January
Well the start of a New Year had me thinking about the wildlife to come and the new things hoped for, I also promised myself that this year wouldn’t be about going to places to see specific birds but to rather go to places to enjoy what was on offer.
So it was that on the 2nd I went out to Fairburn Ings for the morning enjoying Little Egrets coming back home via Pugneys Country Park to find 2 Great Northern Divers. It was whilst I was at Pugneys that I bumped into an old friend who told me about a local Great Grey Shrike, it was on the Patch I had too, and so it was I found myself looking at my first patch Great Grey Shrike and the promise of the New Year…well there’s time to make amends
The 14th we went out to Potteric Carr for the day with the highlights being Treecreepers to within a couple of feet, great views of Kingfisher along Mother Drain and my first Female Ring-necked Duck
At work January seemed to be a busy bird month with over 17 species seen highlights being, Sparrowhawk, Great S Woodpecker, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Redwing
February
The month started on the 10th with me taking a few pictures up at Black Dicks Temple with a few birds being seen near the Quarry on the way back home, Golden Plovers stopped me at the side of the road and within minutes I saw Fieldfares, Lapwings, Lesser Redpolls and Grey Heron.
The next outing was on the 17th another photo day with a stop off at Sands Lane in the vain hope of seeing Ring Billed Gull, which didn’t show but there was Goosander, Greylag Goose and Kingfisher. The day ended up at Digley Res with Red Grouse and a few pics before the rain set in
24th was the final day out of the month with a visit again to Potteric Carr seeing an over wintering Green Sandpiper along with Kingfisher,and Willow and Coal Tits from the Willow Pool Hide.
At work February’s highlights were Goldcrest and Coal Tit
March
Proved to be a busy month with 4 visits to Old Moor mainly for photography, bird highlights being Little Egret on the 15th with many Redshanks and Oystercatcher thru out the month, Chiffchaff on the 23rd, the first being at work the day before. The visit on the 30th gave me 2 butterfly species Comma and the first Orange-tip of the year. For the day out on the 24th we went to Potteric Carr bagging another Chiffchaff then moved up to Blacktoft sands to see Marsh Harriers, Avocet (2), and a Short Eared Owl over on the river.
At work the highlights this month were butterflies from the 22nd onwards with Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, and Peacock along with the first Chiffchaff on the 22nd
April
The month started at Potteric Carr on the 7th with us adding more summer migrants to the year list namely Sand Martin and a Male Garganey. The yearly visit to Cheesegate Nab was fruitful with 5 Ring Ouzels but no Wheatears. Old Moor on the 21st saw Common Whitethroat to the list and Potteric Carr on the 27th added Cettis Warbler and Reed Warbler.
At work the months highlights were Swallow back on the 16th along with Blackcap, butterflies were in short supply mainly due to the bad weather with only a Small Tortoiseshell being brave enough.
May
We had a great start this month with a weekend trip to Leighton Moss RSPB, this was over the weekend of the 4th to the 6th , stopping over at one of the local B&B’s at Silverdale, Challan Hall. The weather however had turned cold and sunny but remaining dry. The wildlife was great with Reed Deer’s, Common Lizards, Swallows, Sand martins, House Martins, Swifts, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Glossy Ibis, Sedge Warblers and Reed Warblers just to draw a few out of the bag. Mid Month the weather turned warm (week 21) and saw the appearance of many Butterflies, Green-veined White, Small Copper were new for the year, the Kingfisher at work also made an appearance this week.
The end of the month saw us at Potteric Carr on a bat hunt listening to the booming Bittern that had taken up residence along with Soprano, Common Pipistrelle, and Noctule Bats. Another visit to Old Moor on the 25th resulted in a few more insects about due to the warmer weather; things we saw were Common Blue, Azure and Large Red Damselflies, Dinky Skipper, Brimstone, Orange-tip, Common Blue, Greenshank, LR Plover and Knot.
Week 22 at the work site resulted in a new Butterfly species in the form of a Holly Blue found near the fishing pond.
June
I started June off at Langsett Reservoir looking for and finding a splendid Male Pied Flycatcher, my first for the Hudds area the previous one being a female bird, there was also Common Sandpiper and Meadow Pipits about. Old Moor visit on the 4th didn’t weald much more along with the common dragon and damselflies.
A weekend stopped over around the Leighton Moss site, at Plantation Cottage, was rewarded with Spoonbill, and Little Gull (we missed these in May) and Broad Bodied Chasers.
Back home at Old Moor on the 9th and 20th saw us catching up with the breeding Bittern and Mediterranean Gull.
At the end of the month and into July we had a week’s holiday in the Norfolk/Suffolk area stopping at Magdalen House. We ventured to new places like Wicken Fen, Anglesey House and Gardens. The main highlights of the holiday were Grass Snake at Lakenheath Fen, Stone Curlews at Weeting Heath, Scarce Chaser and Variable Damselfly at Wicken Fen, Hobby at Wicken Fen, and Small Red Damselfly at Fermyn Woods.
July
Started off from the June holiday until the 6th and then the rest of the month was taken up with operations and hospitals so the days out were days in
August
Started off where July ended right up to the last day of the month were we took a day out on the 31st to Old Moor where I was able to see a Black Darter, a first for me at this site. Along with the Black Darter were Common Darters, Ruddy Darters, and Brown Hawkers. On the bird front it was good to catch up with a Greenshank.
September
Nothing happen until the 22nd of the month when you could see us back at Old Moor seeing Common Darters, Osprey passing thru along with Buzzard. Waders started moving as well with Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint [A first for Old Moor tally now 110], Dunlin and Green sandpipers. We were back at Old Moor on the 26th as well seeing the same kind of species with a kingfisher thrown in.
October
Nothing happened this month due to health issues
November
Couple of visits to Old Moor RSPB resulted in a few wader species being seen Green Sandpiper, Redshank, Snipe and the Golden Plover/Lapwing flock building up for winter. A visit to Langsett Reservoir on the 15th mainly for photography resulted in seeing two large skeins of Pink Footed Geese moving thru along with a Siskin flock and a couple of Woodpecker species, Great Spotted and Green
December
SO A SUMMARY OF TALLIES FOR 2012
Life List > 0 British List > 0 Yorkshire List > 0
On The Huddsbirder Top 5 Sites :-
Blacktoft Sands > No additions
Huddersfield > 1 addition (Great Grey Shrike)
Old Moor > 2 additions (Bittern and Little Stint)
Potteric Carr > 2 additions (Pink-footed Goose and Ring-necked Duck)
Spurn Point > No additions
Overall
BIRDS > Year List 141/Patch List 82, BUTTERFLY > 20 DRAGONFLY > 20 MOTH> 9
BIRDS > 52 BUTTERFLY > 15 DRAGONFLY> 2 MOTH> 3 FUNGI> 6
Huddsbirder 