Ogden Water To Mixenden Res

A dry sunny but very breezy morning which brought some interesting spells at Ogden in particular.

3 Pink-footed Geese were present and looked settled 👍.

Also a pr of Tufted Duck which joined them briefly at one stage.

Quite a few WW, couple Blackcap & Chiffchaff.

It went downhill after that with just a Skylark by the golf course and a few Goldfinch plus a couple WW by the sheds.

I can’t even begin to think about Mixe…🥴.

Cold Edge Dams Trek

A morning that started off very much Spring like then after an hour deteriorated into cold windy misery - again!

7 Tufted Duck on Leadbeater Dam. In the field opposite were 3 Lapwing & a pair of Oystercatcher. 

6 WW 2 Skylark 3 Meadow Pipit & a few of the expected Geese. 4 Curlew heard.

A break in the boredom as I walked up to Cold Edge Road was provided by a noisy pair of Raven in flight and displaying 👍.

Ogden held 14 LBBG & a couple of Herring. 6/7 WW but nothing else. 

Nothing else on Mixenden Res is a phrase that does it too much justice 😢.

A Kestrel hovered over Windy Bank as I returned home.

Very Cold Dams Dammit

After a disastrous outing to Ogden and MixenDeadEnd yesterday I braved yet another Wintry day and traipsed around the dams area.

A bit livelier than Thursday I’m relieved to say 😏.

Pr Stonechat ditto Reed Bunting. A Red Grouse heard.

1 🦪 Oystercatcher. Usual Geese in small numbers.

Singing WW & 2 Chaffinch. A dozen Meadow Pipit & 1 Pied Wagtail. A Buzzard flying over the moor at distance.

I found another pr of amorous Toad. These didn’t make it across the track courtesy of a large set of vehicle wheels.

Soil Hell To Ogden Water

Why has somebody extended the height of the hill from Hades by another 600 feet 😵‍💫. My first forage down and up the N slope this year and I certainly knew about it.

Good to see some Perambulator has removed the bucket and heavy stones from the illegally blocked Perseverance Rd entrance 😀. Bad to see another suchlike left the wooden gate at the Quarry Top wide open 👎.

Had a brief chat with JL on the barren stony top before my descent into misery.

Pr Grey Partridge, 3 Curlew similar Skylark. Got about 5 notes 🎶 out of a Whitethroat at the hill bottom. 

4/5 WW in song throughout.

Ogden coughed up another short singer; a Blackcap.

Also a  Chiffchaff & a drumming GSW. 5 LBBG were on the H2O.

Cold Edge Dams To Mixenden

Via Ogden Water making it a long somewhat unrewarding trek 🙄. Cold Edge: 5 Tufted Duck, 1 Swallow, 6 Willow Warbler.

The Curlews had quietened down. 2 Lapwing 1 Oyster 🦪 catcher. 3 Reed Bunting & a few Meadow Pipit.

A single Skylark heard en route to Ogden which was ghastly apart from another 6 WW & a Chiffchaff singing.

A single drake Tufted Duck on the water.

MixenDeadEnd had nothing on the water at all. 

1 each singing Chiffchaff Green Woodpecker & Song Thrush.

Can’t wait for my freshly ordered Knitting Needles and Wool Pack to arrive 😏.

Cold Edge Dams To Mixenden

A dry bright but cold windy session. Nevertheless I clocked some good birds from start to finish 😊.

The Dams: Pr Oystercatcher, 1 Lapwing. Pr LBBG. A pr noisy Redshank flew the length of Haigh Cote. In the opposite field I espied a female Wheatear.

Curlews were back in good numbers calling regularly. Pr Pied Wagtail and the m Reed Bunting noted.

Cold Edge Rd coughed up 1 each Raven, Kestrel & Stock Dove.

A miracle occurred halfway down Hunter Hill 😜. I saw my first Little Owl since Pterodactyl roamed Queensbury High Street.

A GBBG was on Mixenden Res as was a Common Gull 👍. Two Chiffchaff singing again.

Whiteholme Delivers The Goods

Well worth the effort this morning even if it was a crawling start. Got my first annual Wheatear a very noisy male. A bit late but that’s the way it is with our avian amigos.

Then it got really good with not one but 2 Little Ringed Plover 

A bit distant for good photos but adequate for species identification methinks 🙂.

Also in on the act: m Reed Bunting, 1 Raven, 3 Curlew, 1 m Pied Wagtail couple Skylark & a fair few Meadow Pipit.

I trust these amorous Toads found a hole big enough to get through to the water. I saw them creeping quite a distance on the bone dry track.