mytholmroyd 2024 (1 Viewer)

[Prestdj]

again same as last year! listing from the house on foot

the weather has been awful and odd over the holidays, but the last birds of 2023 were apx 120 pink footed geese heading west which looked confused in the hill fog.

so 1st january

the usual early morning calls robin, blackbird, dunnock, then out of the gloom 23 pink footed geese heading east, a cormorant over the house also mallard and canada geese

later a nice dog walk produced black headed gull and common gull

buzzard over the house was nice to see

one of them days when it was just dark until 1pm so i had a walk to redacre woods and the canal very quiet apart from great spotted woodpecker and 2 pair of goosander on the canal

2nd january

another damp gloomy day with the highlight being a mistle thrush

my list is on bubo so ended the first few days of 2024 on 28

list

 

[Prestdj]

well after a few days of constant rain i headed out

the kingfisher is showing really well on the canal as the river is still too fast and full, tawny owl calling on sunday morning

i will still keep slogging away as always

32 species so far

 

[Prestdj]

yesterday usual early morning dog walk along the canal and back along the river produced 4 bullfinch and 2 dippers

so by breakfast time 34 for the year

colette was meeting up with friends at hollingworth lake for lunch so i headed out for what turned out to be a 6 mile walk no dog as at 12 years old it would be too much for her
a nice walk to explore some new places which is quite easy with such steep valleys, hardwork but great woods and streams

some easy birds seen

coal tit
redwing
jay
nuthatch
siskin



a great walk


sunday was bright but sunny for a change

lots of large gulls heading west and a small skien of pink footed geese west and the sun brought out the sparrowhawks

so ended the weekend on 42 for the year

 

[Prestdj]

a quiet weekend 19-21 january

friday was snowy and cold with all the good places totally frozen over, did the wetlands and redacre wood but apart from goldcrest sparrowhawk and kingfisher nothing new

saturday

thawed a bit, so the morning was at redacre and the canal very quiet

sunday

more mild but wet, another short walk given the forecast storm birding was better with a few bullfinch and nuthatches calling then colette found a few greenfinch feeding in a dense hedge (her eyes are super sharp)

so before the storm hit 43 for the year

 

[Prestdj]

friday was a great day for wildfowl with a barnacle goose with canadas at brearley then a lone pink-footed goose on the canal which soon dissapeared plus a few goosanders plus the usual mallards.
quite spring like in the afternoon so very happy to see goldcrest,treecreeper,nuthatch and great spotted woodpecker at redacre wood

saturday was also good with a short walk with the aging jess around redacre woods again,after taking the said dog home i headed up daisy bank which is near vertical but the shortest way to get to the moors which were very quiet the route back took me to one of my favourite spots great jumps farm where a song thrush fed out in the open also a great place for bullfinch.
6 fieldfare along spencer lane then on to the pub for lunch with colette and her mum,which i opted for gammon which consisted of 2 large gammon chips peas mushrooms onion rings and salad.......i was stuffed a proper yorkshire pub lunch

sunday in the garden watching buzzards and sparrowhawks

total for 2024 so far 48

 

[Prestdj]

a very wet and windy weekend and we busy socialising on saturday so not much birding
only oystercatcher heard flying over the house around 12am was new and very early

good numbers of siskin flying over the garden plus the usual grey wagtails, buzzards are becoming more active in the lulls between the weather,as are sparrowhawks.
a nice tame female goosander on the canal by redacre

very quiet

next weekend were off to allonby in cumbria for the weekend

1	Canada Goose	Branta canadensis
2	Barnacle Goose	Branta leucopsis
3	Pink-footed Goose	Anser brachyrhynchus
4	Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos
5	Goosander	Mergus merganser
6	Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon)	Columba livia
7	Woodpigeon	Columba palumbus
8	Collared Dove	Streptopelia decaocto
9	Oystercatcher	Haematopus ostralegus
10	Black-headed Gull	Chroicocephalus ridibundus
11	Common Gull	Larus canus
12	Herring Gull	Larus argentatus
13	Lesser Black-backed Gull	Larus fuscus
14	Cormorant	Phalacrocorax carbo
15	Grey Heron	Ardea cinerea
16	Sparrowhawk	Accipiter nisus
17	Buzzard	Buteo buteo
18	Tawny Owl	Strix aluco
19	Kingfisher	Alcedo atthis
20	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos major
21	Jay	Garrulus glandarius
22	Magpie	Pica pica
23	Jackdaw	Coloeus monedula
24	Carrion Crow	Corvus corone
25	Coal Tit	Periparus ater
26	Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus
27	Great Tit	Parus major
28	Long-tailed Tit	Aegithalos caudatus
29	Goldcrest	Regulus regulus
30	Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes
31	Nuthatch	Sitta europaea
32	Treecreeper	Certhia familiaris
33	Starling	Sturnus vulgaris
34	Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos
35	Mistle Thrush	Turdus viscivorus
36	Redwing	Turdus iliacus
37	Blackbird	Turdus merula
38	Fieldfare	Turdus pilaris
39	Robin	Erithacus rubecula
40	Dipper	Cinclus cinclus
41	House Sparrow	Passer domesticus
42	Dunnock	Prunella modularis
43	Grey Wagtail	Motacilla cinerea
44	Pied Wagtail	Motacilla alba
45	Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs
46	Bullfinch	Pyrrhula pyrrhula
47	Greenfinch	Chloris chloris
48	Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis
49	Siskin	Spinus spinus

 

[Prestdj]

been a quiet few weeks due to weather and weekends away.......cumbrian coast and a nice pub crawl around manchester to visit some classic manchester pubs

anyway saturday was spent in the garden and quite spring like being t-shirt weather. mid-afternoon i set up the scope to view the moors

50 stonechat
51 meadow pipit

 

[Prestdj]

im now semi-retired so lots of time on my hands im keeping busy in the garden.
sat in the garden with a coffee when a crossbill goes over calling! another excellent garden bird to add to the list which is now getting quite good
the crossbill was proberly heading towards sunderland pasture, so that needs a visit

52 crossbill

 

[Prestdj]

saturday 9th march

bitterly cold and a biting east wind but the dog still has to be walked
the newly erected sand martin box looks good and well placed as the small colony on the river behind has only a few feet of bank to nest in so when the river rises in heavy rainfall the nests holes are submerged an excellent job and funded by a local brewer through sales of a one off ale "my mate martin"
very nice

anyway just a nice male kestrel hunting over the wetlands

53 kestrel

 

[Prestdj]

very quiet this last week but the first chiffchaff soon i hope! got a few trips planned for the next few weeks seahouses for easter and then back to brighton to see the boy and girl for his 23rd birthday got a site within walking distance of newhaven tidemills and splash point and an nice walk to cuckmere

 

[Prestdj]

another dire weekend

saturday was four seasons in one day sun rain hail sleet wind, even the dog didnt want to go out!! so a few hours decorating

sunay cold but sunny and windy. nice dog walk produced 2 chiffchaffs singing away 1 grey wagtail and a single herring gull heading west

54 chiffchaff

 

[Prestdj]

another freezing cold weekend which is starting to get me down the constant cold wet weather

saturday 13th april

i was invited to join a walk at my old local patch Elland Gravel Pits now Cromwell Bottom Nature Reserve from the 80's/90's to talk about how it was back then and what birds were around and were seen back in its hay day, the group is doing great work and even has a cafe!! very modern and nice
a very nice few hours

anyway lots of chiffchaffs singing around the village, great spotted woodpeckers displaying and in the late afternoon the familiar call of a house martin over the house beating last years bird by 3 days!

sunday 14th april

dog walk to the wetlands but no sand martins but 2 very vocal curlew overhead and 2 willow warblers singing

55 house martin
56 willow warbler
57 curlew

 

[Prestdj]

a very nice sounding raven over the garden at lunchtime and a buzzard soaring

58 raven

 

[Prestdj]

what felt like hardwork birding this weekend slowly becoming quite productive

19th april

swallow and house martin over the garden plus the odd buzzard overhead
at lunchtime a greylag goose flew north

20th april

pheasant and tawny owl calling just after dawn

breakfast then dogwalk

lots of chiffchaffs and willow warblers singing and 1 swallow
after sorting out stuff for brighton i headed up cragg vale which turned into a 8 mile walk through some stunning woods little seen due to watching my steps due to the steepness and noise from the brook below. in 5 hours i only 2 people fantastic
at the top where the walk meets the moors a singing ring ouzel also a few dippers and curlews
also nice to pass the coffin stone which has the date 1652 on it but could well be older

evening garden watch

chiffchaff,goosander,buzzard 3, raven 4, and another 4 greylag geese over

21st april

redacre wood

2 blackcaps singing 1 green woodpecker 2 great spotted woodpeckers nuthatch


59 greylag goose
60 swallow
61 greylag goose
62 ring ouzel
63 blackcap
64 green woodpecker

 

[Prestdj]

Busy few days and fingers crossed tomorrow we will be in East Sussex
But around the village in the last few days

65 swift flew low over the garden on 27/04
66 sand martin over the river 27/04
67 moorhen 1 on redacre pond 27/04
68 common scoter a small number flew west just after midnight 30/04

 

[Prestdj]

well back in mytholmroyd after what should have been a week away in sussex which turned into 4 days but in the 4 days walked 48 miles birding around tidemills and over to cuckmere haven missed all the good birds as usual but had a great time birding tidemills got back home at 1am via AA some nice year ticks and great views on the walk to cuckmere haven.
back home lots of house martins and green woodpecker yaffling

 

[Prestdj]

Good numbers of house martin and swifts over the garden plus one raven so sat enjoying the warm weather when an osprey goes over the garden high but what a garden bird
over the moon to add it to the garden list
Buzzing as we used to say

69 osprey

 

[Prestdj]

well after fridays osprey and a stunning display of the northern lights from the garden what would a nice day on saturday bring?


headed up to erringden moor around 9am very warm and clear skies but nice breeze on the moor 3 kestrels playing over the ridge and 2 buzzards soaring then a large raptor started soaring on eye sight i thought sparrowhawk but through the bins peregrine but as it banked it looked more accipter like.it soared up then levelled out before diving steeply then soaring up never flapped once in the 15 minutes it was showing before it dissappeared
ive seen a few goshawks locally and over the garden so a cracking bird
a cuckoo called the first of the year.continued my walk with lots of skylarks singing dropping down the hill to more farmland 2 stock doves flew over and some redpoll calling

70 goshawk
71 cuckoo
72 skylark
73 stock dove
74 lesser redpoll

after shopping in todmorden we headed to hebden bridge a nice pork pie in shop by market square then back to mytholmroyd for a few beers in barbarys by the river

 

[Prestdj]

Well so far a great day
set off in the morning up to the moors a bit of a slog but nice to get high up
A lapwing flew over plus snipe drumming and curlew calling the usual skylarks plus the same stock doves as last week
Female goshawk was the first raptor of the day
Not much in the woods but cuckoo calling always a great sound
After 5 miles a rest back home for a few hours in the garden at 1230 a red kite
went north over the garden another tick for the garden 3 buzzards and single kestrel and Sparrowhawk

also an Boeing AH-64 Apache flew north which i thought was odd on saturday

75 lapwing
76 snipe
77 red kite

 

[Prestdj]

78 whitethroat at brearley this morning