A Bonus At Oats Royd

I decided to pay my first visit to Oats Royd in over 18 months on yet another winters day in late May. In classic Stonechat country no such bird was seen or heard 😏. However there was compensation! 😋.

A Garden Warbler was singing heartily from an area with 3/4 bushes set amongst the myriad of gorse. On investigation I noticed a small brown and grey warbler flitting around then flying briefly to another adjacent bush. It then commenced to 🎶 sing and kept this up sporadically throughout my stay. It was a most welcome Lesser Whitethroat and the first I’ve had locally in 13/14 years. The first just happened to be here also but nearer to the anglers ponds.

Also 1 Chiffchaff ditto Common Whitethroat. 3 WW, couple Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush. Few Goldfinch & Linnet, Green Woodpecker in flight. 6 large gulls upstairs > NW.

Cold Edge Dams To Mixenden

Not too great as the murky weather continues. In reverse order let’s get Mixenden out of the way; it was utterly abysmal 🤕.

I managed to do the dams before the crowd arrived so I can’t blame the mediocrity on them (maybe next time?).

A pr Oyster 🦪 catcher. 5/6 Curlew, 1 Common Sandpiper. A pr Lapwing with another pr on the top road. 2 drake Tufted Duck & a bunch of Canadas.

2 Wheatear, 3 Skylark, 1 Reed Bunting. A few Meadow Pipit & a pr Pied Wagtail.

Let’s not forget my first Kestrel for some time. Also 5/6 Swallow.

Ogden Res To Mixenden

Yet another lousy unseasonal wet day 🥺. The Redstart was once again performing admirably from the 🌳s at its favourite haunt 😋. 

Both the Grey Heron and Mute Swan were still hanging on in. A Common Sandpiper was yet again noisy and mobile.

4 adult LBBG were on the W shore and the same number of 🍁 🇨🇦 Geese out on the drink.

Couple Whitethroat and several Meadow Pipit around Carrs Beck. A Red-legged Partridge was on the approach track to Mixenden Res which had 3 Swift flying low over it & an 🦪 Catcher briefly overhead. A Blackap & 2 Chiffchaff in the woods.

Queensbury To Mixenden Res

A long trek but worth it all told. An Oyster 🦪 Catcher flew high over Fox Hill calling thrice. Soil Hill was passage only but I did get a pr Greenfinch.

I got my first Cuckoo 😜 of the year 📞 calling from Ogden Clough then moving randomly toward the top of the tree line nearer to the golf course. It’s also, once again the latest date I’ve had for a Spring bird.

The Redstart was still performing, 14 days after I first got it. I tried again for the Pied Flycatcher and did get two calls that made my 👂s stand up but I can’t bring myself to record on Birdtrack with such flimsy evidence. The Mute Swan is still present and looking content. A Grey Heron was on the E shore and the usual arboreal types 🎵 singing.

Mixenden Res once again disappointed with just a pr Swallow stopping for a drink. 4/5 3CY ish large gulls drifted over in the vicinity.

Swillington Ings Yawn

What a boring experience this was 🥸 I reckon this has to be my last visit on the basis I need to preserve what little sanity I have left. Nothing to boast about at all just the usual suspects.

Black-necked, Little & GC Grebes. Shelduck with 5 young. Several Common Tern. 

Waders down to Lapwings, 1 each Dunlin & Oyster 🦪 Catcher. An epidemic of Swift. Usual Pochard, Gadwall, Shoveler & Tufted Duck.

A Cettis Warbler made a big mistake, it actually showed itself! 😱. Lots of Reed & Sedge Warblers. Couple Garden Warbler, Blackcaps also Chit Chats & Wiley Warbler 😂.

2 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret, Cormorants & plenty of Gull sp.

Song Thrush do alright here, however I searched and searched but never found a single Dunnock 😫😣. Perhaps it’s time I stopped birding and took up something worth while like following Leeds United 🤬

Soil Hill To Mixenden Res

Another day of atypical May weather with a fresh SW’ly blow. Nothing exciting on Soil Hill (there’s a surprise 🥸).

1 Grey Partridge calling loudly. A pr Snipe making less noise, similarly a Reed Bunting. Usual WW, Whitethroat, Linnet, Skylark & Meadow Pipit. 1 Curlew.

The Redstart was 🎤 singing loud and often on arrival at Ogden so much so for a short while I thought two birds were present. It turned out the bird was flying more frequently, expanding its options. The Mute Swan was having a snooze 💤 in the Skirden Clough channel.

Nothing on the main water at all. A Grey Heron on the W shore. Usual singing 🪵 woodland denizens. Pr Grey Wagtail at Brookhouse and a couple more Whitethroat. Finally, at Hunter Hill bottom I got my latest ever Springtime House Martins. About 4/5 were in with a bunch of Swallows.

Mixenden Res had a wader! 🤪. OK just a partial one then; an Oyster 🦪 Catcher was flying around 📞 calling loudly and continual for 5 minutes before deciding not to land and moving on. Couple Chiffchaff in the trees.

Awesome

 https://m.facebook.com/100049174574382/videos/365492115411914/

More Habitat Loss In Calderdale

This am I visited Wainstalls and Cold Edge Dams and what a bad dream it turned into 🥺.  Around 13 vehicles shot up and down the track leading to the dams in about 20 minutes. In addition the excavations around the smallest dam have intensified and all the displaying Lapwing from previous visits have gone 😓.

The reason for the petrol burning soon became obvious at Haigh Cote dam. Jack the Lad, White Van Man and their mates were not only revving up on the water but had erected a tent bearing the hallmarks of an establishment that dispenses 🍺 beer. I checked up with the law again to find out that I’m still not allowed to carry a Glock.🔫 👺.

Pr Oystercatcher in flight. 3/4 Wheatear ditto Curlew. 6/7 Linnet. 1 Litttle Owl 🦉 ditto Raven.Few Meadow Pipit and Skylark.1 Barn Owl ditto Grey Heron.

Mixenden should be closed down 🤢.

Queensbury Sth to Horton Bank

The fields down to Cooper Lane were quieter than expected e.g no hirundines nor apodiododiffronds Swifts 😏. 1 displaying Whitethroat, couple Skylark and Goldfinch spread throughout. 

Horton Bank Country Park wasn’t exactly rocking but it was really great to relax and listen to the singing Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, WWs & ‘Throats 🎵. I persevered by the reeds and bushes, finally getting singing 🎤 Sedge Warbler for the fourth May running. I told a couple of local birders about it and they responded they have also had Reed Warbler here in the past.

Water birds were down to the usual Coot, Moorhen, 🇨🇦 Geese & Dullards, however 8 LBBG in various phases challenged my photography skills and won hands 🙌 down.

The Perils Of Bird Watching

 DM and his mate got warned off in Spain by Black-winged Stilts. Poor souls 🤣.

Ogden Res to Mixenden

Another wonderful day of wet May weather 😭. I had two attempts at the Pied Flycatcher without success. The nice 👍 friendly Redstart was still performing at its usual haunt however.

14 LBBG & a Herring Gull were hauled out on the stony section of the W shore. A drake Tufted Duck was cruising around and a Common Sandpiper was flying around noisily. Talking of noise, a Raven was at it again. A couple of LTT plus the usual singers & 2 Reed Bunting also noted.

The golf course to Mixenden Res was, again soporific with the exception of a pr Swallow & a 📞 calling Green Woodpecker. Mixenden Res had a Grey Wagtail and a single overhead LBBG. Without being a hundred percent certain, a recently DEAD 💀 Greylag Goose could have been a victim of some scumsuckers shotgun or rifle.

Whiteholme Res to Mankinholes

The wind was almost 50 percent stronger than forecast making it very hard work finding birds especially as the water level at Whiteholme is also high now. 3 Wheatear seen, two of which appeared to be at breeding sites.

Dan B was there and mentioned very few waders were about. Fortunately,  I managed a pr Dunlin, 1 each Ringed Plover & Common Sandpiper.

As I was taking pot shots of these a single Swift flew headlong into the wind. 1 Pied Wagtail and a small no. of Skylark & Meadow Pipit.

I couldn’t face heading back the same way so I opted to cross the moors, ending up after not getting a decent bird in Manky Hole. Here at least I managed a Buzzard, Garden Warbler, Blackcap & a few Chiffchaff.

Feedback

I have received a number of comments on the negative comments I make about being a birder, all of them unsympathetic 😹.

You don't know the half of it, I collect Bear Hugs, my back is killing me! Horace Shrivel, Ealing.

I am an IT professional and my chips are down. My memory is failing and I byte people. Mother Board, Cyber Convent.

Oh you poor creature! I monitor radio frequencies for the military. I'm almost looking forward to the day when I'm carried away in a Herz.

Birds are beautiful you clown! What really sucks is my obsession, I'm a vampire who yearns to be Vegan.

You should try my hobby, Javelin Catching, it can be a real pain at times 😂.

Ogden Res to Mixenden

A friend reported a Swift near Fleet Lane yesterday tea time Tuesday 10th. I still haven’t had a local one yet 😾. 

I was on my way to Ogden when DJS rang to inform about the Pied Flycatcher he had discovered. Despite visiting the spot on two occasions I failed to hear the bird let alone get a sighting. Let’s face it birds fly and it probably still is hanging around the wider area.

No problem with the singing Redstart however, it was even louder than the last time, staying faithful to the same bunch of trees 🌳. A drake Tufted Duck and 3 LBBG were on the water. Other players: a Raven that gave me a helluva rollicking. 1 each Treecreeper & Song Thrush plus the usual villains.

The golf course turned a couple of distant Curlew up, a Pied Wagtail, a couple Whitethroat and Linnet. Mixenden Res again had nothing on the water but there were about 9 galloping 🐕 dogs not controlling their noisy human accomplices. Elsewhere: 1 Barn Owl.

Soil Hill to Mixenden Res

Another poor Spring day but it had its moments both bird and non bird  🦞 wise. 

Hard work in a SW’ly blow especially 🧗‍♂️ climbing up that hill from hell. 9 Lapwing, 3 each WW & Whitethroat. 2 Reed Bunting, 3 Linnet. 1 Wheatear by the quarry top.

Ogden Res: 1 each Lapwing & Oystercatcher on the scrape near the adventure slope. 1 Common Sandpiper on the W shore of the reservoir. 4 LBBG & 1 Herring Gull.

A Redstart was singing from the track skirting the E side.

Also 1 Blackcap & GSW. Reduced numbers of WW & Chiffchaff but Blackbirds common throughout the walk.

The stretch from the Lodge House was tear inducing as was the reservoir itself at Mixenden; nothing on the water again.

I was fortunate to grab a decent shot of this Orange Tip before finding what I think is an dead invasive American Signal Crayfish.

Two Chiffchaff  singing in the wood.

Swillington Ings

On arrival the first thing that caught my eye was the welcome 🙏 return of Swifts - I’ve not seen any at home yet. The Hotel du Sand Martin was chocca and Swallows notable too.

A solitary Black-necked Grebe and not 1 but 2  Black-tailed Godwit certainly raised the spirits. Reed & Sedge Warblers now well established. 5 Whitethroat & oh those annoying Cettis Warblers 😁.

I was lucky enough to meet a bunch of lads who put me on to the 2CY distant Little Gull behaving more like a Tern of which I counted 10 Common.

2 blooming Bittern & 2 Little Egret. 4 Shelduck, Pochard and Shoveler in good numbers. 1 Redshank, Lapwings & all and sundry. Mustn’t forget my first one or two Garden Warbler for the year.

Cold Edge to Mixenden

Not great in weather more akin to March than May. Cold Edge Dams: 5 Tufted Duck, 1 Cormorant, 4/5 Canada including a nesting bird. A pr of Common Psychosandpiper whizzing around noisily. Pr Reed Bunting, 10/11 Curlew, 4 Lapwing. Couple of Snipe.

Wheatear were thinly spread throughout the trek. 5 were in the dams area with another 3/4 on the tops. 4/5 Pied Wagtail, 1 each Kestrel & Swallow, 4 singing Skylark.

Mixenden Res was chronic; nothing on the water, a Pied Wagtail on the bank.The trees sported a singing Blackcap, 2 singing Chiffchaff & a few Chaffinch. 

One Barn Owl seen elsewhere. A pleasant surprise while crossing North Bridge, HX. A noisy Common Sandpiper down below and a Grey Wagtail.

Soil Hill to Mixenden

Patchy birding in the first half and appalling in the stretch from Ogden to Mixenden. Soil Hill: couple of Snipe ditto Curlew. 3/4 Lapwing, 1 singing Reed Bunting, several Skylark. 4/5 WW, 3 Whitethroat. 1 Sand Martin, 3/4 Swallow.

Ogden was unbearable thanks to barking children and screaming dogs 🐕 😂. I know Ogden is for Everybody  but everybody isn’t for Ogden. I staggered up to GT only to hear a calling Curlew and Red Grouse plus a couple Goldcrest. A pr GC Grebe & 5 LBBG were on the drink. 1 Blackcap plus the WW & Chiffchaff crew.

I think a pr Raven are breeding in the area as they were cruising and kronking up Skirden Chough for quite a while.

2 Whitethroat were singing at Carrs Beck. A Grey Wagtail was in Hebble Brook. Blackbird numbers were in double figures throughout the walk, until…Mixenden Res which was less busy with people but even more so birdwise 😢