Last two days

30th August, on the moors and a superb juvenile Hen Harrier showed well, also another or the same Han lower down the valley, 1 Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Kestrels and 4 Stonechats. 31st August Roils Head, at last after slogging around for weeks finally got a good bird in the forn of an adult Yellow Wagtail feeding in the Horse Paddocks.

24th August

Had a walk up to my local view point in the hope of some raptors, nothing special today but 3 Buzzards, 4 Kestrels and 5 Sparrowhawk sightings. Also 3 swifts moving south. Nothing at Roils Head.

23rd August

At last finally got some migrants at Roils Head after weeks of nothing in the form of 5 Spotted Flycatchers, 1 Redstart and 2 Willow Warblers.

14th August

Evening out on the moors produced 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Buzzards, 8 Kestrels and a small falcon either Merlin or Hobby but views to brief. Also Spotted Flycatcher, Goosander, Little Owl and Barn Owl.

10th August

A great evening out on the tops produced 1 Osprey, 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Hen Harrier, 1 Merlin, 6 Buzzards, 4 Kestrels, 1 Shelduck and a Spotted Flycatcher, also several Wheatears and 2 Stonechats. I had a problem again with the camera so my picture of the Osprey wasn't great, perhaps in my excitement I pressed the shutter too soon ???

Bird Report 2019

Finally finished the 2019 Halifax report, it is now on sale at Woodesford News, GO Local store at Mount Tabor - Pellon, price £6.00. Hopefully when everything gets back to normal it will be also available at the Fox and Goose Hebden Bridge.

31st July

31st July, back on the moors and a lifer for me, not a bird but a Dark Green Fritillary feeding on thistles heads, also a very dark distant Marsh Harrier, 3 Kesies, 1 Buzzard a few waders and a Spotted Flycatcher.

Last few days

22nd July, nice juvenile Redstart found at Roils Head and a good selection of gulls in the newly cut fields nearby but nothing special. 24th July, back on the moors and a superb juvenile Merlin landed on a wall in front of us in poor lighting conditions, phone scoped it and took over 200 pictures but these were the best of the bunch, also 3 Buzzards, 7 Kestrels, Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Stonechats, Reed Bunting etc.

Last week highlights

15^th July, 8 Common Scoters at Ringstone Edge but no sign of the Med Gull. 17^th July, 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Peregrine and 9 Common Scoters at our local site. 18^th July, Dipped out on the Bearded Vulture in the Peak District but did find a superb 1^st summer female Goshawk that flew strait over us.

 

 

7th July

Evening out in drizzly conditions brought 3 Crossbills in the plantation+ a juvenile Green Woodpecker and a Little Owl close by. Snipe with one small chick, 2 small Redshank chicks and a Lapwing chick also adult LRP. Probable Cuckoo flew past the car in poor conditions on way home.

26th June

Brief visit to the moors before the rains came down a fantastic Hobby spent 15 minutes hawking insects, a Barn Owl was out very early, Stonechats and Wheatears both with young, Oystercatcher with young, Kestrel, Buzzard + all the usual waders.

20th and 21st June

20th June. out on the moors, today produced 2 Shorties, 3 Buzzards, 12 drumming Snipe, 2 broods of Stonechats and one brood of Wheatears, 1 late Cuckoo and 2 juvenile Oystercatchers. 21st June, after missing a Red-necked Phalarope that some folks think was actually a juvenile Black-headed Gull I decided to visit a local pair of Peregrines to check on their progress, no sign of any young but the male and breeding first summer female were sat out in the sunshine so manage a few shots of the female.

14th June

Another trip to the moors brought a family party of 7 Ravens, 4 Buzzards, Sand Martin, Spotted Fly, Siskin and the best bird a Hobby that soared with a Buzzard for a couple of minutes.

9th June

Evening out on the moors brought us a Marsh Harrier in heavy moult, 2 Barn Owls, 2 Shorties, 4 Buzzards, 5 Kestrels, Raven, Cuckoo, roding Woodcock, 2 Spotted Flycatchers and 2 Sand Martins + all the usual waders.

Little Stint 5th June

                               An obsessed birder braves the quick sands of Whiteholme

First Calderdale Little Stint in 24 years was found today at Whiteholme by Dan Branch, my best bird so far this year.

2nd June

Finally got to see a LEO this year at a local site, also a distant Barn Owl and a Song Thrush imitating an Oystercatcher.

27th May

Out on the moors finally got a good bird, a first summer male Marsh Harrier, a very dark individual came in being mobbed by a bunch of Curlews. Also all the usual moorland species and 2 Cuckoos singing. No Shorties this year, probably due to lack of voles.

Recent photos

Found 3 Whitethroat territories and 1 Blackcap in the Roils Head area, finally got a photo of a Swift at Tower hill.

Arm Chair Tick

Having had the worst spring ever with my best local bird being a Garden Warbler that sang for one day, I decided to go over some old records. I noticed that it as been decided to split Subalpine Warbler into Western and Eastern so I checked my records and found that over the years I have seen 5 different birds in Yorkshire, 1 at Filey and 4 at Spurn. One bird stood out that me and Tall Andy saw at Spurn on 12^th May 1998, a superb male with the reddish under-parts restricted to the throat area and with a broad white Moustache, I always thought it a good candidate for Eastern so I checked with Dan Branch and he confirmed it was correctly identified as an Eastern Subalpine Warbler, so Ive managed to salvage an armchair tick out of this dreadful year. The above photo of the bird I bought off the finder.

 

Last week or so

Finding it very hard to just stay local, not much happening, Odd Wagtail at Tower Hill on 4th and 5th April, I now think its just a female Pied or perhaps an hybrid. First Swallow here on 5th, 2 Nuthatches at Warley same day. Chiffchaff at Roils Head on 6th with 2 more Swallows at Tower Hill. Raven at Warley on 4th.