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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Yorkshire Birding (12 Viewers)

Where to watch birds is v.v. out of date, apparently i have several pairs of groppers on my patch and many many Goosander.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
 
Keith Dickinson said:
Don't know about hawfinch at Bretton....sadly Mather's book is well out of date and don't think that by buying a second edition you're getting an update 'cos you're not.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

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!!
 
bobwoodcock said:
"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 said:
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!

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.
 
Keith Dickinson said:
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
 
Keith Dickinson said:
jtw521....The YP has the birding column in the Saturday issue 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? :)
 
bitterntwisted said:
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 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.
 
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!
 
Hotspur said:
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.
 
jtw521 said:
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.

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.
 

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