Video snaps

Nothing much doing on the tops today and very little at Elland so here's some video snaps I took of the male Pallid Harrier yesterday.

29th April Best Bird ever ?

At the top of my all time birds to see was adult male Pallid Harrier. Last year me and Dave finally caught up with a juvenile female at Welwick near Spurn and I wanted to see more, so when news broke 2 days ago of an adult male at Dunsop Bridge, me and Dave had to go. This was the first time I had been back to Dunsop Bridge since the late 90s when I used to go to watch Goshawks, sadly the whole nesting wood of the hawks as been felled, shame. Anyway by 10.30am we were watching the harrier displaying, carrying nest material and hunting, I even filmed it eating prey on the ground. At 14.30pm we were still watching it, having hardly been out of view in 4 hours. It was quiet simply probably the best bird Ive ever seen, a really superb raptor. Also in the area 1 female Hen Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 2 Merlins, 1 Kestrel, Common Buzzards, 2 Ravens, 1 Ring Ouzel, 3 Dippers etc.

23rd April

Out and about on the moors, 3 pairs of Lapwing with 8 day old chicks were the first of the spring. Also 3 Buzzards, 2 Kestrels, 1 Sparrowhawk, a Peregrine and a female Merlin, all the usual waders including 2 LRPs and several drumming Snipe, 5 Herring Gulls west, 1 Sand Martin north and about 10 Wheatears.

21st April tarts tick 204

After a tip off from an old friend from my Upper George days in the 80s, I finally got a Ring-necked Parakeet in Calderdale, taking my Halifax total of species to 204 for now, this will however drop back to 203 next year when the BOU scrap Mealy Redpoll. The bird is at Witty Lane below Warley just off Burnley Road, apparently there have been 2 birds there regularly for the past few months.

18th April

Male Redstart showed well again today at Roils Head, finally got some pics with the lumix. Also 2 Siskins present.

17th April dip dip dip

Out with Roy Easter Monday, dipped on Red-rumped Swallow and Spoonbill at Fairburn but did get 2 Little Egrets and 3 Red-legged Partridge. On to Rufforth for the chance of some white winged gulls but Blofeld was flying his James Bond helicopter about all afternoon so no gull settled, did have 3 Red Kites, 4 Buzzards and 2 more Red-legged Partridge. On to third site, much better with 2 Black-necked Grebes, 230 Black-tailed Godwit, a distant Long-tailed Duck, 2 Little Egrets, a Common Tern and a Bittern booming. BNGREBE shots taken from video with iphone adapter.

16th April

Finally got a few record shots of the male Redstart at Roils Head today, present for its third day. Also here a very dark looking Chiffchaff and 2 Willow Warblers.

15th April

Up on the moors again, 2 Little Ringed Plovers and 2 Common Sandpipers were new today, also had immature female Peregrine, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 2 Wheatears and all the usual waders. (LRP pics, phone scoped with Kowa iphone adapter in windy conditions).

14th April

After yesterdays female Redstart at Roils Head I returned today to find a superb adult male Redstart in a different area. It was far too quick for me to get a picture and was off before I could get the camera out. Also new in was a male Wheatear and a Swallow, 3 Willow Warblers now singing.

13th April

Roils Head, found my earliest ever Redstart today in the shelter belt, also 2 Redpoll and 2 Willow Warblers present.

9th April

Todays highlight were 2 Ring Ouzel males new in, also 2 Chiffchaffs. An immature female Peregrine gave 3 Buzzards and a Lesser Black Backed Gull a good seeing too, the gull was making a huge noise screaming as the falcon stooped at it.

8th April

A pretty bland day with not much happening. 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzards, 3 Kestrels, 2 Ravens, all the usual waders + 4 Redpoll and a Brambling in with the Siskins. On returning home found out we had missed out on 2 Black Redstarts.

7th April OSPREY

Up on the moors again today, the highlight being an Osprey flying north at 18.55pm, Dave got these 3 pics whilst I was trying to decide wheather to scope it or photograph it. Also 1 Shortie, 2 Sparrowhawks, 3 Buzzards, 1 Raven, 3 Kesies and all the usual waders. Also 3 Sand Martins and a few Swallows.

5th April

Willow Warbler at Roils Head mid afternoon, then up on the moors in the evening brought 2 immature Peregrines, 5 Buzzards,1 Kestrel, 1 Crossbill, 2 Siskin, 20 Greylags + all the usual waders.

4th April Buzzards

Took the bus up to my local watch point for a few hours (it was blooming cold). Almost at once there were 8 Buzzards in the air, 3 over Sowerby Bridge and 5 over Castle Carr. Later I had the local pale bird, could cause some major id problems for the unaware. Also today 3 Kestrels, 1 Sparrowhawk a Goosander south and a Brambling north.

2nd and 3rd April

2nd April, out on the moors with DF. Had my first 2 Wheatears of the spring today, nice to see them back, also 3 Short-eared Owls including one wing clapping already, which is a good sign. 3 Sparrowhawks, 2 Buzzards, at least 250 Golden Plovers, all the other usual waders which seem to be abundant this spring and still 2 Crossbills in the plantation. 3rd April, Willow Warbler today at Roils Head was the earliest ever at this site.

31st March

Evening on the moors produced a flock of over 350 Golden Plovers, 6 Common Buzzards and the juv male Hen Harrier. Lots of waders about again with at least 20 Oystercatchers in the area, numerous Lapwing and Curlew and plenty of Snipe drumming. Only 1 Short-eared Owl seen.