Soil Hill To Ogden Water

Not too great a morning especially at Ogden.

SH: pr Grey Partridge first of the year 👋. 2 Skylark singing briefly. 2 Moorhen bottom pond. Pied Wagtail, 2 Blackbird, Dunnock & 2 Pheasant.

A few gulls over but I think a naughty N’ly kept things down.

A Cat 🐈‍⬛ was in a field at Ogden Plantation and I’m so glad I binned it as some 40 yards or so behind it were 18 silent 🔕 Curlew 😁 a couple which appeared to have cheesed off a BHG.

Also 6 more Pheasants.

Nothing worth a mention at Ogden other than a Scumsucker was toting a shotgun which he fired twice up at the top end of the 🌲 🌳s.

Cold Edge To Mixenden

Hard Work and only one species to add to the annual

list 😏.

Just 1 Curlew definitely seen with a possible second calling weakly at Cold Edge.

The Dams held c210 Canada & 4 Greylag Geese. 4 Tufted Duck also present plus a Herring Gull in with the smaller gulls. 3 Blackbird, 1 Stock Dove 👍& 9 Goldfinch.

Mixenden Res: 10/11 🐕 s. A mix of gulls and fortunately for my sanity a calling Buzzard upstairs. Nothing Else - how this place has nosedived in just over a year.

Elsewhere a pr Barn Owl 😁.

Horton Bank CP

The walk down from Queensbury via Shelf Moor was diabolical just a Common Gull & 8 Rook.

The park itself wasn’t exactly rocking but there were 4 Goosander, 2 pairs. Two Mute Swan 🦢 one bearing a single metal ring on right leg ZY829 - no Yellow ring present.

At one stage 7 Herring and an adult LBB Gull were present until a dog walker struck, this didn’t drive the BHG away however

Low Moor Dams

A few Lapwing and plenty of BHG on the way down Briggus Rd. A Green Woodpecker and Song Thrush at Shelf Moor, Blackbirds knocking around throughout.

I was very wary of the Moorhens in Harold Park. A few of them were skulking around 🌳 bushes using distraction tactics. The idea is you look 👀 at the two in front while one comes up from behind and you’re done for. Believe me blunt force trauma inflicted by a bird jumping 6 feet 🦶 into the air and savagely pecking your temple isn’t funny 😆.

The lake wasn’t too busy; Tufted Duck down to three for example. 7/8 Herring Gull in various age ranges & an adult LBBG. Several small gulls, 3 Mute Swans, Coots. A bunch of Goldfinch heard nearby.

Park Dam was windswept and once again Tufted Duck were down to three. 1 each f Goosander, Cormorant & Grey Heron.

Pr GC Grebe ditto Greylag Goose. Finally I managed a Kingfisher here, the first in quite some time. Only a few small gulls, Mistle Thrush & couple Blackbird.

A Windy Wander

No need for a full frontal lobotomy yet I told myself after one of my brain cells overruled the others in deciding Soil Hill was out of the question this morning 😂.

Eventually I made it to Ogden Water after a balancing act from Bradshaw 💨🍃.

Initially there was nothing on the water other than those odd ducks 🦆 that laugh a lot. At the finish of the circuit a couple of Herring, a few BH and Common Gulls were established.

A Kingfisher was working the Skirden channel.

I’m afraid the only other active avians were a couple Blackbird a Coal Tit & a Robin.

I’d prefer not to mention the stretch via Stod Fold to Mixenden 😭💦.

A Long Slog Rewarded

Soil Hill 1005 hrs. Got my first Snipe of the year down in the bottom bog. Also 4 Teal flushed and I suspect another one at a distance. Around 10 Lapwing and similar nr. small gulls helping the farmer 👩‍🌾 muckspreading the adjacent field. Also a couple Pheasant..

Ogden Water: 1 drake Shoveler (as seen earlier by DJS) A pr Teal also present but never coming into acceptable camera 📷 range. I encountered a large flock of Siskin atop the tallest trees 🌳 on the W bank. Another one for my annual list.

Mixenden Res was a leveller, just a Moorhen & the gull mix.

Elsewhere a Barn 🦉 Owl.

Shelf Moor & Low Moor Dams

Empty local fields again on the way down apart from a few Crows and Maggot Pies.

I had a crack at the Brackens Lane Little Owl and after a couple of false starts picked it up hiding in a Hawthorn Bush. A Herring Gull, couple Blackbird & loads of House Sparrers hereabouts.

I scoured the Cooper Lane beck fields for the Little Egret and came up with nothing. In a similar vein the Tesco car park was devoid of birders both on the way down and back so the Waxwings must have departed.

A single female Goosander was on Harold Park Lake along with a bunch of Tufted Duck. Also present 3 Mute Swan, a mix of gulls and the usual villains. Singing birds were Mistle &  Song Thrush. 

Park Dam: 3 Goosander, pr Mute Swan, 1 Cormorant ditto noisy Grey Heron. Pr Greylag,  more Tufted Duck. A pr GC Grebe were doing the boogie woogie. More Blackbirds, gulls etc.

Hopeless

The crowds were out at Ogden as I expected and BS predicted. It would be easy to blame this for the poor show of birds but the fact remains there were simply none in the vicinity. Best record is of a singing Song Thrush. A few BHG & a Herring Gull.

A golf course Weasel broke the monotony. 

Mixenden was packed with gulls but no other water birds. A Nuthatch was heard.

Gary Moore - Red House (I need a change from Birding)

Tesco Buttershaw Waxwings

Went down for the flighty Waxwings again and eventually had some very good views. Photos were below average because of poor focus due twigs and branches. Previously a Sparrowhawk had chased the birds but remained hungry.

Several birders present including one from Halifax - that won’t bode well with the Birding Police I’m certain.

Low Moor Dams

26 Lapwing in field below High Cross Lane on way down.

Harold Park Lake: 10 Tufted Duck, 3 Mute Swan, plenty of BHG, a few Herring & 2/3 LBBG. Couple of Blackbird, 2 Mistle Thrush, a plague of Moorhen & Coot.

Park Dam: couple Mute Swan, pr Goosander, 1 GC Grebe, 9 Tufted Duck. More gulls etc.

I aborted halfway through owing to a txt from DM about 4 Waxwings at Tesco Buttershaw (I had wondered about the big crowd as I passed earlier).

I rushed up and just managed a couple of Waxwing trills from a nearby garden but didn’t see the bird. A chap stood near the car park said they had left their favoured tree(s) but are known to return.

What A Disaster

I set off with a positive attitude from the hovel to Soil Hill; this was my first mistake. The second was arriving and walking up and down the dump 😢.

The bottom field held c36 Lapwing. That’s it apart from a Blackbird & a Pheasant.

Ogden was so horrrific I abandoned the session and went looking 👀 for a Psychiatrist. This too was a failure 😨.

Ogden To Mixenden Again

Ogden Water: a pr Teal a fair few gulls & a bunch of Canada.

A 🌰 hatch & a 🌲 creeper shared the same rotted tree trunk. Pr LTT at the busy feeder.

Green Woodpecker laffin a lot around Stod Fold.

Drake Tufted Duck and the gull assortment on Mixenden Res.

Don’t think I got a single LBB today - fickle so and so’s 🥸

Ogden Water To Mixenden

On completion of the trek, I had to check that all my teeth were still present, such was the ferocity of the wind this morning 💨.

Only small gulls at Ogden & a pr Canada. The feeders were busy with common Tits & a Nuthatch. I am proud of the skill I employed in avoiding capturing the 🌰 hatch on camera.

 

Also 1 GSW & a couple Blackbird.

Mixenden Res did better than my last few visits. 1 Kestrel, a pr Cormorant, 4 Canada, 1 Grey Wagtail & the Gull assortment. Also a Treecreeper, 2/3 Goldcrest & more common Tits.

Elsewhere my first Barn Owl of the year 😛.