along with,
   Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Reed Buntings and some
   Twite but no Yellowhammer which I was hoping to spot as
   it had been reported up there, 3 Little Egret and 3 Snipe and
   11 Curlew were also seen in the vicinity.

   I then took the long walk up to Leighton Moss itself and saw
   2 Jay flyover and Greylag Geese but no sign of the Buzzards
   or Marsh Harriers that I usually get to see, once inside the reserve
   Coal, Blue and Marsh Tits were at the feeder along with Greenfinch
   Chaffinch and a couple of Pheasant, I then proceeded to go to the
   Bearded Tit feeding trays and on the way spotted a Treecreeper in
   the first tree I passed, at the feeding trays was a bloke who'd also
   come on the same coach called David a nice fella and said he hadn't
   seen a Bearded Tit for 35 years and that was also only a fleeting
  glimpse so I stood and waited with him for a while and low and
  behold we heard some calling and 2 mins later a male showed itself
  about 20 yards away from the trays and then the female popped up
  as well, I got a fews shots of the female but the male was more
  elusive even though they were only an arms length away its nigh
  on impossible getting a clean shot through the reeds, but they were
  great to see and made the journey worth while and David was over
  the moon, lighting was poor for great pics but it was still a joy getting
  at least a few pics of them.

  Time was running out fast so we went across to the furthest hide and
  was told an Otter had just been seen but I didn't get the joy, but I did
  get to see my first Starling murmuration which was amazing to watch.
  On the way home we got stuck in traffic what seemed like forever,
  instead of 1h 30m it took us 3 hours but got to talking to a nice bloke called
  Peter who as it happened lived just down the road from me so I gave him
  a lift home and nattered about the days events.

                                          GWE is on the left, looked great through a scope