A Bit Of A Surprise At Ogden

Thankfully the orrible SW'ly wind nightmare was replaced by varying blows from the E this morning 😊. I think this is why my first bird was a Wheatear perched atop the ruined stone shed in Ogden Lane just 30 or so  yards away from the main road!

Nothing new on the water. 8 Cormorant and the gull gang. How odd I that should see 4 Common Gull at Foxhill yet Ogden produced just 2. 

Just a Jay in the woods and further afield the 3 Stonechat.

I met a chap who told me one morning during the week he saw a pr Red Kite showing well and calling.

A distant calling Raven was the only sign of life at Mixenden and a Barn Owl showed elsewhere.

Cold Edge Dams To Ogden

What a diabolical start this was, yet again Cold Edge was depression enshrined. Thankfully matters did improve at Ogden Water 😊.

Cold Edge Dams: nothing on them other than 19 BHG & 1 LBBG. 9 Meadow Pipit, 5 Swallow, 1 each Blackbird, Goldfinch & WW.

Ogden: two waders rapidly scuttling around the rocky W shore at distance turned out to be a pr Common Sandpiper 👍. The 7 Cormorant were still showing. A Dipper was busy at the far end of the embankment channel.

The usual gulls present in slightly reduced numbers.

A single Barn Owl seen elsewhere and 2 Stonechat.

Usual Route Picks Up A Bit

And I do mean a bit. Ogden Water Cormorant count now up to 7 birds. Nothing new on the Gull front although the numbers are still good. The woods produced a Wren! I am beside myself with joy. There was quite a bit of noise from what I took to be a juvenile raptor species Buzzard did cross my mind 🤔.

Carrs Beck coughed up the regular 3 Stonechat and a Reed Bunting. A Skylark flew overhead calling once. This being my first in a couple of months plus methinks.

Hunter Hill bottom had the usual Golfinch and Swallow crowds with a couple House Martin thrown in.

Mixenden Res actually had birds on and over it! 3 LBBG & 7/8 Swallows.

Queensbury N To Oats Royd

Don’t worry about not reading any further as you won’t miss much. A good number of House Sparrow at Foxhill Grove.

Old Guy Road fields - zilch. Ropy Lane - zilch.

Oats Royd - nothing on the two ponds I could see. The place is covered with masses of Indian Balsam and Brambles which present a danger in 2/3 places.

1 Sparrowhawk ditto WW Robin & Blackbird. A few distant LBBG. Woodpigeons.

Cold Edge Ogden Mixenden Slog

Once again not exactly scintillating birding. The Dams: 1 each Little Grebe & f Tufted Duck. 14 BHG, Canadas & c70 Goldfinch. A Raven was heard at distance.

5 Swallow on the monotonous trek down to Ogden Water where 4 Cormorant have turned up. Good numbers of gullage on the ullage. A GSW called once.

3 Stonechat & 2 Meadow Pipit at Carrs Beck. A GSW called from the woods at Mixenden which was yet again a barren reservoir.

Old age and new cameras don’t mix. I’ve now regressed 3 steps backward and can’t get the shutter to shut promptly for telephoto bird shots. A week or so spent on the user guide is in order methinks.

Usual Route Not Much Doing

Ogden Water: 2 Grey Heron, 1 GC Grebe. Usual gulls as previously moaned about. Woodland produced a Robin only.

For once House Martin outnumbered Swallow around the Sycamores at Hunter Hill bottom. c12 to 6/7. Plenty of Goldfinch present.

Forget Mixenden.

I’m now down to one regular blog reader. The other one asked me to pay more money and I thought no way I’ll just post now for egocentric purposes.

A Long Slog Rewarded

A mix of fortunes from Soil Hill to Mixenden ending on a high note just before the reservoir was reached 😁.

SH was busy with many gulls in the fields adjacent to Perseverance Rd. However the top was devoid of birds apart from a notable exception.

3 Swallows were flying around and in and out of the big barn at the topmost farm. A sure sign that another brood or two are present.

Late Breeding by another species was observed on the Ned Hill track. A Blackbird allowed close approach as it stood in a mud pile. It then flew into a bush holding a big dollop in its beak.

Ogden Water was a drudge with nothing present other than the expected gulls.

3 Stonechat still at Carrs Beck and a distant Barn Owl seen.

When I got to the bottom of Hunter Hill I noticed several Swallow and a few House Martin whizzing around the tall sycamores almost in a frenzy.

I watched for about 5 minutes and was so glad I did as a bird flew onto one of the top dead branches of a tree. It stayed perched for about 30/35 seconds - my first UK Spotted Flycatcher of the year! 👍

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Cold Edge Ogden Mixenden Session

A WSW wind which allowed Cold Edge to pick up a little on the last visit but not by much.

12 Goldfinch, 1 Tufted Duck ditto Kestrel. 5 Swallow, 2 Meadow Pipit, c110 Canada & c20 BHG.

Ogden Water proved more interesting apart from the silent woodland. I got a Dipper in the embankment channel; has to be my first in several months.

A Cormorant was on the W shoreline. The GC Grebe stayed out in the middle. 5 Swallow & the usual mix of Gulls in reduced numbers than of late.

Mixenden was of exercise value only - again.

Catch Up On Not Many Birds

An altertative title: Nothing Worth Catching Up On. Tuesday at Cold Edge Dams I spent in desperation due to a SW’ly wind that kept everything down apart from a Meadow Pipit. I abandoned the session after seeing the Canadas. 2 LBBG and a few BHG.

I finally bought a new camera so today in the rain I opted for Ogden Water. A GC Grebe was out in the middle of the reservoir. 

The gulls did provide testing opportunities even if it was the same old crew.

I called it a draw after this and returned home with the thought this has to be the worst birding year I’ve known since my Calderdale area incarceration starting 24 years ago.

Ogden Water Livens Up

A humid day after the rain stopped. A good bird turned up at Carrs Beck which made the misery of Mixenden easier to bear.

A fairly long broad winged raptor flew into the trees from the NE and landed for less than two minutes at the top of one. Although it was partially obscured by foliage I was struck by the face and head markings. It took off revealing brown colouration on the wings and body as it headed over to and beyond Mixenden. 

I, being a second/third rate birder didn’t ring anybody about this as I needed to check identity details with my raptor manual. It was a juvenile Hen Harrier 👍.

Usual gulls including 3 Herring & a couple Common at Ogden. Also a juvenile Moorhen, calling Buzzard & a couple WW.

Ogden Water To Mixenden

A slow start again at Ogden. A WW called from the woods but nothing else did. The usual gulls present including a couple of Herring. A GC Grebe was at the Skirden Clough end.

The 3 Stonechat were still lively at Carrs Beck. A Grey Heron flew over heading N. 10 or so Linnet were flitting around. Just 1 Swallow ditto Chaffinch and a couple of Goldfinch at Hunter Hill bottom.

I think you two readers know by now what was going on at yawn oh let’s not go there (wish I hadn’t).

Ogden Water To Mixenden

A poor start at Ogden with just the expected Gulls present in lower numbers than the last visit.

I decided to take the rough ground track towards Mixenden and this proved rewarding in one sense while being frustrating in another.

The sudden gusting wind flushed a small brown bird that kept flitting ahead of me for approx 150 yards. Visibility was hampered and I only got 3 brief views. The best I could do after referral to both user guides and the ‘net is a Stonechat\Whinchat juvenile. With hindsight, I'm favoring the former 🤔.

The 3 golf course Stonechat have now been blown down to the Carrs Beck wall. They were just as noisy as ever and hardly ever still.

Hunter Hill bottom: 2 House Martin, 5/6 Swallow, c40 Goldfinch & a couple Linnet. 

Mixenden: 😭

Soil Hill To Mixenden Res

Yet again a Long trek with little reward on the birding front. I risked the dangerous overgrown routes on Soil Hill top only to get 1 Swallow ditto Stock Dove & 4 LBBG.

A few Goldfinch were at Ogden Plantation as were 3/4 Swallow.

c70 LBBG, 1 Herring & c60 BHG were on Ogden Water. A brief respite from boredom came in the form of 2 very welcome Common Gull 😁.

Nothing then until Mixenden where lo and behold a GC Grebe was sailing on the water.

Two Bad Successive Sessions

Two locations poles apart on Friday and today Saturday were dismal affairs producing next to nowt.

Friday Horton Bank CP. pr Mute Swan, 1 Grey Heron, Moorhens & Coots in single figures, 7 BHG 😵‍💫

.Cold Edge Dams to Ogden. Cold Edge: 2 Swallow, 1 Pied Wagtail, 4 Meadow Pipit, c50 Canadas.

Ogden: the woods were alive with the sound of silence 🤢.

1 Grey Heron, uggins of LBBG & BHG.