Horton Bank Country Park

So quiet it was all over and done with in 20 minutes. The Mute Swan pr, 5 Coot 5/6 Moorhen 7/8 Canadas.

On the bright side believe it or not both you readers, I got my only Sparrowhawk of the year. It was being bothered by a Crow as it circled.

A couple LBBG kept dropping in then leaving. 1 each Jay & Chiffchaff, a couple of Blackbird.

Doe Park To The Shay

Been quite a long while since I did Denholme Clough and Doe Park and although it tested my aged bones it did provide a couple of goodies for the year 👍.

Flying around the polluted beck in the Clough were c10 Sand Martin 😋. One bird actually inspected one of the old holes in the small sandbank there briefly. Just one or two Swallow seen.

Further down by the footbridge a Garden Warbler was singing its heart out.

About 4 each Blackcap & Chiffchaff & 7/8 WW 3 Whitethroat. 1 each Moorhen Grey & Pied Wagtail. Quite a few Goldfinch 3/4 Linnet. 2 loudly singing Song Thrush.

Doe Park has a lot of shoreline but waders weren’t having any of it just a Grey Heron & a Cormorant present.

The Shay (bottom Soil Hill) made for a busy 25 minutes. A Buzzard being chased and chastised by a Lapwing.

One Snipe seen in flight with another chipping in the vicinity.

2 Whitethroat ditto Skylark. A few Meadow Pipit couple Blackbird & 4 Linnet.

Crapstone Edge and Whiteholme Res

This venue never seems to do it for me this year. Blackstone with water still almost up to the brim was as expected crap.

Whiteholme was somewhat better but not exactly an earth tremor. The island is just appearing and on it were two large gulls of 3/4 cycle appearance. They left immdly but I’m opting for LBBG.

Pr Stonechat 3 Pied Wagtail a pair of which were visiting a nest hole.

A Dullard pr had 10 young uns in tow. A pr Greylag had 3 Gosling with them.

A pr Common Sandpiper are breeding judging by their ADHD behaviour. It took me sometime to get these two mediocre photos.

Also 2 Skylark a Goldfinch c20 Meadow Pipit 1 Crow. No sign whatsoever of a bird resembling yesterdays Water Pipit.

Soil Hill To Ogden Water

 This Fawn Roe Deer crossed my path at Ogden and froze the moment it saw yours truly. I took a couple of shots of it from my mobile bone and promptly left it alone.

Poor for birds: 1 Grey Heron, 3 LBBG, 1 GSW ditto Blackcap, usual WW couple Chiffchaff.

Prior to this I had done Soil Hill where there wasn't much change to the previous couple of visits, the exception being a couple of Snipe. 7 Whitethroat 1 each Goldfinch & Pied Wagtail. 4 Linnet couple Skylark.

Cold Edge Dams To Mixeeeewwwwenden

In reverse chronological or chronically logical order the final destination was enough to apply for Valium supplies by the cart 🛒 full.

Cold Edge Dams: 1 Little Grebe 6 Tufted Duck 4 Greylags c34 Canadas. 1 Oystercatcher.

A pr Stonechat have bred successfully; plenty of pebble rattling and the male leading me up the track.

10 Lapwing 1 Snipe heard as were 2 Curlew. 3 Linnet ditto Skylark c10 Swallow. A BHG overhead & a few Meadow Pipit. A few WW throughout. Revert to the opening stanza for the vast abundance of  nothing seen once I reached the former Withens pub and down the frog 🐸 n toad.

Queensbury Soil Hill Ogden

Unless I’m losing my faculties and there’s a fair chance of that I heard an Oystercatcher call several times this morning as it flew high over Foxhill > N.

Soil Hill was hard work again. Pr Swallow 1 each Kestrel & Grey Partridge. Pr RLP 2 Moorhen. 5 Whitethroat, WW at 5/6. 3 Skylark & a few Meadow Pipit.

After this humdrum performance I was determined to 🔨 hammer Ogden for different migrants. I failed miserably just below the Giants 🦷 area. I managed a 🦉 hooting and a discarded chewing gum rapper 😭. Couple Blackcap WW Chiffchaff 1 Swallow.

It was uplifting to see 3 LBBG & a Herring Gull on the water which is now receding from the shoreline. A Grey Heron was lurking near a bush. After a Jay near the Lodge House it got quiescent at pace.

The usual bird at Elsewhere and a LBBG at the watery grave I dread to mention.

Blackstone Whiteholme Then Who Knows

Won’t forget this yomp in a hurry I spent most of the day trying to find my way in and out of Mankinholes after the frustration of minimal birding forced me to wander afar.

Blackstone is best treat with the same attitude as Mixenden eeeewwww 😵‍💫.

Whiteholme - had 2 Crows mobbing a large brown long winged Harrier type. Only for 3/4 seconds it was flying away from Me into bright sunshine. The habitat spells Hen the size says f Marsh the decision is maybe/perhaps so it won’t get logged on Nerdtrack 🤣. Otherwise deadly quiet.

2 Curlew 3 Skylark 1 Wheatear ditto Kestrel pr Reed Bunting 1 Common Sandpiper several Meadow Pipit. 1 Pied Wagtail no hirundines and in the woods at Manky not a single migrant heard nor seen 😢.

At least this beer makes a refreshing change 🍻.

Horton Bank CP & Oats Royd

Horton Bank Country Park was quiet but compared to OR it was Rock n Roll.

HB CP The pr Mute Swan have failed to breed. 1 pr Tufted Duck 3 LBBG 1 BHG Coots and Moorhens the latter in reduced numbers. 1 Grey Heron.

Arboreal Avians down to 3 WW ditto Chiffchaff. 1 Song Thrush ditto Blackcap pr Greenfinch 4 Blackbird et al.

Oats Royd really poor. 2 Whitethroat then all the threes; Linnet Chiffchaff & WW. 

Not a single Hirundine seen anywhere despite a pleasant Spring Day.

Queensbury Soil Hill Ogden Water

Thought I would go all out this morning so I did and my body will never forgive me 😠.

A Whitethroat & a WW singing at Foxhill. 2 Greenfinch Perseverance Rd.

Soil Hill provided a quandary in the N slope bottom bog. I got a split second view with 👀 s only of a brown streaked Warbler perched on a stem. My gut feeling now says Sedge but my conscience says let it go.

3 Lapwing, 2 Curlew, 6 Whitethroat. couple Swallows. Several WW. Skylarks & Meadow Pipits.

I bumped into a guy at Ogden who asked me if I’d heard the Cuckoo. In my best John Wayne voice I replied The Hell I have!. I then staggered up to the 🔝 tree line where it duly called on 3 occasions 🤠. Also a singing Blackcap another Whitethroat a GSW & a plague of WW.

It all went silent across the golf course with just a Curlew near Carrs Beck. A pill should be on the NHS for pathetic people like me who can’t stop themselves from going to Mixenden.

The 1-1/2 of you who read this blog should know by now what there was at Elsewhere.

Shibden Valley

Almost 2 years ago I made a decision not to do Shibden again and after today’s session I wish I’d stuck to it. Twas quiet to say the least and hard work motivating oneself to complete the circuit.

The Jackdaw Colony in the wall down the Bare Head Lane track is now deserted. A Moorhen had two juveniles with it on the pond at the track top.

5/6 Swallow 1 each Bullfinch GSW Green Woodpecker. I did get my first Blackcap of the year - 4 mebbe 5 singers.

Whitethroat numbers are down, just 2 singers. 4 Chiffchaff 6/7 WW.

Not a single raptor seen or heard. 1 Linnet. 3/4 Blackbird some pretty 🐄 s 😋.

I hope the lady I met walking the dog (there’s a song in there) was reunited with it after the pooch took fright at my appearance and scarpered at speed down the track.

Cold Edge Dams To Mixenden

This was a bizarre session; the first part at Cold Edge provided several birds then the second at Hunter Hill virtually zilch. It was however a welcome change to experience a true Spring Day 😊.

Cold Edge: pr Common Sandpiper, 8 Tufted Duck, 1 Grey Heron, ditto Reed Bunting, pr Stonechat.

Several WW, 3/4 Swallow, ditto Curlew. Couple Lapwing & 1 Oystercatcher. 

A couple or three Skylark were on the top road but down the entire length of Hunter Hill nothing but Crows. I did see a Field Vole scurry away from me.

A pr of Mallard 🦆 had a single Dullardling in tow on Mixenden Nothingness. Yesterday they had 3, proof indeed of a high predation rate. 2 Chiffs still Chaffing.

Soil Hill To Mixenden

What a glorious winters day despite the cold NE’ly blow 😏. Quite surprising then to see 5 Swallows at Persecution Rd bottom. 

Soil Hill top was foggy but the bottom of the N slope was free thus enabling good views of, well nothing really 😒.

Several singing Skylark & 6 Meadow Pipit. 1 Reed Bunting, 2 Whitethroat 3 WW. Couple Moorhen 1 Kestrel.

Ogden provided frightening levels of boredom. A few WW & a Chiffchaff.

Carrs Beck did better. 1 each Whitethroat Reed Bunting & Song Thrush couple WW & Meadow Pipit. 2 LBBG over > N.

Imagine how I felt when a Mixenden man asked me if a “Sparrowhawk” he had photographed from his mobile phone from a distance of about 6 yards was just that. The bird was clearly visible, perched on a post near Ogden. It was a Peregrine Falcon 😵‍💫.

Mixenden Res was like an aquatic funeral parlour - 2 WW 1 Chiffchaff.

Elsewhere a Barn Owl.

Jays Antics and Others

We don’t got no Common Caaawvids here other than Jay. They perform the role of Maggot Pie and unlike the British race (these are dark birds) they aren’t too bothered by Homo Sapiens.

This morning a pair were very noisy as they surveyed the restaurant for pickings. One flew in twice to pick up dropped food.

Outside its mate was in a Yucca type plant busily pecking off strands for nesting material. I watched it for 5 minutes at a distance of 2 metres.

Got my first bona fide Rock Dove in many a year. A Raven high up back of hotel. 4 Coal Tit looked really coalish. A couple 🐝 Eater. 3 YLG singing Bulbul ditto Blackbird House Sparrers & Collared Doves.

Quiet Birding Then Squacco’d

Yesterdays Bee Eaters descended into the hotel gardens come evening plenty of them too.

So even though I knew what would happen I was fully prepared this am and of course this was a mistake. 5 YLG couple Gt Tit a couple of brief  unid songs and chirps. I did pickup a short burst of calls from the Western Rock Nuthatch but that was it.

So I started counting the influx of Painted Lady butterflies when a most unexpected bird flew alongside the cliffs. Twas a Squacco Heron well far out from the nearest wetland. That’ll do 😋👍.

Olu Deniz Local Walk

Lagoon painfully boring but the coastal cliffs and seafront provided some morsels. 

Bulbul singing in front of my room. 2/3 Red Rumpos flying around hotel grounds as were more Barn Swallows.

I paid the price for keeping the camera in by rucksack on the basis of  “I won’t probably need it”. What a cretin 🤓.

A Rock Nuthatch popped up just about 4 metres in front of me giving cracking views as it started singing.

Atop the high mountain 🏔️ a pr broad winged raptors circled for around 10 minutes. I was puzzled by the shape so discounted Common and plumbed for Honey Buzzard - probably 🤔.

A Black-headed Wagtail was feeding on the lawns in front of the hotel this time I was ready with the camera 😌. 2 YLG 

went overhead.

Also: A White Wagtail, 4 Blackbird, a couple Great Tit and somewhat unexpectedly a Leopard Snake 😛.

PS What a tasty finish to Lunchtime I left the Hotel entrance and heard the bubbly trills of Bee Eater 🤪 On looking up and around I saw 4/5 birds but am sure more were around.

Into The Hills Beyond Fethiye

First I wish to say to a blog reader (Yes I’m talking to you three) I am not a Drunkard nor an Alcoholic, I am a Recovering Teetotaller 🥸.

Old Age takes its toll. I have to cross reference Wheatear as I can’t be certain whether I picked up Finch’s at a distance. I know I got Pied Wheatear for certain via photos taken.

Blue Rock Thrush was a good find- it’s been a while. A Bunting sp. needs verification as I only got calls.

A couple Crested Lark one caught on camera also a couple Linnet. House Martin & Swallows in good numbers.

A White Stork was kind enough to fly low near our coach.

A Cettis Warbler sang half heartedly. Also pr White and a Grey Wagtail.

Tomorrow Did Come

And for the best part of the day I wish it hadn't. Serious lack of birds; on my last visit over a decade ago there were so many that when you inhaled you inevitably got a couple stuck in your nostrils 😂.

Things did pick up however in the last 75 mins when I reacquainted myself with a few stonkeronis 🤓👍.

c85 YLG and a gull I took at distance to be a Little first year edition. Set aside from a large gull group were a pair of Caspian Tern which I appoint as star bird with a gleaming male Woodchat Shrike a close second. 

I encountered the largest number of Black Tern I’ve ever had in two groups of c10 & c13.

A Black-headed Wagtail behaved in a sort of I’ve just arrived manner and seen twice overhead was a Night Heron 😛xx.

Yesterday Today & Tomorrow

Monday was like an avian cemetery so I booked a trip to Dalyan a huge wetland river system.

Tuesday: I find it amazing that not a single gull or wetland bird wasn’t seen around the lagoon here.

I went nearer to the amazing verdant mountains and drummed up a couple more Red rumped Swallow & a few more Barn Swallow.

A spot of luck.finally when I located a House Martin breeding area. Also 3 White Wagtail.

Tomorrow: refer above paragraph. Meanwhile Cappucino then Lunch then swimming then EFES Beer obligatory obliteration 🍻🍻😁😵‍💫.