Where to watch birds is v.v. out of date, apparently i have several pairs of groppers on my patch and many many Goosander. Never had a gropper and top goosander count is 3

Up until the Yorkshire post dropped it's friday birding bit a couple of years ago they were reported there and clumber park most winters.

Sadly never seen one myself - well, not a complete one. About 30 odd years ago when I was young we were camping and I remember finding the head of a hawfinch on a path, beautiful it was. Seen dead birds with their heads nipped off by a fox but this was only the head!

"Is Bretton still good for Hawfinch? "
Plenty of Hawfinch at Fountains Abbey/Studley royal,near the carpark, so the lads who congregate at Bolton abbey/Barden tower used to say anyway!!

I've heard Hawfinch up there last winter on a family trip. To be honest the only place I have always seen Hawfinch is Woodwell which is on the darkside (lancs). I have used that site even when going for a big day list and seen hawfinch.

Reckon there could be more in the area, but it is an overlooked species.

Hello everyone.
After reading this thread I thought I'd pop over from the ex beeb board to be among some fellow Yorkies and get some thoughts on what's around locally.
Most of my birding is done while walking the dogs so I guess that my patch is the Scholes / Barnbow area of East Leeds. I'll also take my bins out while I'm on my mountain bike so places like the Lower Aire Valley and Fairburn Ings are also places I go to.
Talking of best finds, well I'd say that 2 peregrine close to Barnbow Wood last August was quite something and maybe the marsh harrier at the old open cast mines near Swillington a couple of weeks ago. Nothing spectacular but satisfying.

jtw521....The YP has the birding column in the Saturday issue now.

Marcus...how long since you've seen hawfinch at Woodwell? I was talking to a local birder at Leighton Moss in Jan this year and he was saying that they'd been scarce to non-existant at Woodwell for a couple of years.

Hi Keith -
Me & Bob had 2 hawfinch at Woodwell last year Keith. They were reported regularly on Bird Guides. Usually near a house called 'Fir Trees'. This ninny thought it just meant in fir trees and there are lots!

Sandra

Thanks Sandra...I'll have to get across there again. Not been to Woodwell for about 5 years now.

Dur! Thanks for that I'll pick one up next week.

Speaking of the open cast at swillington, has anyone got an idea when St AIdans will be open?

St Aidan's won't be open to the birding public for a bit yet.....but the local dog walkers are using the site already...I pass it each morning on the way to work. So by the time the site is open it'll be knee deep in dog s***..LOL

Thanks for the tip on Studley/Fountains Abbey. Will go and have a hunt when the leaves are off the trees. Birdguides records a couple of years back suggest flocks of Hawfinches!

St. Aidans is a long way off opening officially, but you can get some views from the riverbank, and I've seen Merlin, Peregrine, Little Egret and up to 3 Marsh Harriers in the last 2-3 weeks down there.

Took that trip to Nosterfield today - highly recommended. check birdguides and it has an amazing list for an inland site. Today I had 3 Greenshank, 2 Green Sand, 4 Ringed Plover, 1 Turnstone, 20+ Dunlin, 2+ Curlew Sand, and a wonderful Little Stint, (a first for me since my return to birding)

Graham

Is anyone off the forum taking the RSPB cruise from Bridlington tomorrow? How would we recognise each other? Is there a secret handshake or anything? :)

Not actually taking the cruise but...to recognise each other why not get yourself these
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=66703

Only a fiver and well worth it

Don't think they are regular at Bretton.

Best place in Yorkshire is the village of Hutton near Guisborough, but Jan/Feb is best, especially Jan when people are doing yearlists as they get recorded more.

If you need for life then even better is the chapel at Clumber Park or the village of Cromwell in Derbyshire

Called into Blacktoft on the way back from Essex this evening. Had great views of Kingfisher and Water Rail, aswell as the usual suspects (Spotted Redhank, Curlew Sand etc).
Failed to connect with the Spotted Crake (again!!), but not bothered in the slightest because I had half decent views of a Merlin, together with 4 Marsh Harrier and a single Ringtail Hen Harrier at the raptor roost.

No reports from this weekend as the turbo went on my 206 and is gonna cost major money to remedy.

Have managed to get a people carrier from work so may get out later.

I need a digiscope!! Popped down to Fairburn this afternoon - very quiet. There's been stacks of little grebe there for the last few weeks so I was checking them out one by one just in case when a faint trace of a yellow/orange cheek caught my eye. Getting my scope out I managed to lose sight of this one but picked up another with a lovely black cap and a nice straight black line down the back of it's neck. Managed to find the other one again and cheek flashes were disappearing into the moult. So, I'm immediately thinking Black necked grebes - reported it at the office as so but coming back and looking at the bookshelf and pictures on the net I'm thinking more Slavonian as the black cap didn't come down as far. Must take notes in future!!

Speaking as someone who has always gone birdwatching but in 30 odd years has never gone chasing rarer species I rarely see birds like this and consequently don't always recognise them (and perhaps lack the confidence to call them). So, I need a digiscope so I can take some piccies and identify at leisure but does this sound a likely spot in West Yorks at this time of year? Will probably be a moulting little grebe.

Oh! nearly forgot, they were on the flash near the car park to Spoonbill hide in case anyone is down there.

Maybe more likely to be black-necked grebe this early on, inland as they breed (sparsely) across yorkshire whereas Slav Grebes breed in the Highlands. I could very well be wrong of course!

No you are spot on. More likely to be Black-necked than Slav.

Agreed digiscoping does help but a word of caution; I have seen different shots of the same bird on occasions and in different postures and light conditions you would think they were different birds.

I'd say the camera is an aid, but to be used in conjunction with detailed notes taken at the time.

Agree with Steve....good field notes are best......digiscoped pics can be good (if you're lucky), indifferent (most of them) or bad ( the rest). Look on the digiscope forum....they talk of taking 100's of pictures for maybe a handful of decent ones.

Went down to Rodley today, still really slow down there. I can't really figure out why. There was a common sandpiper through, but that is the only wader I have seen down there for a month - what the f...

Did have a Rodley first - yellow wagtail so not all bad. There was also kestrel and g.s. woodpecker. On the main lagoon a couple of gadwall but overall not too overwhelming.

Finally had 40 swallows through south.

Keep up the thread guys!

Don't worry Marcus....I'll keep posting, problem is I can't get out birding as often as I would like. Last birding trip was the Filey one with you and Frank.
BTW how's the motor?

Not much to report but for the sake of the thread...

Thought I'd get up early and brave the rain for a walk around Flamborough Head this morning. With thoughts of Wrynecks and other migrants I dug out my waterproof trousers and arrived nice and early- about 7:30 am.

After walking for an hour or two along Old Fall hedge and the coastal path I didn't see anything unusual, apart from a distant skua sp. (very poor view in the rain- white wing cresents only detail) over the sea. Kestrel and small groups of House Martins kept me interested, along with large flocks of Goldfinch.

The few other birders I came across all confirmed that nothing 'rare' was
about.

The highlight of my walk came in the form of a beautiful Whinchat perched on top of some willow scrub near the golf-course- by far the best views I've ever had of the species.

On checking Birdguides when I got home, I was delighted to read that not only did I 'miss' a Yellow-Browed Warbler in the Plantation, I also walked passed a Pechora Pipit!
(not that I would have been able to identify the latter species in a million years).

Thats birding for you!

Marcus, I'm still recovering from two tough but rewarding trips. Went over to Anglesey on Sunday and saw the Isabelline Wheatear. I found it a very tricky bird. I watched it for a few hours and never got familiar with it. I wasn't feeling too good, and the light was poor, but I got Wheatear blindness by the end and they all started to look the same. I must have been losing it a bit, because I thought I saw a Pelican as well! Seriously I enjoyed watching this old boy feed.

Yesterday I went for the Pallid Harrier. A twelve hour round trip - 5am to 5pm, Zombiefied by the time I got home, but reasonable views, although it appears to have shown better today - doh!

Both new for me, so very pleased.

Also new (for Loshpotts) was a juvenile Little Ringed Plover tonight which was nice.

Going for a lie down!

Good work, i take it the Izzy wasn't overly obvious!

No. As I say whether I was just having a bad day, but previously with really tricky species if you've been there a while, I find you can instantly pick out a bird as familiarity grows. However, when the Wheatears dispersed, I kept finding myself watching pale Northerns by mistake, before I got back on the Izzy. I was into the sun all the time which didn't help.

Quick visit to Loshpotts this morning:

8 Cormorant over
At least 6 Little Grebe
2 Wigeon
Pochard and Tufted numbers high - didn't count them
Large flock of Blach-headed Gull
Large mixed group of Canada and Greylag Geese
5 Teal
5 Coot
5 Lapwing
8 Red-legged Partridge
1 Tree Sparrow
4 Skylark
2 Pied wagtail
1 Hare
1 deer species? (no streaking or spotting, long-legged, very black and white mouth)
No sign of LRP

Roe Deer? Almost fits the description, although don't really have long legs. They are the only species found around East Yorkshire- not sure about your neck of the woods.

Does anybody know good/recent sites for Raven in Yorkshire? Along with Osprey it is my Yorkshire bogey bird. Unlike Osprey though, as it breeds there is no excuse.

Thanks.

Its a ruff
 

Bit random this - just looked at your blog - yes, your photo is a ruff, probably a female ("reeve"). I could not work out how to email you, so thought I would put it on here!

All the best,
Jono Leadley
www.indybirder.com

Steve,

I climbed Ingleborough on the hottest day in July, heading up from Clapham and past Gaping Gill. At Gaping Gill I watched a Raven down to about thirty yards before it flew off west. I din't see another person the whole way up, which may help as I believe they are very sensitive to disturbance.

I hesitate to call this a "good" site on the basis of one record, but if anyone else has encountered a Raven up there please post and we may be on to something.

Word of warning - it is a hike just up to Gaping Gill from Clapham, let alone up Ingleborough. I did a circuit from Ingleton so covered 15 or more miles - I don't suggest you do that on the off chance of a Raven!

If you can find another day like July 25th it would help. It was still warm enough to sunbathe at the top at 6PM, with a view out over the whole of Morecambe Bay - about as good as life gets!

Graham

Thanks Graham. I've been meaning to do a walk around Ingleborough, so I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Sounds like you had a good day.

Often get them flying across the valley here where I live.

Thanks Geoff. I've heard the Settle area can be good. If I get up on the tops above Langcliffe I may stand a chance. :t:

Just had a peregrine from the office (well barn) window in sicklinghall flying into the valley. First of the winter.

Nice one. Peregrines are one bird I will never tire of seeing. My favourite place to see them is down in Essex where they hunt pigeons over the Thames industrial area. Even seen one from a traffic jam on the the M25!

cool, also on my way home so a dead badger, which was unexpected. a colleague told me she had nearly run one over too so must be some in the area, and I suppose dawn and dusk are nearer rush hour now.

One ran across in front of us on the road from Sicklinghall to Linton about 6 months ago. I've also seen them near Golden Acre Park. Apparently they follow the same trails most of the time so if you drive past the place where your friend saw one often enough you may get lucky.

Does anyone know whether New Swillington Ings is open to the public and, if so, how you get in?

Apparently there's a Great White Egret knocking around and so I may pop down at the weekend if it's still about.