6th December 2014

So, it's been a while since my last entry in the blog. A lot has been going on and it's been a struggle to keep motivated and find time to keep the blog updated.
However, it's that time of the year again and my thoughts are already on 2015, even though we still have 3 and a half weeks of the year to go.

I'll do a bit of a review of 2014 in a couple of weeks, but as it stands, I am on 158 species for the year, and there were 2 birds I should have had which would have seen me hit my target of 160 already. Now, it's going to be a struggle, but by no means impossible!

A walk around the marina didn't turn up the recent Brambling, although it hasn't been seen since Monday/Tuesday. Plenty of finches and tits about, so I'm sure if it still about, then it will turn up!

On site, a Marsh Harrier and several Kestrel's were the only raptors, although a Merlin was reported earlier this morning. That is a target bird for tomorrow morning!

Wader wise, half a dozen Snipe on Astley, and 2 Dunlin were on the lagoon in the main bay.

A couple of little grebe on the main bay were something a bit different, as I don't often see them on there.

So, 2 shy of 160, with 3 or 4 birds kicking about which I need, so I am still optimistic I can get there.

Gropper

May the 4th be with you

After yesterday mornings poor results, I thought I'd do an afternoon shift.
It wasn't any better to be fair!
Nothing in the redstart hedge bar 2 magpie, from 3 attempts.
Grasshopper warbler singing and showing really well on the bottom of the hillside, & Whinchat was back.
Still stuck on 144. What will be next? Greenshank?

Saturday 3rd May

The day got underway with a mass search for the ring ousel but to no avail.
Old Astley lane horse field, back of hillside and the hillside its self were all cleared by 9.30 and a further walk round lowther was fruitless.
Little gull on the eastern reedbed was bird of the day, but nothing new added.

Friday 2nd May

Busy day, started with a trip to the passport office in Liverpool & an early tweet of Merlin.
Bugger!
On way back from Liverpool, both Whinchat and Hobby were tweeted so I decided to go straight there rather than go home and charge my dying phone.
Good decision as Whinchat, whimbrel, hobby, garden warbler and reed warbler put me up to 144, and most of the commoner species have all been accounted for.
9 behind the leaders with no hope of catching, but still on course to set a good person record!
Missed out on a Ring Ouzel which would have been another swilly tick, but only 2 listers got it.

Thursday 1st May

The earlier reported Wood sand had gone by the time I could get there from work, and it was biting cold.
Good numbers or Arctic Terns on main bay, and 2 yellow wags on ridge & furrow.

Sunday 27th April

Slow morning, as my boots werent drying, I went to the hide as I didnt have suitable footwear fir anywhere else.
A text to say 1 barwit was on the lagoon got me flapping, but I jumped in the car & onto Station Road.
Ticket off Barwit just before it flew but got some very good views and good to see it in flight also.
Another Swilly tick.
Good numbers of swift in today too.

Saturday 26th April

A damp start quickly made it a miserable morning. On a short time scale and planned targets, I wasnt going to deviate from my plan. However things never ever go to plan with me.
A song thrush was of note to me as ive not had many this year, was a good start, with lesser whitethroat still in the abandoned RSPB car park, whitethroat, willow warbler blackcap & chiffchaff all sing on path down to Lowther.
A walk down redstart hedge saturated my boots, and they still havent dried up now!
Only a pheasant was flushed this time.
Mistle thrush, equally scarce for me was in the wood at lowther, and the horse field beyond the boundary was alive. Nothing rare though.
Tweet of bar-tailed godwit scuppered my plans, which were further scuppered as by the time id got to the new sluice, they had flown east. Probably over my head!
Back to Lowthet I did tick off Cuckoo & Sedge Warbler which showed well whilst stalking the reed warblers, but they didnt show.
2 willow tits were the 1st I'd seen since Feb so were nice to see.
The Garden Warbler was singing again nr Oil Depot, but still not seen it!

Thursday 24th April

With a pair of Whimbrel being on the R&F most of the day, I thought id better nip down after work, but to no avail.
Cuckoo was singing from pit lane sort of area but didnt go looking.

Bank holiday monday

First trip this morning was to Skelton, and as ever it was a short but sweet visit.
The Police car pulling away is never a pleasant sight as you pull up, but as ever - no problems.
An Avocet was flying round when I got down to the lake and made its way off east, down the river. A common sandpiper was on the spit, neither were new for the year.
I could hear the grasshopper warbler on the western side of the beck and it finally popped out in full view for only a second.
Back at the hide it was pretty slow, but 3 common terns were moving back and forth down the river, and an arctic tern flew through towards the main bay.
Adult and 2nd cy med gull were on round island.
Bob had 2 black terns over the causeway which you could make out from the hide, but I wanted a better look so drove round to the drag line.
Excellent views until 14.17 when they were last seen gaining height flying north-west.
On the way back to the car, I walked the hedge at Lowther and up the central hedge. A bird with a redtail flew out and straight back in 10 yards up the hedge. Gut instict immediately was redstart, but a couple of paces further spooked a male chaffinch, and with its reddish back, I wasn't so sure. So slowly I carried on and 2 birds flew out. 1 male chaffinch and again the bird with the red tail. I knew now it was a redstart and when I picked up the bins, there was a smart male redstart tucked into the hedge!
I made sure before releasing the news, but in the excitement and panic about getting it out - I didnt want to flush the bird any further so stayed put until everyone else arrived.
Unfortunately,  that was the mistake and I lost it, but thankfully 1 other birder got on to it as it flew down the hedge and that was that. Gutted not everyone got it, but at last I've found a decent bird myself :)

Sunday 20th

Another long morning, only resulted in 1 arctic tern making it onto the list.
5 terns flew north (high) appeared to br common but couldn't rule out arctic, so unfortunately in the commic box :(
Dipped on gropper, sedge & reed warbler and also cuckoo.
They be the targets for the final day of the holiday.

Afternoon trip to Burniston was a success and short-toed lark is on the life list. 3rd lifer of the year.

Saturday 19th April

Hangover from hell delayed proceedings, but finally yellow wagtail on the filter beds perked me up.
That was the 10th new bird since thursday evening

Very good friday

Whitethroat, Black-tailed Godwit (7) Swift (1) Lesser whitethroat, common sandpiper (2) and Wheatear made it a very good friday.
This mid-week birding is a doddle!

Easter holiday starts

A good start to the week for the full time listers. The common crane was seem again before flying off towards wakey, and ticked by most.
Quick dash to the hide before tea - 3 ticks - LRP, common tern & house martin.

Sunday 13th April

Mad dash to Flamborough as soon as news the crag martin had been located, only led to disappointment, as it was last seen at 7.50am and not seen again. ticked off the sea birds for the year list and got some cracking views of the Tawny pipit.
On way back, picked up a drake Scaup on the balance res to finish off a decent weekend.

Saturday 12th April

Chilly day, but ticks - Ringed Plover, Sanderling & bird of the day and swilly tick for me, OSPREY!
3x black necked grebes and garganey still

catch up

Missed a couple of weeks due to internet issues, but working again now.

The end of March came round quickly and was a disappointment for me, with the earliest ever swallow and garganey, I was expecting a bigger influx of migrants. There were more birds coming in, but struggling to make it onto my list.

The weekend of 29/30 March only added mealy redpoll but a great white egret was seen by a handful on the sunday on what was a really misty mothers day morning.
It was later at fairburn before heading back on its tour of northern England!

The following weekend was much more successful with 4 ticks on Saturday and a further 3 on sunday!
Willow warbler, blackcap & Garganey were joined by a swallow later on and sunday saw the return of the black necked grebes, little gull and an adult sandwich tern was a Swilly tick for me.
Was a great weekend for many, a brief egyptian goose wasn't relocated until the following week.

Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd

Much cooler and quite blustery halted most passage as the wind was from the west.
A steady stream of Sand Martins seemed to be passing through with the flow of the wind, but no other hirundines were located. A swallow had been recorded in the week though.
A wheater was seen briefly by the trailor gates but disappeared before news had spread. A drake scaup was seen in flight but couldn't be relocated on the eastern reedbed, making 2 birds missed on the saturday, but a fine adult Med gull on Astley was good enough consolsation after all the hours put in going through the BGH's so far this. 4th bird so far I failed to get last year!
The 5th species, and 110th in total for the year came on sunday with a drake common scotor on skelton.
I expect there to be a steady increase in new birds over the next couple of weeks, and although the gap to the top will inevitably increase before I cam claw some back, I'm looking forward to the next couple of months! :)

Saturday 15th & sunday 16th

Windy weekend following a decent week of sightings, was a bit disappointing but did yield a green woodpecker on saturday, and on sunday a green sandpiper, 2 sand martins & 5 whooper swans.
9 off the pace now

Sunday 9th March

Afternoon visit with a hangover was rewarded with the ruff on the main bay, and finally Barn owl!

Spring is here

But new ticks are hard to come by!
Barn owl had been showing well, a ringed plover was found, and a new iceland gull were the highlights, all of which have avoided me.
Bittern was showing for much of saturday, with at least 4 birds being recorded.

Saturday & sunday sweep up

A good week for the full time listers, GWT relocated on the Monday & the 1st Mealy Redpoll for sometime was found at Methley triangle the same day.
The 1st ringed plover was also discovered, but none of these make my list yet.
On the Sunday, the 1st Avocet of the year was on Astley, possibly our earliest ever record. That took me to 102 but a gap is opening up between me and the top now. Ive missed GWT and Grey Plover, still a chance the GWT will be kicking around but the GP will be a fluke if it makes the final list.
A couple of certs surely are only a week away, and with spring on the door step,  the migrants will be flooding in!

A sunday double dip

Following on from saturdays hugely successful twitch, we decided to try for the long staying buff-bellied pipit in Cheshire, another trans-atlantic vagrant.
8am departure again, nice quiet journey over the pennines was looking promising. Although the declaration that the lucky twitching CD was playing should have been a give away for what was to come, the past success over the years was enough to be confident of yet another success.
Upon arrival, we were met by a dozen or so of cars, more than I had anticipated, but no news of the pipit.
Several hours of walking back and foryh the stretch of marsh the bird has been seen only turned up mipits and notjing remotely different.
A tweet from swilly didnt lift the spirits as a green winged teal had been found, so we headed back, only to dip out on that too.
Disasterous day, but the weekend is now balanced after yesterdays double.
Back to work tomorrow, but praying the GWT sticks until Saturday!

Saturday 15th Feb

My first twitch of 2014 took us to High Shincliffe just south of Durham, for the recently reported, long staying Myrtle Warbler, the eastern race of Yellow rumper warbler from America.
New was released last sunday of this MEGA!!! American vagrant, whivh had originally been seen during the RSPB's big garden birdwatch back in January, so I was optimistic the bird would still be around by the weekend. And it was!
I got straight on to it but it was a difficult view - through the bush, and then it flew off!!!
20 mins later it returned, but proved really difficult viewing, I even commented that I'd had better views of firecrest!
It was obvious what it was, and easily seperated from Audobon's warbler (the western race) because of the supercillium. As it finally gave up better views and frequently gave its "tzchek tzchek" call, we got a tweet about a Glaucous gull at Skelton.
So, naturally, that was where we headed. I needed it for my 2014 list, but dad already had it. I wasn't expecting it to still be there an hour and a half later, but sure enough within 5 minutes of arriving, I picked it out and 101 was ticked off.
The gull roost at Astley was much better, but neither the Glauc or Iceland were present, and the Barn owl is as elusive as ever!
All in all, an excellent day!

Saturday 8th Feb

Bright morning, turning windy and wet later on.
The 100 was brought up by the Siberian Chiffchaff, but as the race isnt split from common chiffchaff (yet!) it isnt a proper lifer.
The bird was very grey, had an obvious supercillium and the call was different to a common - a soft piiiiu. It was singing as well although softly.
Up to 2 Oystercatcher now on Astley and a lot of the song birds are now in voice.

The week in bits

Another quiet week, but again mild and wet.
The AGM passed off quietly, although I was asked, and nominated on to the committee, which I wasnt expecting!
On tuesday, a Siberian Chiffchaff was found by the filter beds, and another was discovered, so it was hoped that they would stick around until the weekend!

Sunday 2nd February

A quick trip to the tip paid off with 2 red kites and a male yellowhammer taking the tally to tantalising 99.
Dipping on barn owl again and a parculiar pale gull with all dark bill could have made me a centurian, but it wasnt to be.

1st Feb

Well. Ill start with the final count for January.... 95, which was a valiant effort, with only 2 listers reaching the 100 mark. From a recording area point of view, I think we're on about 108 species, which I some 6 species down on last year.
However, fridsys farsical goings on at Elland Road lead to a late night & a sore head for the morning of Saturday 1st. That didn't start particularly well but it was bright but fresh with the car being frozen, and Fleet Lane very icy.
Plenty of black heads on Astley and the Oystercatcher was still present, no doubt back to stake a claim on a nest site.
A walk round the reedbeds produced the gay bearded tits, but we live in hope a female or 2 will turn up so we have a chance of starting our own colony, but so far its only been the 2 males that have been recorded. Great views in the same place as last week.
Further down the reed bed,  water rail gave its self up again giving great views so that was a great one to get out of the way.
Up on to old Astley lane, the little owl wasn't on display but 3 red-legged partridges were, so on 97.

Its a washout

Sundays forecast was correct - and another vile morning with blustery wind and persistent rain scuppered my final available birding day of January.
A lone Dunlin on Astley was the highlight,  but it wasn't a pleasant morning for anything other than the water fowl.
The weather cleared for a fine evening, so the tricky decision was where to watch the gull roost, and I plumped for the hide.
I was greeted by an Oystercatcher which was a bonus to nudge me forward 1 spot and 1 closer to the century.
The gull roost wasn't great and the site was well watched tonight with 4 in the hide & half a dozen or so down at the main bay.
All in all, 95 is an improvement on last year, but only just!
Pleased with what I've found and ticked so far, but with 5 more days of Jan remaining, I'm certain the individual 100 will be reached this week.

Saturday 25th January

Vile weather mid afternoon didn't dampen the spirits early on, despite the tripod completely ceasing up!
No sign of the beardies in the favoured spot and no Jack Snipe wasn't the greatest start, but the weather was good and there was optimism in the air!
A quick look over the gulls on Astley got the heart racing with a BHG in almost full plumage but cap looked black and appeared to extendend down the neck and the legs were definatley darker than the other gulls it was associating with. However, none the less it was a BHG.
we then got a call to say the beardies had been heard on the other side of the reedbed, do we scampered over.
By this time the sun was out and the Skylarks were singing and out in view so number 93 was quickly followed by 94 when the bearded tits came out! Finally! Cracking views of the 2 males, coming close and calling. Only down side is that there still isn't a female.
Home for lunch and some WD40 sorted the tripod out no end. Its working a treat now, best it has been in years!!!!
Terrible weather mod afternoon really dropped the temperature,  and instead of going to the main bay I decided to stay at the hide for the gull roost. Was a good decision but no white wings... tonight

Weekends targets

After last weeks shenanigans, Jack Snipe is still high on the priority list but with bearded tits being confirmed again, that is the number 1 target for the morning. I've highlighted a new area for JS so fingers crossed. The gen sounds good, and it would be a swilly tick for me!
White winged gulls, barn owl & green woodpecker would all put me to 99 and theres always red kite & water rail as possibles.
Bubo now has 102 site species, but no lister has broken the ton! Im SURE it will happen this weekend, but WHO will be the 1st over the line?

Mid week update

As the full time listers close in on their centuries, the full time workers watch in anticipation, but thankfully this week hasn't brought up any local mega tweets.
Rumours abound tonight though - probable GWE at dusk was put out on birdguides but no comment on the webpage. 1 has been doing the rounds locally, so that looks positive.
Secondly, unconfirmed reports of 3 bearded tits but again we dont know who & I think we've only had 2 in the past, so hopefully this is true & praying the 3rd is a female!!!
Bring on the weekend!

Firing blanks

Sunday was the 1st day I'd been down and not added to my tally.
A lovely sunny afternoon, no breeze and a bit of a chill in the air, brought loads of dog walkers and families wondering on St Aidens, but all looked in good order for a change, apart from 4 young kids on top of Astley sluice - could have ended in disaster.
The site list added Glaucous gull, a 1st winter was found on the main bay at dusk as was an adult iceland, so I missed 2 year ticks.
I did however find the remnants of what looks like a game bird in the sewage works plantation..... answers on a postcard please.
The most exciting thing today was the utter exasperation of the RSPB, and all of a sudden the looming AGM sounds interesting!

Saturday 18th January

A day of 2 halves, separated by tge Leeds game at lunch started with a meet at 8.30 at the dragline for a 9am start of the organised jack snipe flush - but it became clear as we were walking down to the sluice, the RSPB had sabotaged our plan by doing their own 1 man flush around the main bay.
70-80 golden plover overhead put me on to 90, and we continued with our flush - but sadly nothing other than 4 snipe and a stonechat.
On the way back we got water pipit again and lesser black-backed gull was new, so it hadn't been a bad morning.
Searching for skylark we found some really good looking jack snipe habitat but no birds.
Back home for dinner and the football before headed back to the hide for the roost.
Very quiet, no owls but I did pick a pink footed goose out as it flew in with a skein of greylags took me up to 92.

the century week

So the challenge is still on for the individual ton in January, but the bubo list for the site hit the 100 mark this week with the addition of Jack Snipe. A notoriously difficult bird to see which I have only ever seen in flight.
Last winter on site there were lots of reports of Jack Snipe being seen on the ground, but some very shady descriptions so its difficult to seperate the mistaken identity ones from the genuine ones.
Anyway, that is a target bird for many listers this weekend and has resulted in a saturday morning stake out.
Until then, fingers crossed nut tue weekend is finally here.
Lets make the most of it.

mid way through week 3

No major change at the top of the bubo list with the top 4 still as it was. 93, 92, 91 back to me on 89. The chasing pack is bunching up as you'd expect with no new sightings recorded this week so far.

Monday 13th

No major news out on twitter but a couple of sightings posted on the website.
Nothing new but dropped down to 4th. Tight at the top though. 93, 92 & 91 in front.
New car sorted out, so should get a full weekend in this time round!
Site list currently on 98 from my calculations, so 100 is going to be a stretch for the retired bunch, but by no means impossible. It makes last years record January tally of 114 look really impressive!

Sunday 12th January - frustration

With the grim reaper hanging over the Rover, todays plan was to sort out and pick up a replacement car, then hit the hide for dusk. But of course that was way too simple.
Communication problems between the insurance & bank screwed over my policy and wasn't sorted until 3.45, but another delay at 4.30 meant I had wasted a whole day pacing up and down and stressing out, reading tweets of 160 pink feet flying towards site from fairburn, and a green winged teal on hicksons flash at fairburn.
Utter frustrating day, and only 6 more until I can increase on 89.

Saturday 11th January - day 4

Only the 4th day I've been able to do any birding this year, I was only 5 birds behind the leader, so I had a couple of birds on the target list for the day.
Woodcock was the main target, but shelduck on Astley was bird number 87. That was a pleasing start, and the weather was beautiful although a bit chilly!
After assessing the chosen plantation, I found an area to access which was easy to get in but really boggy under foot.
After about 50 yards I thought I was in the right area and low and behold a woodcock flushed from a large patch of brambles right against the fence. Bird 88 was a massive one, and has taken a lot of effort over the last 13 months (dipped on it last year).
On the way back to the hide I bumped into a Sparrowhawk which flew out of fleet plantation and perched up in a tree overhanging the river. 89 was a cracking start.
That was it for the day, but the Marsh harrier is back, peregrine was reported, 2 seperate sightings of Water rail and a green woodpecker on fleet lane have pushed the site total to within spitting distance of 100.
Target birds are still red kite & barn owl. Should pick up skylark before long and hopefully the Iceland will be joined by a glauc in a regular roost before long.
100 birds in january I think is a little out of reach for me, but that's the goal!

The working week

The 1st full week back at work was always going to open up a gao between me and the leaders, but thankfully nothing unusual was found, and only Iceland Gull and Pink Feet were the only birds of interest.
I'd slipped down to 4th on Bubo, but know at least Alan has more than me, and is probably leading the way.
Looking forward to getting out although I need to find a replacement car this weekend.

back to work monday

Gutted to be back to work, and still its too dark of a morning to hope for any site ticks.
Sat in the office, a Red Kite drifted overhead during the sales meeting almost goading me, but I didn't bite.
A late report of a fly over Iceland gull was the only report I saw today, so everyday I dont see a rarity, im happy :)

decisions decisions

Sunday gave me the headache of a 1st trip to Skelton and hope to get Shelduck & Grey Partridge, or try Tempsy for Woodcock & Nuthatch.
As the dogs needed walking, I chose Temple Newsam, and despite the heavy, saturated ground, the car park on Bullerthorpe was chocker!
Woodcock seems to have been beaten out of the woods and was not present again, so as it's been 2 years since I had one in these woods (they've been recorded in the last month there) I've flung in the towel there.
Luckily, a 10 minute stint at the feeders got me the Nuthatch I now craved.
More intetesting for me though, was I still hadn't had treecreeper in the woods, which had always been so abundant for me. I suppose the oxbow bird was a blessing!
Drop the dogs home & headed to the hide showed a few faces but very little on show.
A walk around Water Haigh Park for a probable crossbill earlier on was fruitless but did give me gen on another woodcock side I hope to exploit next weekend.
A circuit back to the hide in the wind & rain may have added nothing, but back at the hide there were 9 grey partridge on the hillside, so it was an excellent weekend all in all, getting me to 86 species. Delighted!

Saturday 4th January

FA cup 3rd round weekend always used to be exciting for me purely for the football, these days its the 1st birding weekend of the new year and gives me the opportunity of targeting certain species missed on New Years Day and search for birds found in the week.
As saturdays go, it was very quiet in terms of birders, and the weather was pretty settled although overcast, so that was somewhat surprising.
After a fruitless search for the Smew, I found a male stonechat by the path at the junction by the ridge & furrow, hillside & eastern reedbed.
From Old Astley Lane I got the ever reliable little owl, mistle thrush, jackdaw, rook & house sparrow. That put me on to 79 species. Down to the LEO roost and that was ticked off quickly along with willow tit and greenfinch.
I went back to the hide but as it was empty I walked back down to Lemonroyd and finally got the smew and a short eared owl was above the hillside.
At dusk a barn owl was seen for a matter of seconds, but I didnt get on to it, so my tally of 11 put me on 84 species in 2 days which I am really chuffed with!

friday 3rd January

For all Leeds United Football Club supporters, January 3rd is a memorable date.
Today however, for me, was memorable because it probably saw the demise of my car, but also as I got my 1st none patch tick of the year in a Red Kite at Harewood junction.
Hope it wont be long before I get it on patch!
In other news, the smew was reported from Lemonroyd again, and hopefully will stick until at least tomorrow though the weather is already pants. So only time will tell!

Thursday 2nd Jan - Back to reality

Back to work with a bump this morning. 8.45 - 17.45 shifts in Harrogate are not conducive to patch watching in Woodlesford unfortunately, and even though the commute takes me through the recording area, pre-dawn isn't a good time to be passing through.
Whilst I was working, my joint lead was surpassed and I drop to third, 8 species behind, but another day of birding will have passed before I can get down again at the weekend.
Not that I'm chasing the lead ;)
Drake smew was relocated on Lemonroyd, so fingers crossed it will be around for a little while as it was about before Christmas.
Looking forward to a weekends birding

NEW YEARS DAY

The slate is finally wiped clean and because things work in that kind of way, one of the early highlights was a juvenile peregrine.

Target bird Ruddy duck was ticked off early, but no sight nor sound of the bearded tits or Cettis.

After racking a decent score up in the pouring rain, we headed back to the hide where I picked up an Egyptian Goose flying in to join the Canada geese in front of the hide. Great bonus as although it was on the list last year, it was only due to the fact a visitor photographed one. None of the listers had it, so I was well chuffed to find this one.

We finished the day on 73 species, with some easy ones still to get :)