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mytholmroyd 2024 (1 Viewer)

a very wet few days with near constant rain

thursday the river was so high it flooded the sand martins nesting bank , time will tell if they take to the nesting box nearby
friday still damp and grey weather though a dipper on the river whilst having a pint in the local bar was entertaining
saturday nice and sunny so lots of martins and swifts over the garden a few blackcaps singing on the dog walk with a nice female seen by the canal
sunday (today) another wet day off what we call 'moor grime' a brief lull produced a peregrine over the garden a few large gulls heading west and on the dog walk a rook flew over redacre wood

79 peregrine
80 rook
 
a strange weekend birdwise

lots of swifts around the house friday evening counted 10 screaming over the garden

saturday

house martins galore with 38 counted along with 7 swallows and 4 sand martins. dog walk through the railway woods produced a great spotted woodpecker feeding young and 2 blackcap singing also quite a few grey wagtails seen
later a raven flew east and a steady trickle of lesser black backed gulls heading ne

sunday

more martins and swifts 2 buzzards and kestrel from the garden before 8am
dog walk found 3 whitethroats singing 2 blackcaps after 2 miles jessie 12 now was knackered

garden buzzards still loafing around a slimmer thinner winged raptor appeared quite high being mobbed by crows bins grabbed and i was looking at a female type marsh harrier coming down cragg valley it then started circling reaching the river getting higher and higher before heading east down the river excellent bird

81 marsh harrier
 
Well another top bird this morning over the garden whilst having a coffee a little egret flew west towards Hebden bridge a really good bird locally so really pleased with that right time right place

82 little egret
 
8 miles today but very little seen, searched for little owl to no avail got to keep trying
Walked my favourite wood Broadhead clough which is beautiful and scored a wood warbler singing away beautiful
A few swifts over the moors also Siskin and a couple of bullfinches
In a few weeks migrants should be passing through so fingers crossed

85 wood warbler
 
the weather looked great this morning for migrants passing so i set off on what ended up a 7 mile walk.
a very pleasant walk but hard going. the edges of broadhead clough had gs woodpecker and a stunning green woodpecker
2 lbbgulls went nw as did a grey heron and raven calling but very quiet
as i headed to stoodley pike along the edge of sunderland pasture it picked up a bit with siskins and goldcrest plus a chiffchaff flitting about, scanned everywhere for wheatear but none.
reaching my favourite area between swillington farm and pinnicle lane i was heartbroken the once boggy fields have been dried out slightly so a once great area is just grass now.
spent a good while searching the fields........it proved worthwhile

8 greenfinch
15 linnet
12 goldfinch
4 pied wagtail
28 meadow pipits

as the pipits and wagtails dashed across the fields i noticed a pale yellowish bird amongst them in flight i suspected yellow wagtail after 10 minutes i heard the sound of "psee" a yellow wagtail! finally reaching pinnicle farm the garden looked as good as ever, like an oasis on the edge of the moors but only a willow warbler calling

good walk

yellow wagtail 88
 
list updated

1Canada GooseBranta canadensiscommon
2Barnacle GooseBranta leucopsis 1 with canada geese feb-april
3Greylag GooseAnser anser 2 cragg vale may breeding
4Pink-footed GooseAnser brachyrhynchus skiens in jan-march
5MallardAnas platyrhynchoscommon
6Common ScoterMelanitta nigra 2 small groups heard flying west
7GoosanderMergus merganserwinter

8PheasantPhasianus colchicus common

9SwiftApus apus common breeding

10CuckooCuculus canorus broadhead clough and village calling

11Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon)Columba livia common
12Stock DoveColumba oenas common from great jumpos farm to swillington farm
13WoodpigeonColumba palumbus common
14Collared DoveStreptopelia decaocto common

15MoorhenGallinula chloropus breeding redacre

16OystercatcherHaematopus ostralegus common summer

17LapwingVanellus vanellus declining

18CurlewNumenius arquata fewer than last year
19SnipeGallinago gallinago prob common but need time to look
20GreenshankTringa nebularia1 flew west calling

21Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus common
22Common GullLarus canus common winter
23Herring GullLarus argentatus common most pass over
24Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus ditto

25CormorantPhalacrocorax carboupto 3 though all year

26Little EgretEgretta garzetta 1 flew west
27Grey HeronArdea cinereacommon

28OspreyPandion haliaetus 1 flew south west

29SparrowhawkAccipiter nisus common
30GoshawkAccipiter gentilis breeding site with held
31Marsh HarrierCircus aeruginosus rare i over village before moving east
32Red KiteMilvus milvus scarce over garden
33BuzzardButeo buteocommon

34Barn OwlTyto alba1 over house

35Tawny OwlStrix aluco common

36KingfisherAlcedo atthis regular on river/canal

37Great Spotted WoodpeckerDendrocopos major common
38Green WoodpeckerPicus viridis selective on habitat common

39KestrelFalco tinnunculus common though less seen this year
40HobbyFalco subbuteo1 from the garden feeding on insects
41PeregrineFalco peregrinus getting scarce

42JayGarrulus glandarius common
43MagpiePica pica common
44JackdawColoeus monedula common
45RookCorvus frugilegus selective in habitat
46Carrion CrowCorvus corone common
47RavenCorvus corax common

48Coal TitPeriparus ater common
49Blue TitCyanistes caeruleus common
50Great TitParus major common

51SkylarkAlauda arvensis common

52Sand MartinRiparia riparia small colony
53SwallowHirundo rustica common
54House MartinDelichon urbicum common

55Long-tailed TitAegithalos caudatus common

56Wood WarblerPhylloscopus sibilatrix scarce
57Willow WarblerPhylloscopus trochilus common
58ChiffchaffPhylloscopus collybita common

59BlackcapSylvia atricapilla common
60WhitethroatCurruca communis brearley wetlands and gnome walk

61GoldcrestRegulus regulus common

62WrenTroglodytes troglodytes common

63NuthatchSitta europaea common
64TreecreeperCerthia familiaris common

65StarlingSturnus vulgaris common

Turdidae (Thrushes)
66Song ThrushTurdus philomelos common
67Mistle ThrushTurdus viscivorus common
68RedwingTurdus iliacus common winter
69BlackbirdTurdus merula common
70FieldfareTurdus pilaris common winter
71Ring OuzelTurdus torquatus selective

72RobinErithacus rubecula common
73StonechatSaxicola rubicola common in habitat

74DipperCinclus cinclus common

75House SparrowPasser domesticus common

76DunnockPrunella modularis common

77Yellow WagtailMotacilla flava scarce 1 calling swillington farm
78Grey WagtailMotacilla cinerea common
79Pied WagtailMotacilla alba common
80Meadow PipitAnthus pratensis common

81ChaffinchFringilla coelebs common
82BullfinchPyrrhula pyrrhula common in places
83GreenfinchChloris chloris small breeding group but doing well
84LinnetLinaria cannabina common in habitat
85Lesser RedpollAcanthis cabaret common in habitat
86Common CrossbillLoxia curvirostra scarce 1 flew sw
87GoldfinchCarduelis carduelis commonst finch
88SiskinSpinus spinuscommon
 
Yesterday a nice but hot walk over the moors was productive especially around withens clough res

Barnacle goose amongst the canadas
Stonechats 3
Linnet 2
Reed bunting
Sparrowhawk 1
Buzzard 1

A distant group of birds turned out to be 70+ lapwings and 20+ golden plover which rested on the shoreline

89 golden plover
 
yesterday evening after fish and chips at hollingworth lake (tasty) i sat with the scope in the garden watching the moors a nice hour

buzzard 4
kestrel 1
raven 2
short eared owl hunting was new for year having not seen one last year very nice

still house martins over the house and a few swifts plus dipper 3 grey wagtails and a moorhen on the river

90 short eared owl
 
a great walk today after the weekend in north wales (drove past the hudsonian godwit twice and couldnt be bothered to stop to look)
2 wheatears along dicks lane were much wanted for the year so well pleased also small numbers of meadow pipits and 2 nice reed buntings a nice area
withens clough res had a very miserable great creasted grebe in winter garb was at least diving, a few stonechats.
a lesser whitethroat seen in the bracken plus chiffchaff
a nice day

91 great creasted grebe
92 wheatear
93 lesser whitethroat
 
yesterday a 9 mile walk in heavy rain got me soaked to the skin but still managed to record

meadow pipit 100+ grounded
skylark 8
linnet 60+
mistle thrush 14
kestrel looking fed up
chiffchaff 5
goldcrest 20+
lesser black backed gull 1 ad se

this morning dog walk

dipper 2
grey wagtail 2 river 3 over garden
jay 1
tawny owl 1 calling
 
Yesterday

A good walk with pinkfooted geese over
In the mist so unable to see them
Lots of chiffchaffs along the way also Siskin
Got to the moorland edge…. Out of all the dry stone walls just one had the following

Whinchat 3
Wheatear 1
Stonechat 4
Reed bunting 1

The whinchats were watched for a while feeding
A little owl at erringden grange was looking great in the emerging sun

95 whinchat
96 little owl
 
Most of the past week looking for migrants
Lots of chiffchaffs a single blackcap 8 wheatears and small skiens of pink footed geese passing over

Today bright and cold so off walking again 2 little owls and 4 ravens
Just near home a bird called from a sycamore……yellow browed warbler amongst a tit flock what a find so close to home

97 yellow browed warbler
 

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