Huddsbirder

I had the chance this weekend of a quick tour around Sands Lane, Mirfield where the Great Northern Diver [Video] is still present, this bird is easily viewed from the roadside were good views can be had, along with Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Coot, Mute Swan, and  Black headed Gulls.

With some looking smaller birds could be found around the bridleway Dunnocks. Blue Tit, Great Tit, , Blackbirds and Goldfinch were all seen, a good couple of hours early morning walk.

A day out to a new venue (I hope to be throwing in more new venues this year) Sherwood Forest or Budby Common. We found it to be a well run place with good facilities and places to eat.

The birds were good straight from the start in the car park, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Nuthatch (these are plenty here), however these were not our quarry for today the birds we had come to see were about an hours walk away from here on the common. The birds were good on our journey thru the forest we saw plenty of Great Tit, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbirds, Coal Tit and Chaffinch, there were bird tables scattered thru out the forest were you got views of these birds we even got close to Marsh Tit. We finally got to the place were the birds where, after going thru mud and puddles, and it wasn’t long before we had a first views of the Parrot Crossbills thanks to the gathered crowd. A lifer for me so we stayed a while had dinner a watched the birds antics, the bill is much heavier and shorter than the common crossbill, giving it that Parrot look, the bird is also bigger than the Common Crossbill, with the plumage being the same, the birds breed in the Pine Forests of North West Europe into Russia, with a very small population in Scotland. The status in the UK are a rare migratory breeder, Amber Status, with only a few records per year (collins bird guide 2nd Edition) (RSPB Info)

Site at SK617689 (N53.213675 / W-1.077270)

The Day List :-

Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Jacdaw, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Marsh Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Long tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Parrot Crossbill, Rook, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon

Blackbird

Potteric Carr the YWT flagship reserve has under gone a change with a new updated tearoom..but no bacon butties 😦 but the birds were good. At the willow pool hide the usual assortment of birds could be seen around the feeders..Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Willow Tit, Moorhen, Reed Bunting, Dunnock, Robin and don’t forget the Squirrels.

From Piper Marsh Hide we had a splendid time with a Marsh Harrier for a good five minutes hunting over the reeds (flushing up a few Common Snipe) before flying off towards the Field Centre area.

On the Huxter Wells ponds plenty of duck Pochard, Tufted Duck, Teal, Shoveler, Shelduck, Mallard and Gadwall.

Along the trials we saw Goldcrest, Long tailed Tit, Reed Bunting, Blackbird, Treecreeper, Bullfinch.

It wasn’t till the last moment that we eventually saw a Lesser Redpoll mixed in with a flock of Goldfinch along the Mother Drain road (this is now open to the public)

Day List in no order:-

Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Willow Tit, Long tailed Tit, Blackbird, Robin, Treecreeper, Reed Bunting, Mallard, Teal, Shoveler, Moorhen, Coot, Pheasant. Dunnock, Cormorant, Magpie, Goldfinch, Common Snipe, Grey Heron, Gadwall, Shelduck, Marsh Harrier, Carrion Crow, Black headed Gull, Herring Gull, Pochard, Goldcrest, Tufted Duck

Common Snipe

A new year starts and so do the lists once again, so to get the birds of to a start I decided on a trip down to Sands Lane to see the now long staying Great Northern Diver and also to get the year off to a good start. It was still present and once again out in the middle of the lake so not a very good photo opportunity, along with the diver were Great Crested Grebes, Mallards, Black headed Gulls, Common Gulls, Cormorants, Canada and Greylag Geese a flock of Goldfinch (charming), a Grey Heron stuck in one corner standing waiting, a male Goosander on the nearby river.

A journey then up to Ingbirchworth res to see if the swans were still about but alas not Black headed Gull, Common Gull, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Little Grebe were the only things that graced the water

I was having an afternoon out with a friend to Tropical World at Roundhay Park in the afternoon so I decided firstly on a visit out to Broomhead Reservoir over Sheffield way whilst I had a couple of hours spare, As I set off the weather wasn’t with and wasnt all morning, I arrived at Broomhead in the area where the birds had been seen still raining at about 10am, I had an hour, couple of other birders were there so i was hopeful.

I walked the road, chatted with the other birders nothing seen so far so I carried on along the road, ten minutes later I got a shout that the birds had been seen, near where I had parked the car, I ran back (too out of shape for that) to a small group looking up, after getting my breath back I was able to hold my binoculars steady enough to see three fine male birds and a couple of females, the views of the Two Barred Crossbills lasted for about ten minutes before the birds took flight and were lost again for another day. Other birds seen were Jay and Blue Tit (try this area sk261956 [N53.457274…W-1.607723])

Images of Two Barred Crossbills can be seen here http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=two+barred+crossbill&qpvt=two+barred+crossbill&FORM=IGRE

I was wet, had now somewhere else to be, so I was off happy again with another new bird under the belt, my only one of this year….and no sign of the donkey 🙂

Happy New Year to everyone keep visiting in 2014

Decided on a morning around some of the patch sites namely the Ingbirchworth area. First stop was near Broadstones were a field of Black headed and Common Gulls got me attention, in and amongst the gulls were Starling, Rook, and Lapwings, also saw Redwings, Fieldfares, Jackdaws, Blackbirds, Crows, Magpies etc on my travel around. I didn’t stop again until I was approaching the reservoir (Ingbirchworth) were a flock of geese got my attention this time, 60+ Greylag geese with a single Pink footed goose, in an adjoining field I found a group of Grey Partridge, about 9 birds holding themselves to the ground as they do when feeling threatened, so I was off stopping then at the reservoir. Here I saw Tufted Duck, Mallard, Common Gull, Black headed Gull, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Grebe, Coot, Moorhen, and then the surprise of the day 2 Bewick’s Swans (Cygnus bewickii), a patch and Yorkshire first for me.

I went then closer to home were Black headed and Common Gulls were on the playing fields, and a Little Owl was near the old farm.

We then had a walk around Pugneys Country Park near Wakefield and here on our walk around we saw, Goldeneye, Gadwall, Shoveler, Mallard, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Redwing, Lapwing,

I made final stop then at Sands Lane to have another looksie at the Great northern Diver. The day finished nicely at home with a Robin visiting the garden

Robin

View from Hide over Nature Reserve at Pugneys

I arrived  at Old Moor for 9:30am and parked up on the first row in the car park where I could easily see the feeders across in the hedgerow, there was plenty of birds flitting about Tree Sparrows, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Redwings, Blackbirds, Collard Doves, Pheasants, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Bullfinches so plenty to see before hitting the reserve.

At the visitor centre feeders more of the same species as could be found near the car park with Long tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Woodpigeon and Robin were added to the list.

My next port of call was the Wader Scrape hide were no waders were seen but it was good to see a number of Goosander, Wigeon, Teal and Shovelers.

Due to a text about a Diver on the local gravel pits I made a quick call in at the Tree Sparrow Farm to see, Dunnock, Reed Bunting, Tree Sparrow and Greenfinch

It was bye bye Old Moor and hello Sands Lane Gravel Pits at Mirfield (or now known as Ladywood lakes) I hadn’t parked the car up before I saw the Great Northern Diver from the road, nice bird in partial summer plumage, along with the diver were Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe, Black headed Gull and Common Gull, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Coot and Moorhen

Day List [In no particular order] :-Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Tree Sparrow, Redwing, Pheasant, Woodpigeon, Collard Dove, Robin, Dunnock, Starling, Blackbird, Magpie, Crow, Cormorant, Black headed Gull, Common Gull, Teal, Mallard, Wigeon, Gadwall, Goldeneye ♀, Shoveler, Coot, Moorhen, Lapwing, Reed Bunting, Canada Goose, Mute Swan

Sands Lane :- Great Northern Diver, Black headed Gull, Cormorant, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Coot

Female Blackbird

Great Northern Diver (Record Shot)

Has you can see from the blog its been a while since I’ve been out and about so I decided to grab the bull by the horns and a couple of hours at Old Moor. The day was dry, fine, bit of a chill in the wind but it was nice, no gloves needed.

Our first course of action was down to the new viewing area for the Bitterns, the Bittern hide has now been removed, the Reedbed Screen has been removed and placed across the, what was the pathway to the Bittern Hide at the path junction, the path beyond this has been dug up and is now flooded and there is now no access beyond this point. The birds we saw around this area were Kestrel up on the first pylon seems to be a favourite perching place, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen,Gadwall and Mallard on the open water.

Of course the place to see most water birds is at the Family Hide here we could see lots of Lapwings but no Golden Plovers with them, Cormorants, Mute Swans, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Canada Geese, Little Grebe, Linnets hopping between the islands, Black headed Gulls flying around making their usual noise.

On then to the field pool hide but this was full so we diverted to the Wath Ings hide here we found more wildfowl and a single Redshank.

Our final call was at the Tree Sparrow Farm and here we found Long tailed Tit, Redwing, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Bullfinch and Starling

Mute Swan from Field Pool Hide

A two-week break in Dorset, relaxing, photography, nature watching and sleeping, you can see the trip details at the TRIP tab > DORSET > September 2013. The highlights of the trip were the moths we trapped inc. Canary-shouldered Thorn, Pink-barred Sallow, Angle Shades, Frosted Orange etc,

BATS, Common pipistrelle, Soprano pipistrelle, Noctule, Serotine all near the cottage.

Badger, Stoat, Little Egret, Cettis Warbler, Small Copper are just a few of the highlights .

Pictures can be seen on Flickr a few landscapes as well as the nature shots {PRESS}

Autumnal Rustic