More Ogden Water To Mixenden

A satisfactory walk around Ogden with reasonable visibility.

A flock of maybe just over a hundred Pink-footed Geese flew over from the E/SE then veered off to the N heading towards Warley Moor.

Not much doing on the water but the E bank was busy with several Tits including 1 LTT & 2 Coal. Also 1 Blackbird. 2 Song Thrush were singing as was a Mistle Thrush. One m Bullfinch ditto Chaffinch.

Mixenden Res was rotten with a couple of hundred plus gulls present. Mainly BHG but also Common & Herring.

6 Continental Blackbirds & a singing Mistle Thrush in the trees.

Ogden To Mixenden In The Murk

I just had to get out of the hovel this morning to save beating the ceiling with my head after 5 days spent staying in.

Saw JL at Ogden so we traipsed around it together with not much seen at all. A Herring Gull perched next to 4 BHG.

I managed a Kestrel which was also fogged off so much so it hung around for a few minutes before drifting off. 

I got a pr Greenfinch in Rocks Lane.

At Mixenden I encountered a Song Thrush that had completely lost the plot - it was 🎶 singing!

The GBBG was on the water as were 3/4 Herring Gull a couple of LBBG and the smaller jobs.

Some Info From Scandinavia

My Cousin lives in Aarhus Denmark. I received this news from him today.

A large group of Fieldfare were feeding on ripe fermented berries from the trees and getting drunk on them 🥃 😅.

Explains why we’re not getting them in good numbers doesn’t it? Why travel further than necessary to party?

Home and Cromwell Bottom

I got out of bed at approximately 0245 to answer a call of nature. Nature responded with a call of its own. A Tawny Owl 🦉 hooted 5 times from the trees 🌲 out back. This is the first time I’ve had one in the past 2 possibly 3 years.

Cromwell Bottom

Could be my last visit here thanks to the limited visibility caused by the dense foliage blocking any good views of the Ski Lake. Ironically while I appreciate the bright dry day the sunshine played its part in prohibiting decent sightings of whatever came into view.

7 Grey Heron atop a couple of trees, one standing over a

nest.

A pr Goldeneye ditto Cormorant. 3 Tufted Duck. Plenty of Gulls large and small.

The lake by the canal that’s almost overgrown with reeds coughed up 6 Teal feeding on a small clear shallow section. A pr Goosander were on the canal.

More Ogden Water And Mixenden

I took a chance and went out as the fog didn’t seem too dense this am.

Ogden wasn’t too scintillating (there’s a surprise) with just a single Tufted Duck and the few expected gulls showing on the drink. Arboreal types were 4 Robin 2 Dunnock and  a Blackbird. As I headed towards Mixenden I heard then saw my first Raven of 2026.

I was somewhat sceptical about Mixenden Res but lo and behold first I got the Shelduck again followed by the GBBG 👍.  Also a single Cormorant and quite  a few gulls present both large and small.

Another year tick was a calling Nuthatch in the woods.

Ogden Water To Mixenden Res

Finally after days of fog and rain some good visibility and no moisture other than the reservoirs of course.

I arrived at Ogden to see 5 Tufted Duck swimming towards the feeding corner they then appeared to fly toward the W bank corner but actually left the vicinity.

I met JL who reported not much from the trees and I heartily endorse that. He mentioned 2 good birds on Mixenden so I remembered to turn my telling bone on and hey presto DJS had sent me a text about a Shelduck and a GBBG 🤪.

I legged it over there and got a Green Woodpecker over the top hedge at Carrs Beck. In a field a bit further on I saw a vertical large white blob. Turns out it was the breast of a GBBG! It took off and flew over Stod Fold.

Plenty of Gulls on Mixenden both large and small. One distant large job on the far E bank caught my eye it appeared to be a pale 2CY without black wing tips but I need to sleep so am dropping it like an anvil.

Looking from the iron gate over to the far end of the water I eventually saw both the GBBG and the Shelduck sailing around 👍.

Bored? You Will Be After Reading This

This morning my sanity deserted me completely leaving not a trace until a semblance of common sense returned at 1105 hrs. I did an about turn and legged it back down the road.

I was at Cold Edge Dams and couldn’t see anything on them thanks to the heavy fog. I managed to see a Meadow Pipit on a track and hear a few Canada Geese. Numerous Jackdaw in the fields around Wainstalls but that was it.

On Monday 19th I’d gone to Fogden Water experienced similar and aborted that trip too. The few birds I did see have been erased from memory 😵‍💫.