Olu Deniz First Day

Very Hard Graft in the morning on an extended walk on the coast and part way around the Lagoon. Hardly any birds at all. 5 Jay 1 YLG Pr White Wagtail several House Sparrers & Collared Doves. 1 Little Egret couple Great Tit. 6 Swallows.

Then mainly through lack of sleep I lumped it on the balcony which resulted in a couple of goodies 👍. A pr Common Bulbul appeared and ended up chasing off a Jay. Then 3 Red Rumped Swallow came in. A pr inspected the eaves of the building just 30 yards away giving cracking views.

Also a pr Blackbird, a Tortoise almost at my feet & a Swallowtail Flutterbye.

Blackstone Edge and Whiteholme Walk

Another ghastly cold E'ly wind but the birding was OK Dokey 🐷 in a Pokey.

I got a pr of Common Sandpiper at Blackstone before I saw the water! They briefly flew above the wall before heading back down to the shore line.

Another Common Sandpiper was at Whiteholme Res. Always flying well ahead of me.

Wheatear were almost commonplace. I counted 13 of them taking care not to duplicate any. These were very flighty resulting in average photos (who said again! 😠).

Also: 1 Red Grouse 2 each Curlew Skylark. 5 Pied Wagtail, 4 Goldfinch & c10 Meadow Pipit. 3 large unid Gulls over & an adult LBBG also upstairs.

Queensbury To Horton Bank CP

The absence of the ghastly NE'ly wind was much appreciated but at the cost of minimal birds seen.

Pr Canada in the Cross Lane quarry then nowt until halfway down Bridge Lane. 

4 Lapwing & a pr Linnet. I have to chuck in c22 Woodpiglets just to fill the gaps 🤓.

A bunch of House 🏡 Sparrows at Stanage Lane then an abundance of zilch.

Horton Bank Country Park came up trumps with sorely missed large gulls. c18 birds incl. 7 adult LBBG 4/5 adult or sub-A Herring. 

6 Goosander was a good count - 4 males, 2 females. Also a Grey Heron et al.

Only a Blue Tit and Blackbird making noises from the trees.

Queensbury Ogden Water Mixenden

A bit of a downer this in the continued Winter weather conditions. The fields at Old Guy Road were appalling just a Skylark & a pr Rook.

There was no visual satisfaction at Ogden with nothing present on the drink. Audio was down to 10 singing WW & 7 Chiffchaff. Also a pr Pied Wagtail 1 GSW ditto Green Woodpecker & 3 Curlew.

2 Cormorant & 2 Chiffchaff at Mixenden. A Barn Owl elsewhere.

A Productive Walk: Queensbury To Shelf Moor

Despite the cool/cold temperature and overcast skies Littlemoor Park was surprisingly noisy. Other than the expected resident chirpers were: 3 Chiffchaff, 1 each Greenfinch Nuthatch & Song Thrush. A few Blackbird knocking around. I heard 3/4 calls from an overhead large gull but can't commit.

The fields produced 2 Lapwing, 5 Swallow back on their breeding haunts. 6 singing Skylark, 2  each Goldfinch & Pied Wagtail.

I took the option to return home via Cross Lane and this proved a good move as it coughed up the first Jay I've had in about a month. The morning was concluded with a Wheatear on a wall about 130 yards up from Shaw Lane.

Busy Cold Edge

The NE'ly this am could be up for a GBH prosecution I’ll wager.

Despite this the Dams and surrounding fields around them in the lee of the wind were productive 😄.

4 Swallow, 1 drake Goosander, 2 pr Tufted Duck. The Barnacle in with the Canadas & 5 Greylag. 2 LBBG over > N.

8 Lapwing busy defending their sites. A pr Redshank appeared to be looking for one. An Oystercatcher gobbling up goodies. A few Curlew calling & 4/5 Meadow Pipit.

I survived the trek down Hunter Hill and over halfway through Mixenden Res I thought I was in for claiming a blank until I heard a Chiffchaff. JL was stood by the gate and he pointed out a loitering Cormorant.

Queensbury Soil Hill & Ogden Water

An interesting sight at Raggalds was a feeding party of Rook well into double figures. This is a very scarce occurrence here to get so many outside their breeding area.

Bumped into BS a few minutes later and had a natter.

Shortly after that I got my first Greenfinch of the year; a pr in the 🌲 🌳 s bottom Perseverance Rd.

I think it’s fair to say that instead of blowing birds in the E’ly wind cleared quite a few out, especially at Ogden.

Soil Hill pr Curlew, a single Snipe. 7 Skylark, 4 Meadow Pipit. A Kestrel was carrying prey that looked like a Field Mouse or Vole. A brief view of a Partridge sp. Pr Stock Dove 1 WW.

Ogden: hardly anything in the woods to begin with but at the end 3 Chiffchaff were counted. 1 each Pied & Grey Wagtail.

2 Grey Heron 3 adult LBBG.

Cold Edge To Mixenden

Light Grey skies and mostly calm with a light breeze toward the end of the quite satisfying session 😊. 

Cold Edge Dams: 3 Tufted Duck, 1 Barnacle Goose in with the Canadas & a pr Greylag. The surrounding fields produced 2 chipping Snipe, 1 Redshank, small numbers of Curlew & Lapwing. 

A small flock c15 Fieldfare flying from ground to 🌲 no doubt ready for off. 4 singing WW heard throughout.

Once in a while you get a dream view of a usually secretive bird and this occurred as I started the trudge down Cold edge road after clocking a pr Pied Wagtail. No need to mention the species really 😎.

 Also in the vicinity 5 Skylark, a few more Curlew & Lapwing. 2 Green Woodpecker a pr Grey Partridge Meadow Pipits & Woodpigeon.

Mixenden Res: 1 Cormorant & a Chiffchaff.

Elsewhere a Barn 🦉.

Blackstone Edge Whiteholme Walk

1025-1250hrs. Dry Sunny in  an E’ly breeze. Quiet overall with only a few Canada on either stretch of water, both full to the brim.

15 Meadow Pipit, 3. Skylark, 1 each Curlew & Red Grouse. 5 Pied Wagtail. 4 Wheatear 👍.

Other: a pr Roe Deer nearly got reduced by 50% at Swalesmoor Road junction when one dashed in front of the 576 Bus, it made it in one piece.

Oats Royd Ogden Mixenden

Can we first establish that it is January 13 today and not April?  The wind rain and cold I experienced this morning has me wondering which leads me to the wandering.

Oats Royd to Bradshaw is just a mud trap. Only bird worth a mention is a Curlew at the latter venue.

Ogden Water raised the depression levels. A struggle to recall what was there. Oh yes a Song Thrush, Bullfinch pr Robin 3 Blackbird ditto Chaffinch. Riveting 🧐.

The blustery wet wind did me a favour I suppose at Carrs Beck. A hundred or so paces over the stile a pr Wheatear were really struggling to make headway uphill. A Curlew called from farther away. 4/5 Meadow Pipit flitting about.

Mixenden Res: 9 Canada a pr Herring Gull a Moorhen & 3 singing Chiffchaff.

Queensbury South & Horton Bank CP

Dry and breezy start with a dark very wet finish. Littlemoor Park wasn’t too interesting 2 Chiffchaff 1 each Mistle & Song Thrush.

It got stimulating in the fields down Bridge Lane. A Wheatear for starters. 3 displaying Skylark a pr Lapwing.

I chanced a quest for the Little Owl and was both pleased and surprised to see it or one of a pr sitting out in the usual tree braving the wintry stuff.

Horton Bank CP held more gulls than I dared hope for. 3 Common c13 Herring & 4 LBBG. A pr Goosander present along with the resident Moorhens. 1 Coot & Mute Swan pr.

The 🌲 🌳s coughed up 2 Chiffchaff.

Ogden Water To Mixenden

A very pleasant Spring morning and in the main quite a rewarding trek.

Ogden: nothing on the water save a pr Canada goose. 5 🎵 singing Chiffchaff & a 🎶 Willow Warbler 👍. A Grey Wagtail down the embankment. A Buzzard heard, a singing Song Thrush.

The walk across the golf course was just that - no birds present. However Carrs Beck produced the Stonechat pr, a Meadow Pipit & a f Reed Bunting. A second WW was flitting around the bushes. A Curlew called.

Mixenden Res: a pr Herring Gull a single Greylag & 4 Canadas. Two Chiffchaff in the 🌲 🌳s.

A Barn Owl 🦉 seen elsewhere.

Cromwell Bottom

Not the light rainy day as forecast but a dry sunny one quite warm out of the wind. A steady session slow at times. The Ski Lake appeared devoid of birds which is good training for a few weeks time when it won’t be visible through the foliage.

10 singing Chiffchaff. A pr Swallow my first of the year. A Buzzard was the only raptor.

Mute Swan bearing Yellow ring 4Y79 left leg. 1 drake Goosander 1 Coot ditto Grey Wagtail.

8 Grey Heron were in a line almost uniform. 5 LTT couple Goldfinch and the expected arboreal types.

Queensbury South Nightmare

Thought I’d do the park and surrounding fields. Well we all know what thought did 😏. Abysmal isn’t too strong a word to describe the abundance of avian emptiness.

Park: a Chiffchaff. 3 Stock Dove a Goldfinch or two.

Fields: a sitting Lapwing a Pied Wagtail & a Dullard 😖.

Soil Hill To Mixenden

I decided to exploit the SE'ly wind this am and despite being a bit cold it made for a satisfactory birding session 👍.

Soil Hill top coughed up a pr Grey Partridge and a couple Skylark.

8 Skylark were at the N slope bottom as were 6 or so Meadow Pipit. On or around the pond were: a pr Teal a Moorhen, Buzzard & Grey Heron. Also 4 Lapwing a pr Oystercatcher a Curlew & a platoon of Woodpigeon.

Ogden Water: a GC Grebe pr LBBG & a very busy Dipper my first of the year 🤠. A Chiffchaff was singing.

Another Buzzard and pr Grey Partridge at Carrs Beck where a pr Stonechat were very active. Also a Curlew, couple Blackbird ditto Meadow Pipit. A Green Woodpecker heard a couple of times.

Mixenden Res: 4 large gulls pr Herring and LBB depending on how the bright sunlight ricocheted off their backs 🤔. 2 singing Chiffchaff.

A Barn Owl elsewhere.

Ogden Water To Mixenden

Yet another Winter hangover morning (weather not me). Ogden became interesting after about 20 minutes when a pr Buzzard circled over the W shore trees for 7/8 mins and a Raven started groaning from the N.

The Woodland Trust had a tent up on the promenade and presumably they were the ones who erected the new nest boxes very recently. A Great Tit had a brief inspection of one of them. There was a fair bit of noise in the 🌲 🌳 s including a GSW.

 The walk across to Mixenden produced a couple Curlew and Meadow Pipit. An Oystercatcher flew over and a Green Woodpecker was laffing 😃. Pr Herring Gull on the drink and the Chiff keeps a chaffing.

Elsewhere a Barn Owl