Soil Hill Long Route Trek

I threw a couple of extra moorland miles in this morning to no avail birdwise however if the market for mud grows exponentially I'm just the man for exploiting it.

Soil Hill & Ogden 0930-1215 hrs.

c16 Meadow Pipit, pr Stonechat, 1 each Kestrel, Goldfinch & Grey Heron, 3 Swallow.

3 Teal ditto YLG, 11 LBBG & c17 BHGS. 1 each Cormorant & GC Grebe.

1 House Martin, 2 WW, 5 Stonechat back in the golf course rough. Just 1 Meadow Pipit nearby.

Mixenden Res: 8 Canada & a dozen or so BHG in adjacent field. Pr Tufted Duck & a Cormorant. Got my first Coal Tits in a while, 3 of them.

Indoors then Out Again

Friday 28 August.

This Moth has been hanging around for a few days. I found it dead on the floor early am so took this photo, the flash was too bright but with guidance from DJS and looking at a Moth website, it's probably Svensson's Copper Underwing.

Saturday 29 August.

A slow start on Soil Hell in a cold N'ly blow. 1 Goldfinch & the Stonechat pr.

Ogden Res: 1 each GC Grebe & Cormorant. A pr Teal, 9 LBBG, c20 BHG, 1 Kingfisher seen briefly. 2 WW, 1 each GSW & Green Woodpecker. 3 Blackbird together feeding on a Rowan.

The golf course bottom had c25 Lesser Redpoll busily flying around stopping to perch a couple of times. They appeared to split up as I saw a bunch of half this number head up the track adjacent to the course some 15 minutes later.

10 Mistle Thrush were near the stile and what I believe to be the same Redstart previously seen was perched on the same fence spot. 1 Kestrel nearby.

Hunter Hill bottom was sporting c14 Swallow, 3 Stonechat also 3 each Goldfinch & Linnet.

Mixenden Res was quiet as usual. c18 BHG, 2 Sand Martin 3/4 House Martin.

Green Withens

Courtesy of DP on an overcast but dry morning except for a shower as we neared the end of the walk.

First off was a pr of nervous Wheatear followed by c30 Twite which we saw some 4/5 times as they flew around or perched in the treetops.

Also: 1 Kestrel, 3 Pied Wagtail & a few Meadow Pipit.

Soil Hill Blah Blah

Soil Hill 1025 hrs. 1 each Meadow Pipit, Swallow & Kestrel. The latter being harassed by 3 Crows.

The Stonechat pr are still in the same spot on Coal Lane where a couple of Goldfinch were on the roadside.

A Green Woodpecker was on the hillside near the E track skirting Ogden Res. 3 WW and a pr noisy Gt Tit in the trees/bushes but otherwise silent.

The 2 GC Grebes and Cormorants still on the H2O as were 26 LBBG & c18 small gulls, nearly all BHG.

Birds seen from the Promenade walk across to the golf course: 1 Jay, 6 House Martin, 3 Swallow, Jim Crow.

A pleasant surprise in the rough ground at the Mixenden Stile: 3 Whitethroat & 1 Wheatear which makes a change. I was climbing over the stile when the Wheatear appeared on a wall so I had to put safety before chancing a photo.

A Green Woodpecker was in the trees near Mixenden Res as was this Stock Dove.

The Reservoir itself was gash; nothing on the water at all. 2 LBBG & 1 BHG did a couple of laps upstairs then flew off. Also 2 House Martin & a Swallow.

Queensbury North to Mixenden

Sunday 23 August. One Tawny Owl has revisited the trees at the back of my house, it called loudly at some unearthly hour this morning. 

Monday 24 August. Thought I'd completely wreck my ageing body; it worked!

Queensbury North: 13 small gulls incl. 3 Common. 1 Skylark, couple Pied Wagtail, ditto Swallow, 1 LBBG.

Soil Hill: 1 juv Wheatear, Pr Stonechat, couple Swallow. Bunch of Canada & few small gulls.

Ogden Res: Usual GC Grebes, 2 Cormorant, c60 small gulls. 16 LBBG & 1 YLG. 3 WW, Pr Mistle Thrush, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 GSW.

3 Stonechat in usual spot by the golf course & a WW.

Things dried up dramatically at Hunter Hill bottom although a Little Owl called a few times from Stod Fold, just a Meadow Pipit seen.

The Tufted Duck remains on Mixenden Res. Only other birds were a Cormorant and some Canadas.

Besides the Rabbit and Caterpillar (species unknown) I got another Painted Lady and 5 Small Copper.

It's going to take me a while to be comfortable with the new camera but at least it doesn't fire off all over the place of it's own accord like the previous one did.

Wind Rain and Misery

I picked a great day to trial my new camera; the wind that drove the water was a classic SW'ly to begin with, known for it's bird quenching prowess.

Plenty of small gulls on Soil Hill, mainly BHG but that was it.

Woodland types at Ogden were keeping a very low profile how I managed 2 WW I'll never know.

Not many gulls around, 3 LBBG, 2 Common & c10 BHG.

2 Cormorant and the established GC Grebes. 1 each GSW, Jay & Kestrel. A humdinger of a downpour brought around 17 Swallow out at Hunter Hill bottom.

Mixenden Res was a wet putrescence: 1 Canada & 1 Tufted Duck.