I've been quiet because for one thing I couldn't remember my password and it's taken me ages to log back in!

I've been checking out my new "reserve" north of Wetherby - in the absence of any other name and as I'm the only person who works it, it is Loshpott Gravel Pits, (down Loshpott Lane). Had a run in with a local for parking on the solid white line - I was totally in the wrong. I keep getting a few birds but nothing to set pulses. A couple of Common Sands. is the best I've had, although things keep coming and going - Mute Swan, Cormorant etc. I'm hoping winter yields more.

Grounded this weekend so please don't all tell me about your plans!

Anyway Jim, I thought you said you couldn't take sharp prints. if that Pochard gets any sharper you'll cut yourself - nice one!

Have a great birding weekend - there is an easterly airstream coming for those hitting the coast. My brother is on the RSPB trip - first time without me so expect Yorkshire's first Red-billed Tropic Bird!

Steve...remember the best thing about a local patch is even common birds elsewhere can be rarities on your patch.
The winds this weekend seem to be from the SE so not the best for migrants really...but you never know.

Good day out today;

Hornsea Mere - black tern, over 200 little gulls

Offshore at Hornsea - Loads of skuas, 30 Artic, 10 Great, 1 Pomarine. Was 95% sure i had a long tailed, but i couldn't be sure, which is gutting as it would have been a lifer. Saw it in flight for 5 seconds then it sat on the sea some way out. Also 4 Red Throated Diver, and 30+ Common Scoter Highlight was an adult sabines gull close inshore - a yorkshire first for me, and only my second.

Blacktoft - off chance call in produced a real plethora of birds, 4 little egret, a cracking pectoral sand, the juvenile spotted crake, 12 curlew sands, wood sand and green sand.

Also had exceptional views of a bittern to cap off a superb day in the sunshine

Selected pics attached.

Record shot of the crake - have a good one darn sarf.

Think I'd have stuck a different adjective in the first sentence. Like 'brilliant' or 'fantastic' or 'superb' etc........

Gripping stuff!!

Keith, you are right. I do start looking forward to my next new bird for Loshpott - Pochard, or Goldeneye or whatever - and I know that regular working will one day produce a wrecked Leach's or Sabine's or Grey Phal, or even a white-winged gull sp. in the roost. Fingers crossed.

I agree. Nice shot of the Crake! At least I know what I missed now!

Went to blacktoft today, no sign of the crake but saw 1 of the pec sands. Perfect plumage, gorgeous bird. Also got Curlew Sand for the year.

Good weather...but no migrants
 

We set off from Leeds at 7.30am, Jimmy2Faces, FrankieB and myself. Off to the East Coast to see what we could find. The itinerary was Filey, Bempton, and South Landing, but we finished the day with a visit to Fairburn Ings on the way home.
In Filey, the Dams was the first place we visited, a nice little reserve overlooking a couple of shallow pools. Other than a handful of snipe there wasn’t too much there of note, so we quickly moved on to the Country Park.
Having parked up and walked down Arncliffe ravine to the beach, we made our way along the Brigg finding a common scoter out in the bay. There were the usual turnstones galore among the rocks with a few purple sandpipers further out towards the seaward end of the Brigg. There was quite a movement of gannets southwards; we counted at least 200 birds in groups of up to 20 or so. Only a few common terns to be found here so we were a bit disappointed as there had been roseate terns in the bay a few days ago.
Following a tiring climb back to the clifftop we made our way along the top and back to the car park in a loop taking in the ‘Rocket field’. We had 3 yellow wagtails fly over and keep right on…no landing so no chance to check out their head colouration.
Having got back to the car we decided to move onto Bempton…where there wasn’t much other than some late gannet chicks and feral pigeons on cliffs. The little feeding station had a good number of tree sparrows and greenfinches, and the dell area had a solitary whitethroat. So it was back into the car and onto South Landing…which was a washout…the woods were almost devoid of birds and the tide was out so not much about. At this point we had a discussion as to where to go next…there aren’t that many reserves in East Yorkshire and those that are there are well scattered. The result of the discussion was that a trip to Fairburn on the way home to Leeds was the thing…check out the new hide at Lin Dyke.
We visited the Visitor Centre at Fairburn and picked up the latest reserve report…2004. How long before the 2005 report is ready I wonder? What a shock we got when we got to the Lin Dyke area of the reserve….the path had been made up with a good layer of hard core and there’s every chance that during the winter months you could get to the hide dryshod for a change. The hide…what surprise…built on some of the rockfilled wire crate thingies we saw a tin shed! About the size of a moderate wagon container, it could house maybe a dozen people without being too cramped, but in strong sunshine it’s going to get very warm in there. Sadly this is just about the only way that a hide will stay in one piece at this end of the reserve, the locals thinking it great fun to torch hides.
Altogether a bit of a disappointing day with only 1 warbler and a total of 60 species seen.

Total List
Little grebe
Great crested grebe
Fulmar
Gannet
Cormorant
Shag
Grey heron
Mute swan
Greylag goose
Canada goose
Shelduck
Teal
Mallard
Shoveler
Tufted duck
Ruddy duck
Common scoter
Kestrel
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher
Ringed plover
Lapwing
Knot
Purple sandpiper
Dunlin
Snipe
Redshank
Turnstone
Black-headed gull
Herring gull
Great black-backed gull
Common tern
Guillemot
Wood pigeon
Collared dove
Swift
Swallow
House martin
Meadow pipit
Yellow wagtail
Pied wagtail
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Whitethroat
Blue tit
Great tit
Magpie
Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion crow
Starling
House sparrow
Tree sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Linnet

Sounds like a slow day but still a reasonable list of common birds. Hope it was fun.

Great report Keith, and it was good to spend time with you and Frank! Not he birds we'd hoped for but the company was excellent! We also picked up another yellow wagtail at Fairburn if memory serves me correctly.

Couple of pics attached - would be interested in your results too Keith. Thanks for the trip! My turn next time.

Here you go Marcus....couple of pics of the same birds for you to compare. I'm getting better I think

Loshpott Gravel Pit
 

Loshpott was "alive" last night (by Loshpott standards):

A record count of 92 Tufted Ducks
1 Pochard, 11 Wigeon, (both new for reserve)
1 Cormorant
4 Little Grebe
1 Common Sandpiper
Large mixed flock of Greylags and Canada Geese
Mixed gull flock including Black-headed, Common, and Lesser Black-backed
2 Lapwing

Hopefully it is shaping up to have one of the key ingredients of a good local patch - birds that pass through.

My previous local patch, close to my old house was an inland man-made water, not close to any river systems and it had the same regular birds, usually sat in the same places - I was just about on first name terms with them all.

At Loshpott, (being relatively close to the Nidd and Wharfe), it looks like it will be refreshed with different birds coming and going.

All I need now is a decent scarce bird and I'll be made up! :bounce:

Sounds good!

But Steve...the pochard and the wigeon are scarce birds in your patch.
I know what you mean though....be nice to get a smew or something like that eh?

Had a day on the east coast today, seawatch and bush bash at flamboro. Wander down south landing. Bobbed into bempton and a stroll along filey brigg. 1 skua all day, must have been a mile out and moving away, dark phase Arctic Skua. Other than that not a lot on the seawatch except a couple of summer plumage Red-throated Diver. Thats good birds over with ;) No passerine migrants although saw 30 Lapwing come in off. Other than this a few Common and Sandwich Terns, some Dunlin that were happy to run between my legs at Filey. Great Spotted Woodpecker and Blackcap at South Landing. Not a lot at Bempton, oh and some Mallard pretending to be Eiders, which were also present. All in all 56 species, although most quite common.

Certainly would Keith.

I'd love to find a good bird myself...anywhere! It must be a great feeling to find a really rare bird. My best personal finds are Waxwing, Little Auk and some of the rarer grebes at sea, (but not quite the same as inland)! Limited time finds me always chasing someone else's birds.

What are your best finds Yorkshire Birders???

Sabines Gull - Hornsea
Ortolan Bunting - F'borough
Lapland Bunting - Bempton
Hoopoe - Spurn

Best of all

Whimbrel - Rodley

Outside of the region;

Shore lark - Bacton
Tawny Pipit - Marshside (not accepted :-C )
Little Egret (back in the day was quite something!)
Blue winged teal - martin Mere

Best finds

GND- Filey
Pied Flycatcher- Bank Island
Med Gull- Spurn
Black Tern- Filey
Buzzard- Wheldrake Ings
SEO- Bempton
Waxwing- York Uni & York Cemetary
Nowt flash but not three bad for just 2 years birding.

Hello Yorkshire birders! Newish to the forum, and first posting on my 'local' thread.

Steve, Have you got a grid reference or full directions for Loshpotts? I'm in Chapel Allerton so your patch is no distance for me. If I've only an hour or so to fit birding in only Eccup and Harewood are within easy reach. Although I should really have a proper look in Gledhow Valley as my "own" patch.

Anything else is too far away for a real "quicky". Swillington Ings etc. 20 mins, Fairburn 30, and once I'm going that far I'm too tempted by Blacktoft and so I keep going. As mentioned so much here, Blacktoft is a proper good site, but nigh on impossible to make your own finds.

Graham

Welcome Graham. Don't forget to come over to Rodley sometime!

Marcus

Thanks. Absolutely will head over to Rodley soon, Marcus, though I understand opening hours are limited, and a little erratic?

Graham

Hi Graham
Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday only....posted opening times 10.00am to 4.00pm.
It's only a small reserve and depends on volunteers to open it so sometimes there can be problems getting enough people to man the resrve properly.

just adds to all te excitement in my opinion

failing that you could try Sykes wood - Keith this is the site I was telling you about - link below

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/.../sykeswood.htm

Cheers Marcus....looks like I'll have to get myself down there.

[quote]Originally Posted by Lawts


What are your best finds Yorkshire Birders???


broad billed sandpiper fairburn 96
night heron thorne moors 96
raddes warbler spurn 03

Welcome Graham. Don't be disappointed with a trip to Loshpott though -(Gripping stuff it aint - I feel under pressure now)! By the way it's only me that calls it Loshpott!

On the Explorer 289 map it is at 415512 (down Loshpott Lane - about a mile north of Wetherby) - Leave Wetherby north on B6164 and head towards Walshford on A168. Take right turn and immediate left to Ingmanthorpe after 200 yards, and follow narrow lane for 1/4 mile. Park near small pond, (looks good for crakes!) and walk over A1 to view pits from road. Please don't enter site and don't park on road. Scope necessary really.

Two more new birds for me there tonight - Snipe and Teal. Common Sand. still present. Wigeon moved through. It just provides that hour's birding after work which is great.

These finds you are all sharing is putting me to shame. I've been birding for over 25 years - too much chasing to the other end of the country I think!

Anyway, I'm turning into a patchman now!

Best Yorkshire finds

GND .... Eccup in 83/4 can't remember which...too idle to look it up in my notes. We were on a birding visit to the reservoir and had permission to be in the grounds rather than on the path. I called my friends attention to this funny looking grebe....we watched it for about 10 minutes during which time I managed to workout from the field guide that it was a juvenile GND...lifer.

Honey Buzzard....at the junction of the A1 and the A64 in August 99. Driving home from York to Leeds and noticed a bird slowly drifting over the trees around Bramham Park...as i got to the Leeds side of the A1 I realised that it wasn't a Red Kite and so I very quickly parked the car....narrowly avoiding a pile-up in the process. In those days i used to carry my scope in the boot of my car...so was soon glowing inside at my first Yorkshire honey buzzard.

I Remember the GND (if it's the same one) - it was a lifer for me as well but it was 1982 - I saw it on the 13th (decided it was Black-throated) and went back on the 14th and deided it was a GND. 1982 saw my passion for birding rekindled after a few years of non-birding.

A rough-legged buzzard on the Harewood estate in winter 2004. At least, I'm pretty sure it was . . .

Someone mentioned to me that Roundhay Park can be good (and even that there were deer there), but I've never seen much of note. With a new baby in tow I'm going to give it another try as we won't be welcome in any hides any time soon. Does anyone have any hints about which part of the park to look in?

Jon

Rodley nature reserve
 

Went to rodley last week[sun].Looks a great place with real potential.The thing i cant work out is the opening times?Crack of dawn for the dawn chorus,and evening for raptors hawking dragonfly[subbuteo].I think lots of stuff will be overlooked,due to the 10-4pm opening.Cant they have a members list who can be key holders?I think the list would then grow considerably.

Hi Jon,
you need to be at Roundhay early to avoid the plebs....I generally work around the gorge area...that's at the top of the large lake following the stream up to the Ring Road. Also the woodland between the small lake and Roundhay Park Lane can be good. I'm thinking of starting to work the park regularly as my local patch.
Certainly there were deer in the park at one time, last one I saw, a couple of years ago, was dead at side of the Ring Road....I think they were not resident in the park but just visited occassionally from the Shadwell area.

Lotherton Hall area used to be quite good ,plenty of deer as well.

...or a trip down the M1 to Bretton Park or Cannon Hall - Deffer Woods opposite there is a nice walk.

Bretton Park is good but the parking fee is extortionate. Not been to Cannon/Canon Hall for ages...me thinks a trip there is called for.

Agreed on the parking fees and on the spelling of Cannon/Canon Hall - spelt both ways but I think two n's. If you go there do check out Deffer Woods, there's usually no-one in there but it's a big wood with plenty of mature deciduous trees and conifers - and it costs nothing to get in (farm v. expensive at CH).

If you go to BP in winter it's normally worth checking the fields at the roundabout above the park where the A636 and A637 cross. There are often large flocks of Golden Plover and the occasional curlew.

Thanks jw.....
will give the woods a visit next time i'm down that way.

Popped out briefly to Weardley / Harewood this evening. Had a Buzzard over from the gates on the A61 opposite the Wike turn. Having read your mail just before leaving, Jon, I tried very hard to make it into Rough-Legged, but it was insistently common as muck.

BTW, what phase and date was your rough-legged. I pulled over on the Harrogate road just north of Eccup to watch a Buzzard perched on a hedge. Thought it was somehow 'odd' at the time, but this is just wishful stringy reminiscing, I fear.

Graham

I was considering going up the A1 to Nosterfield tomorrow. Any recommendations?

Is Bretton still good for Hawfinch? I read in Mather's "Where to Watch Birds" it was a good spot. Would love to see one of them. In Focus in Denby Dale have a picture on the wall of one coming to someone's garden feeder!

Don't know about hawfinch at Bretton....sadly Mather's book is well out of date and don't think that by buying a second edition you're getting an update 'cos you're not.
Got a Yorkshire birding article about Hawfinch in Yorks...i'll dig it out and post deytails if you want