Lovely but quiet day

  On a beautiful morning I took a walk up Ringby Lane, Swalesmoor
  hoping for something special which I always do but it was to no avail,
  1 Jay flew past and that was it apart from the regular Crows & Gulls,
  no Redwing, Fieldfare or even a Ring Ouzel that BS had spotted up
  at Fly Flatts and no Raptors at all, the bottom end improved a little
  bit with 4 Meadow Pipit, Robin, Blue Tits, Goldfinch and 2 Dunnock.

  Back at home in the garden were Goldfinch, 2 Coal Tit, Great and Blue
  Tit, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Jackdaw, Collared Dove, Pigeon, and high
  in the sky making quite a noise were 100's of Pink Footed Geese which
  was great to see, heading towards Mytholmroyd where they were seen
  and reported later.

  I then took a trip with the wife and the dog to Foster Park looking mainly
  Brambling but no joy again but did see Nuthatch, Jay and Goldfinch,
  we then drove down to Cromwell Bottom NR where we saw a couple
  of Goosander and a Moorhen on the river near where the new Sand Martin
  nest has been built, birding area had 2 Bullfinch, 1 Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit,
  and a Dunnock and that was it, oh and a Mallard on the canal, Ive never
  known it so quiet for birdlife or people for that matter.

  BS struck gold again with 2 Ring Ouzel and 2 Hawfinch have been
  seen in the Colden Valley by LJC a bird Ive never seen but wish I had,
  so well done to them fella's for spotting these rare birds.

Gardenwatch

    Had a hours garden watch today before I was dragged off
    to the shops, a Wren was singing well and darting around
    the garden with a Robin trying to outdo the Wren in the
    singing department, Goldfinch were here as regular along
    with a couple of Greenfinch and Chaffinch.
    Plenty of Redwing & Wood Pigeon were flying over and
    4 white doves were flying in the same direction and lots
    of Crows, Gulls, Jackdaws and Magpies were milling about
    in the sky, was chuffed to see a Jay and a Coal Tit in the
    garden as they've not been seen for quite a while.
    A Dunnock also kept popping in and out for scraps of food,
    it was just a shame the lighting was so poor and gloomy as
    its not the greatest for photography.

Smelly Swalesmoor

   I got off my backside this afternoon and took a walk up
    Ringby lane and then down Hag Lane, Ringby was a struggle
    with the horrible smell of dead animals drifting up my nostrils
    and gale force winds along the top, 100's of Crows & Magpies
    and a nice surprise of a Peregrine which flew into a crowd of
    Crows and then back out again and headed off over Halifax
    Town Centre it was too fast to photograph though and the wind
    made it fly even faster, I was on the lookout for Snow Bunting
    on the top field and I did disturb a bunting sized bird which flew
    up out of the tussocks of grass and away it went but too fast to
    identify  as it was blown away by the wind, a Robin sized bird
    was on the wall for about 2 seconds before that decided to
    disappear as well, at the bottom of the lane were 2 Goldfinch
    and a Chaffinch.

    Hag Lane--:
 
    Not much to be seen as I walked along the wet and muddy lane,
    4 Blackbirds, 10 Wood Pigeon, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Goldcrest and a
    Robin, feeling disappointed for a while but then I was cheered
   up by the sight of a Little Owl in a tree which is a new one for
    me as Ive always seen them on Dry Stone walls.
    A feral pigeon made me laugh as it decided to walk along the
    lane and back again with me and it walked all the way, the only
    time it took flight was when we got to the end of the lane and
    even then it wasn't a proper flight it was more like a hop.
    A lady I was talking to said she'd seen 2 Buzzard flying over
    the valley earlier in the day and said she see's them regular
    flying up from the woods, 2 rabbits were playing on the hill
    beneath the trees.
    Goldfinch, Collared Dove and a Wood Pigeon were in the
    garden along with a Robin and a Wren and a Kestrel was
    hunting over the back field.

 

Spurn Point Disaster

   Not wrote on here for a while but thought I'd make an effort after
   travelling to Spurn Point for the day and what a miserable day it was
   weatherwise, the forecast was sunshine after 10.00am so was looking
   forward to a cracking days photography, well I must tell you that
   somebody lied as it was dark and dingy all day together with 70mph
   winds which blew my hair off.

   Reports of rarities been seen there but were non existent for me, but
   I did get to see Yellow Browed Warbler which is a first for me also
   2 Black Redstart and Little Stint which are also lifers so in that
   respect it was a good day but the photographs were absolute pants.
   Lots of scopes and arguments about what birds had been seen around
   the place, and I also managed to get lost for a while until I eventually
   found my bearings and got in discussion myself about the 2 bottom
   pics on here which is it, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, female Reed Bunting?
   I went for Mipit at first but then opted for Skylark while the other blokes
   chose the other 2, so if anyone can help it would be appreciated.

   Local reports have been great with BS seeing a Great White Egret
   over Fly Flatts and lots of Pink Footed Geese, Whooper Swans,
   Fieldfare and Redwing flying over, BS has got a cracking photo
   of the Egret on his blog and he also got to see a Caspian Gull as
   well.

   Garden has had 8 Collared Doves everyday I think thats why the
   Sparrowhawk also flies through everyday looking for a meal, lots
   of Goldfinch which is the usual and also a few Greenfinch, and a
   few Fieldfare and Redwing flyovers.

 

Raptor Heaven

     Its been Raptor heaven around the garden the last couple of weeks,
     Peregreine flythrew 3 times once just missing the wifes head,
     Sparrowhawk flying through daily on the lookout for a meal which
     it got last week with the capture of a Collared Dove which I was
     actually gutted about as it had become quite tame but thats nature I
     suppose, Its nice to see the Kestrel back again on a daily basis hunting
     in the back fields, today I think it lost its temper as it gave the pestering
     Magpies as good as it got which I was glad to see, Buzzards popping
     over now and again around tea time, and Tawny Owl out hunting at night.

     Garden has had the regular birds but also flying about have been House
     Martins and also Swallows which I thought would of flown to warmer
     climates by now but eck what do I know.