green withens birding

sunday 6th november............warm

2011-11-06T19:01:00.000Z

usual walk around siddal, bank top and town
a fantastic day weather wise been so warm for the time of year,the red admiral i saw at bank top would testify.
birds were very quiet 60+ common gulls in fields on coal pit lane though 3 lesser black backed gulls flew east,usual wrens by kitsons garden center.green woodpecker on beacon hill.
bailey hall bank had decent tit flock but little else. the hebble from nestle to paris gates had 4 grey wagtails and a dipper.

also
there is a good pied wagtail roost at tesco's in king cross with 35+ roosting in the trees by the car wash shed

Archaic Head

Southowram

the above is the 'archaic head' at southowram on pinnar lane

http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/leisure/localhistory/glimpse-past/architecture/archaic-head.html

http://lowercalderlegends.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/archaic-stone-heads/

Bailey Hall Bank

steps

last few days

2011-10-28T09:58:00.002+01:00

been very quite here the last few days, the thrushes seemed to have moved on. the main highlight was a peregrine over siddal on wednesday about 200yds from the house.
6 meadow pipits and 1 skylark still around coal pit lane along with 60+ common gulls.
good numbers of redpolls 57 at elland gp on thursday.

ive just finished compiling my yorkshire list....317 not bad

bank top am

2011-10-25T15:52:00.001+01:00

pleasant walk around bank top this morning

grey partridge 12
skylark 1
meadow pipit 6
redwing 56
common gull 64
grey wagtail 2
pied wagtail 1
jay 1

Green Withens

2011-10-13T19:21:00.001+01:00

1600-1800

fieldfare & redwings mixed flocks totalling approx 300

kestrel 2

reed bunting 1

meadow pipit 4

wren 1

black headed gull 147 west

red grouse 4

grey partridge 3

pied wagtail 37 roosting

great northern diver at ringstone

2011-10-12T18:36:00.005+01:00

saw a lone bird diving on the res this afternoon on the way home, pulled over and checked a adult summer great northern diver!

glad it was still there later for ncd and djs to see,photos by ncd

weekend update

2011-10-09T18:17:00.003+01:00

2 grey wagtails peoples park

sunday 9th october

Green Withens

grey partridge 2

meadow pipit 16

carrion crow 2

Walshaw

crossbill 14

redwing 26

buzzard 1

kestrel 1

red grouse 2

books for sale

2011-06-29T20:52:00.003+01:00

i have a large collection of bird books which im looking to sell,along with periodicals such as complete volumes of early birding world (1-5) british birds 1989-1991, yorkshire birding vols 1-7

i will publish a full list in the next few days

migrants

2011-04-24T23:00:00.002+01:00

a nice 10 mile stroll! siddal to outlane and back

salterhebble

this is what ive been looking for.................5 mill working girls who all died in the wellington mill explosion in 1874 the oldest girl was 18 and the youngest only 8!over 20000 people lined the streets of Halifax on the day of their funeral and over 5000 alone were in stoney royd for the burial,i put a little trinket down payed my respects and carried on.

wilkinsons brickworks

from jagger green

blackcap 2

whitethroat 3

garden warbler 1

chiffchaff lots

willow warbler lots

dipper 3

grey wagtail 2

Bee-Eater suppressed by environmental fascists

2011-04-15T16:41:00.003+01:00

on monday 12th april 2011 4 bee-eaters were found in todmorden and roosted for the night in a garden. this is what the finder had to say......................

''I knew of no way of alerting local birder-conservationists without activating the twitcher grapevine. When I explained the reasons for my decision not to contact you folk, Andrew saw my point.

But there was also a wider point that I perhaps didn't make clearly enough. Over and above wanting to avoid disturbance to a 'shy' and 'wary' species of bird whilst roosting, wanting to increase the chances of them staying around, and potential nuisance to my near neighbours in whose gardens the tree(s) happened to be, I also wanted to keep twitchers away because, in these days of climate change, I regard their activities as verging on the anti-social.

Conversations with a few friends locally confirm that I'm far from alone in this view. They have mostly said that they'd have responded in the same way that I did. The reality is, therefore, that the Bee-eaters might still be in the Valley, being watched by people who haven't told you about them because you are, sadly but inevitably, associated with twitchers.

If you don't make it clear that people can contact you without exposing themselves to an avalanche of car-borne individuals who only want to add the birds to their lists, then these kinds of situations are only likely to become more common.

I'm not sure how practicable it would be, but I'd like to see bird clubs dissociate themselves from twitchers. As well as the question of climate change ( and car fumes being implicated in the massive loss of insect life ), these people are still ( if a recent BBC4 film was representative ) mainly socially inept sexist men, abandoning spouses and children to gratify an obsession. They bring birdwatching/birding into disprepute, and treat sentient beings, birds, as commodities, to be collected. In the process they debase the language of birdwatching, so we end up with 'ticks', 'megas'. 'getting' birds, and evven 'not needing' birds already listed!

If only for conservation reasons, it's arguably now become socially responsible to withdraw co-operation from this kind of activity. So perhaps there's an opportunity for Halifax birders to take a lead, - and do yourselves some good in the process.

If I find some time (!!) I may write this up in an article, but will in any case be interested to see what you think. The reality is that quite a lot of us out here, feel the way I do on this.

That said, I hope you get the chance to see the Bee-eaters. They're magnificent.

With all best wishes

Brian.

( p.s by all means circulate this as apropriate ).''

to be honest i think the record is bollocks and made up to make a point,

firstly it would be the first april record for yorkshire,though 2 the next day at spurn does seem to add some credence to the record.

secondly in this modern world we live in and despite being in someones garden they were not photographed by any of the 3+ people that saw them

and lastly the comment in the e-mail seems mocking........

''That said, I hope you get the chance to see the Bee-eaters. They're magnificent.''

a legend

2011-04-01T17:52:00.003+01:00

saddened to hear the untimely passing off EDWARD STOWBART,many twitches were livened up with spotting his trucks.

11 miles and 18 chiffchaffs

2011-03-26T19:31:00.003Z

a perfect day for a long walk

set off at 10

chiffchaff's were singing as soon as we got on to the hebble trail and they continued to sing all along our walk,i counted a total of 18 singing birds(pinky spots on map),god only knows how many i missed.spring has truly arrived.

we walked nearly the whole of the southowram parish boundary (we excluded the shibden park bit)

a nice way to spend 3 hours on a saturday

totals were

chiffchaff 18

green woodpecker 1

grey heron 3

cormorant 2

nuthatch 3

chiffchaff

Osprey the 'with' get in

2011-03-21T17:59:00.003Z

mallard and canada goose have only been the highlights over the last few days,so today i finished work early as it was the first spring like day of the year

a few meadow pipits singing along with a kestrel were seen along the walk to the res, the conversion of the boathouse into a scouting boaty place seems to nearing completion and looks quite secure so the pissheads hopefully wont get in and wreck it!!

i was at the far side of the res when i clocked a large bird heading towards me from the direction of the radio mast,i realised it was a raptor and having seen a few buzzards up here over the years i thought it may be one,but theirs alway but! i noticed the 'droopy' wings 'OSPREY' i shouted to no one! even the sheep looked uninterested! i hoped it would come over the res but carried on its north-easterly flight taking it more towards oxygrains bridge. i texted dave sutcliffe who was at cold edge dams

so at last after 26 years of birding in Halifax i finally got osprey on the list (about time) will enjoy a few beers tonight!!!!!

osprey

the 'with'

also have a look at THE GREEN WITHENS list which has photos of nearly every birds i ever seen here

NUTCRACKER staffs 1991

2011-01-29T13:16:00.002Z

going through some old photos and found this

maybe my most favourite bird ever full stop

it went something like this

#1 bought an old ford escort at 9

#2 insured escort at 10

#3 pick up ady z and nick d at 1130

#4 head to staffs

#5 smitten by nutcracker at 1400

#6 head home at 1600

#7 pub #2000

pits and birds

2011-01-25T20:09:00.003Z

took a walk into walterclough valley this morning to have a look around the old colliery,quite shocked at how much of it is left!

nuthatch 1

grey wagtail 2

jay 2

sparrowhawk 1

green woodpecker 1

sunday 23rd january

2011-01-24T07:49:00.002Z

a pleasant 9 mile walk.

good numbers of house sparrows at both southowram and lower edge elland.the southowram sparrows numbered 54 on pinnar lane and at elland counted 46 in the hedge rows around old earth school also here were 13 goldfinch,8 greenfinch and 67 siskin in trees on shaw lane.

22 waxwings on lower edge were the first of the year.a female goosander on the hebble by the water treatment works on huddersfield road was the closest to halifax ive seen.

tesco is shit

2010-12-11T14:39:00.003Z

why? cos this morning i walked up to buy a digital camera for my mum to give to my dad as a christmas present,after choosing the said product and its accompanied large security box,i proceeded to go and pay for the item.

after 20 minutes in which no one could open the security box,my offer of placing it on the floor and stamping on it was met by funny looks and i may damage the product.i explained i have been breaking things since i was a small child and thus im quite a expert! but they would not let me break the fucking thing open!

they did offer to get me another bit i replied 'dont fucking bother' god i hate shopping.

but on a happier note next friday im off to see LADY GAGA

Ms Gaga VIP tickets.........check

train tickets..............check

hotel................check

the look on my face when i saw how much its costing...............priceless.

i think i could of bailed out ireland

Ring Billed Gull Mirfield

2010-12-05T20:21:00.003Z

headed over to selby for my brothers birthday, so thought i would call in and pay my respects to the ring billed gull at sands lane thingy.

it was a balmy 0 degrees and the cracker was showing as soon as i managed to stop my little car on the icy roads.

ring billed gull

sands lane

black headed gulls

sands lane

quite a nice twitch with just 2 others

pugneys and pits

2010-11-28T18:49:00.002Z

the big K

shaw lodge

a few first shots with the sony nex-5 think i need to work on the digiscoping though

a new camera

2010-11-27T18:39:00.003Z

i have become fed up of canon their products which are not cheap are crap in the build quality.maybe its just me and bad luck but out of 7 products 4 let me down

350d= no problems

40d= shutter failed on 24768 clicks just after the warranty ran out

50d= no problems

100-400= zoom failed had to be sent back twice

400 l= no problems

50mm 1.8= just fell apart after 1 day

bg e2n grip= got stuck on the 50d had to be taken apart to get the dam thing off

so i was in the market for a new system, nikon looked good but very expensive, so i thought about sony but a lack of lenses,im not including sigma as they are cheaper and in my opinion from what ive used are crap.

then i saw the sony nex-5, interchangeable lenses and with a converter they can be used with all of the sony/minolta range! so off to town i went after what seemed like ages i walked out of the shop with it.

i got the twin lens kit which is the 16mm and the 18-55mm zoom, so far im very impressed with it.........very small,well built hopefully tomorrow i can put it through its paces

spain 1999

2010-11-26T17:17:00.003Z

in response to nick dawtreys photo on his blog

firstly spain for birding is awesome just the numbers and species are fantastic.

nick d, ady z, andy c and myself spent a week birding southern spain, no better bunch of birders could be found anywhere,we were lean,mean and keen apart from ady who boasted he never had shit in the week!

we hired a ford fiesta which when we returned it was fucked! god knows how many miles we put on the clock but many of the roads were crap,the road alongside the guadalquivir river was so bad in places we had to get out just to get the car out of the potholes.

andy c is chef of some repute and many people in halifax have enjoyed his fine cooking,but in spain i seem to recall him just eating out of a tin of cassorelle and eating chorizo in the supermarket.

on the plane home he bought us all beer,infact he bought all the beer on the plane.

nick d had his first taste of chicken!! on the plane, though well remembered for his pissed up attempt at trying to stand a aerosol can up,which is still to this day the funniest thing i have ever seen though the electric fence indecent at whitby is a good second.

as for myself i spent the time driving to bird sites phoning my 17 year old girlfriend and buying beer from the many vending machines

without trawling through the notebook the best birds for me were

black wheatear

rock bunting

rock thrush

azure winged magpie

thekla lark

little bustard

myself and 'heavy birder'

note my bausch and lomb elites and nicks swift audubon

ady z, nick d and andy c

at the little bustard site

Egyptian Vulture

a late chiffchaff

2010-11-25T19:12:00.003Z

a walk along the hebble from siddal to dean clough. though not possible to do it in parts as its either under the mills or inaccessible,after last weeks rain its now back to normal.

chiffchaff 1 feeding in bushes alongside the hebble by nestle

dipper 3

grey wagtail 5

moorhen 1 by north bridge

sparrowhawk 1 over sainsburys

jackdaws 7 giving great views opposite lidl

the moorhen was the most surprising bird today god only knows where it came from? very strange record for the town center.

the chiffchaff as feeding in the bushes by the weir just before the cantilevered walkway

chiffchaff

the hebble

i also visited Bankfield Museum in Boothtown well worth a visit if the weather is too bad for birding

birding amongst the dead

2010-11-23T19:01:00.002Z

Stoney Royd Cemetery

chaffinch 11

g s woodpecker 1

treecreeper 1

jay 3

siddal to swalesmoor

2010-11-21T15:33:00.002Z

very quiet bird wise today

common gull 43 coal pit lane

pied wagtail 2 beacon hill

fieldfare 109 shibden

dipper 1 dean clough

grey wagtail 1 dean clough

sparrowhawk 1 shibden

horse gin

crooked lane

catherine slack

Black Boy Farm

once home to Dr Crippen and John Christie!!!!!

whiskam dandy

The Blue Ball Inn

2010-11-20T20:15:00.003Z

Blue Ball Inn

left image is from Arthur Comfort's book 'Sketches of Old Halifax' 1912

the Blue Ball Inn started life as the Golden Ball Inn around 1822 on Jemmy Lane in Bowling Dyke under North Bridge.until it closed in 1915 it had 6 landlords and 1 landlady.

no doubt the regulars watched dippers and grey wagtails whilst having a pint or 2

around town this morning

2010-11-14T10:20:00.002Z

woodcock 1 flushed in beacon hill woods at the rear of matalan

sparrowhawk 1f

great spotted woodpecker 2 stony royd cem

redwing 17 stony royd cem

common gull 13 horley green

waxwings smackhead city

2010-11-11T20:14:00.002Z

found 5 waxwings at work in castlefields runcorn today.ive been working in runcorn for 8 years so they made a nice work tick.

sunday 7th november........not bad!

2010-11-09T20:38:00.002Z

walked around the town area in the afternoon

some good birds for such a dull day.

waxwing 7 over pellon lane near aldi

brambling 2 at shroggs park just below the football pitch

redwing 18 in snake hill wood

sparrowhawk 1 male over shroggs tip

grey wagtail 5 along the hebble from old lane to siddal

mallard 36 in peoples park

manage to find the location of the wonderfully named Spice Cake Lane which was located between King Cross Road and West Parade. it gets it name from funerals of all things,which currant loaves and spice cake were popular food at such an event.hence the local saying

''looks like a case of currant cake and slow walking''

reputations were made with the quality of the funeral teas! must have been some good spice cake in west parade around 1800.

on the way home past dean clough mills i took a photo from Blue Ball Bridge of the Hebble under North Bridge. i knew i had a seen an old photo very similar a while back,when i found it the result was very similar.

The Hebble from Blue Ball Bridge

1887

The Hebble from Blue Ball Bridge

2010

birds,nature,history and industry

2010-11-06T17:54:00.005Z

a great walk today though the weather was unseasonally warm,birds were on the quiet side.

coal pit lane

common gull increased to 98

stock dove 7

redwing 4

meadow pipit 2

at the top of the lane i got great views across yorkshire and could even see Drax power station in the distance which is 35 miles away as the needle tailed swift flies!!! headed into Binns Wood and towards Elland GP.i gave the lakes a miss due to the amount of people and made my way into the old tip looking for jack snipe and only found 16 meadow pipits.

the power stations

Ferrybridge,Eggborough and Drax

following the river past the weir onto shaw lane i had a look around the recently demolished brickworks.another lost industry gone locally.

it was quite good for finches with 7 bullfinch and 34 redpolls and the surrounding hedgerows held 67 house sparrows.

Calder Fireclay Works

cutting across the fields between lower edge road and dewsbury road, i wanted to have a look at a very old hall,Halifax has so many of these old halls its hard to get the time to see them all.

the New Hall of Elland is actually 520 years old.

i realised this hall was built before columbus went to america!!! now thats old.

built in 1490 and cased in stone sometime between 1640 & 1670. two beams in the roof are said to be from a local gallows which may explain the ghost story that accompany's the house.......

local birders will be well aware of the Tag Cut at the gravel pits, it gets it name from Tag the ghost that rode a chariot pulled by a 2 headed horse from a tunnel under New Hall towards Tag Cut................nightime moth'ers beware!!

New Hall Elland

note the beautiful 'apple and pear' window

mind the step

upper edge

walking towards Elland i saw a very sad site.............the demolition of Gannex Mill,made famous by Harold Wilson.

i would of rather seen it turned into soulless flats than raised to the ground.

Gannex Mill

RIP

i can see me getting into fungi and ladybirds

Jews Ear

pine ladybird

hebble trail

moth runcorn

2010-11-03T14:08:00.001Z

found this at work today,at first thought it was a twig!!! no idea what it is!!

large ego aka the hardman of birding

2010-11-02T20:42:00.004Z

i like a bit of juicy gossip as much as the next birder,so this e-mail from a certain listserve certainly puts puts Mr Evans not as George Michael but as 'THE BOSS' libellous bloggers be aware!! he will come and sort it out!!

ive witheld the recpients name

''**** *****


I do not participate in Birdforum threads as a matter of choice but if you
would like to continually talk about me in a libellous way, can you kindly
email me directly or perhaps place your vitriol on here so that I can
respond directly to your claims.

As far as I know, you don't know me from Adam and have never spoken to me
and know nothing about me or how I operate.

I shall be visiting Tacumshin this week and with any luck, it may be
possible to link up with you. I can drive over to west Cork if need be because
the irritation you are causing me knows no bounds and I would like the
opportunity to sort it out

Lee G R Evans''

THAT Twitching programme

2010-11-02T09:35:00.006Z

Barry Bagnell whilst he came across as a nice chap,i got the impression he as clueless as a chimp.the poor chap is so scared of upsetting lee,he was quivering like a baby when lee told him the gull was not the azorean gulls, BARRRY grow a set of fucking balls.

i would have thought with all the twitching Barry doeas, his wife would have plenty of free time to do some housework and replace the wallpaper that was hanging off the wall.

the Craig's came across as a bit looney but Mrs Craig is a GILF. and we are all jealous of Mya's year list,at least the older daughter seems to have found a hobby of her own when her parents leave her in the house alone.

Lee Evans was obviously confused as he seems to be suffering from a bout of schizophrenia and a bad case judging how likens himself to george micheal and gordon brown.

i just thought lee liked birds.

and lastly poor old Brett,poor fella is so skint he cant twitch anymore.

sunday fairburn ings and bubwith ings

2010-11-01T19:20:00.002Z

a short visit to fairburn ings around lunchtime if only to see some birds,well mainly diving ducks which i have had a long time interest in,but alas too misty,in the hour i was there i could only muster willow tit,water rail and a few pintail.

bubwith was dry so only tree sparrows though some one did try to make a group of grazing sheep in to swans.

all in all a crap day!!

found some old photos heres the first.......................

pigeon on

the Empire State Building

NYC

July 2001

here's a heron sat in a bush at fairburn yesterday

the only working coal mine in yorkshire the BIG K

no waxings today

2010-10-30T12:28:00.003+01:00

walked a fair few miles this morning but no sign of any waxwings,infact i saw very little apart from 28 redwings flying over gibbet street.

no birdy pics today just some of this wonderful town called Halifax....................sorry

young birders

2010-10-29T15:57:00.004+01:00

many years ago i was a kid lister and only in the last few years i lost my title of 'youngest birder in halifax' which i thought was a shame seeing as though im 38!!

the trouble with being a kid lister is no one believes anything thing you find! as i used to find to their loss.though the bradford group despite at the time trying to incorporate most of the british isles into their recording area, did never doubt my sightings, i used to ring tony gough my sightings from elland gp, and never once did i get a sceptical comment off him, though after finding the grey headed wagtail at elland in 1990 which i admit i phoned out as a blue headed wagtail! though in my defence i did only see it in flight!

Before i was 18 i had done some fairly decent birding finding good birds eg the grey headed wagtail,little gull,little tern and breeding lesser spotted woodpeckers locally along with a laughing gull at hipperholme which got rejected by the BBRC, id found my own yellow browed warbler at spurn,id twitched the double crested cormorant at billingham and the snowy owl at wainfleet,visited fair isle and scilly.

i could of been a contender

but alas like nearly all 'kid listers' i succumbed to beer and women! their comes a time in 'kid listers' life when beer tastes better than stale coffee from a flask and getting a feel of tit is better than seeing a beared tit.

once you have tasted the beer and decided that a quick juvenile shag in the alley outside the nightclub is better than birding your fucked! birding takes a back seat for a year or 4!

so my advice to 'kid listers' is leave the women alone and stick to coffee, and if your a 'kid lister' from devon id lay off kicking the american bittern around!

woodcock,little owl and lashings of ginger beer

2010-10-28T20:27:00.000+01:00

well back to work today,so no waxwings.
on the way home through jagger green near holywell green 1 little owl and 1 woodcock made the long drive home bearable.
fish and chips for tea from a proper fish shop washed down with a few bottles of.......................

more waxwings

2010-10-27T14:33:00.002+01:00

searched yesterdays sites with no luck,despite dave sutcliffe texting to say their was 20 around the fire station at king cross.so walked down hopwood lane towards town.

found 50+ in the trees between the bottom of lister lane and gibbet street (bedford st).very hard to get an exact count as they were flying around quite a bit.last saw them flying towards hanson lane.great birds

waxwing

bedford st, halifax

wainhouse terrace

watch out for needles! when looking for

waxwings

seek and thee shall find

2010-10-26T19:21:00.003+01:00

went to find the 12 waxwings seen around skircoat this afternoon managed to see 13 around the murgatroyd arms,texted the news to dave sutcliffe who texted back that there was 15 at king cross.

the flock had reached 17 at the rear of the fire station,and walking back home i had 26 fly over towards parkinson lane.

good stuff

waxwings

photos by NCD

not a bad day in all,considering i was just birding 'urban'

waxwing 26

dipper 1

grey wagtail 3

common gull 21

black headed gull 3

sparrowhawk 1

goldfinch 6

in search of waxwings

2010-10-26T15:20:00.002+01:00

searched all over town this morning for waxwings,with out any luck.

the only highlight was finding 2 teddy bears ripped to pieces and dumped by the nestle factory!!

queens road

got home early afternoon only find out 12 are on skircoat! which is viewable from my house arrgh

birds and sunshine around southowram

2010-10-25T15:32:00.004+01:00

nice and sunny today,im afraid ive done too much walking over the last few days as i really struggled with the last few miles home.

cormorant 1 EGP

great crested grebe 1 EGP

common gull 76 coal pit lane

redpoll 3 coal pit lane

skylark 15 coal pit lane

grey partridge 5 beacon hill

lapwing 13 marsh delves

meadow pipit 24 beacon hill

bullfinch 2 norcliffe

fieldfare 1 siddal

great spotted woodpecker 1 coal pit lane,1 norcliffe,1 EGP

green woodpecker 1 sunny vale,1 EGP

nuthatch 1 brookfoot

sparrowhawk 1 male coal pit lane

autumn leaves

a nice family group of 'fridgus dumpus' along norcliffe lane

high royd sf

2010-10-24T18:18:00.002+01:00

walked down to high royd this afternoon

heres my quick and easy summary..................it was shit

id have depression and anxiety if i lived in

sowerby bridge

branwell bronte

no doubt pissed up

the puzzle inn

around the parish of southowram

2010-10-23T19:04:00.004+01:00

Despite the crappy weather I set off this afternoon on a nice long walk around southowram,I love this time of year,the leaves are falling and changing colour giving the area some much needed colour, the air is full of wood smoke and as the evening draws in the village has that nice coal fire smell.

I was in a rambling mood and found quite a few new footpaths and bridleways to explore, started out towards coal pit lane which had 62 fieldfare, 49 common gulls and 8 linnets,as I reached southowram another 16 fieldfares flew over marshals quarry.

Made my way towards southowram cricket club and decided to follow binns top lane into park wood along here I saw 2 jay’s , 1 great spotted woodpecker 6 goldcrest’s and a treecreeper. Park wood was very quiet apart from 3 jay’s.

Elland gp offered a chance for some good birds, I reality it was poor 38 siskin, 18 redpoll, 2 cormorant,1 great crested grebe, 2 tufted ducks and 1 grey heron. I decided to go to freemasons wood and take the track to the delvers, I always find this area very quiet so I wasn’t surprised to see nothing. Wood lane which is across the road from the delvers and heads into the walterclough valley had large numbers of thrushes 27 redwings, 15 blackbirds, 8 song thrushes along with 2 female bullfinches.heading along the top of walterclough valley towards marsh delves I saw very little with only 8 mistle thrush near the long gone ‘who could a thought it’ pub.

Marsh delves towards beacon hill, I came across and a few bird feeders in a garden near long lane usual birds with 1 great spotted woodpecker and 2 coal tits. Bank top village had a good count of 11 collared doves. Nothing at beacon hill, the long slog home along the hebble was brightened up with 3 grey wagtails and 2 dippers.

After that 14 mile walk I don’t feel so guilty about having a few beers and burgers this evening!!!

not a car friendly town

old BBRC rejected birds

2010-10-22T13:21:00.002+01:00

found some old BB rarity reports on the shelf (1976,1978,1979 and 1980) they include some very interesting rejected birds the best are

1972-SIBERIAN TIT,Boughton, Downham Market Norfolk 6th and 8th February

1975-SLENDER BILLED CURLEW,Poole Harbour, Dorset 12th to 14th April

1975-SLENDER BILLED CURLEW, Shoreham by Sea, Sussex 16th and 23rd November

1976-BOOTED EAGLE,Romney Marsh,Kent 15th May

1976-TENGMALM'S OWL,Cley,Norfolk, 3rd and 5th September

1976-SOOTY ALBATROSS-Sandwich Bay,Kent 2nd October

1976-GREAT BLACK HEADED GULL,Seacombe,Merseyside1st September

1976-GREAT BLACK HEADED GULL,Keyhaven Marsh, Hampshire 30th October

1977-SLENDER BILLED CURLEW,Nigg Bay, Highland 16th October

1977-GREAT BLACK HEADED GULL,Sully Island,Glamorgan 16th June

1977-GREAT BLACK HEADED GULL,Cresswell Pond,Northumberland 29th October

1978-MADEIRAN PETREL-Hilbre,Mersyside 11th September

1978-BLACK SHOULDERED KITE, Whitehaven,Cumbria 20th July

1978-GREAT BLACK HEADED GULL,Selsey Bill,Sussex 7th September

1979-HAWK OWL, Cley Norfolk 18th May

1979-MOUSTACHED WARBLER, Forness,Kent, 8th to 9th May

1980-BULWERS PETREL,Worthing,Sussex 12th and 23rd May

1980-SLENDER BILLED CURLEW.Luddenham Marshes,Kent 10th May

note the amount of great black headed gull records from the mid 70's makes you wonder!!!!

calling all Halifax Birders

2010-10-16T13:15:00.002+01:00

next year is the 20th anniversary of the Halifax Birdwatchers Club, and im writing a report on the rare and scarce birds that have been found in Halifax

im after accounts from the finders of said rare birds in Halifax, i know that not all Halifax Birders read this blog but if you know someone that has found a rare bird in Halifax then please try to get an account.

or i would be grateful for any accounts even if you twitched the birds!!

also any photos would be most welcome

the scillies go into meltdown

2010-10-09T16:08:00.002+01:00

the shetland birders thought they were doing well this autumn with loads of rare birds being found,but in the last few days the isles of scilly have gone into complete meltdown!

eleonora's falcon

not flying over porthellick bay

sharp shinned hawk

not flying over the garrison

far eastern curlew

not on porthcressa beach

the uk400 club has already accepted the birds,president evans was overheard saying 'we need to get the scillies back on track so tick em'

birding on the web

2010-10-04T21:33:00.002+01:00

as i sit here with a beer and a ciggy trying to sort out my yorkshire list which is actually rather hard to do as cant recall seeing a Bewicks Swan in yorkshire,but i must of!!

inbetween trying to sort the list out i found the following great birding websites/blogs

first is Kenn Kaufmans having read Kingbird Highway i was not surprised by how he looks!

second is Manchester Birding which despite being the wrong side of the pennines is a great site,loads of info and very interesting articles.well worth a look.

and last but not least is HeavyBirder well the title photo speaks for itself...............Rickenbakers,Leeds UTD,Yorkshire Birding .

not much posted yet but i expect great things.

walk to sainsburys

2010-09-25T20:17:00.003+01:00

nice walk this evening to get some food and beer!

a jay in stoney royd cem showed well flying and squalking very smart birds indeed,the stretch of the River Hebble,i say river its more of a brook? had 1 chiffchaff,1 grey wagtail and 1 dipper,not a bad 100yards!!!

even better i discovered that sainsburys sells its own cider!!! never been a great cider lover but for 2 liters at just over a quid its not bad!!!!! hic

10 mile walk tuesday

2010-09-24T19:27:00.003+01:00

a bit late posting! please forgive me!

set out from the house at midday,up coal pit lane towards southowram--bank top-- marsh delves--beacon hill--shibden park--shibden fold--horley green--ploughcroft--swalesmoor-ploughcroft--boothtown--old lane mill- town--shaw hill--home.

bird of the day was the stonechat a very nice 1st winter male at horley green,which was a 'green' tick.grey wagtails totalled 3 including 1 going sw over high sunderland lane,given the numbers of grey wagtails in halifax its hard to know if this was a migrant or not?.

siskin at shibden fold was nice to see away from the gravel pits.

apart from that very quiet maybe i should get up earlier!!!!

coal pit lane

fields

powerlines

moth

(HELP)

its tasty!

2010-09-17T15:40:00.005+01:00

very quite today just a chiffchaff calling at the back of cinderhills brickworks.the highlight was the fantastic bacon butty from the place at the end of union street south.

on the net i found this website from holland,well worth spending a few moments looking at it,just because it has some fantastic rare birds on it????.

including some mega firsts for europe,the list is mouthwatering.....................

Lawrence's Goldfinch

Japanese Buzzard

African Goshawk

Rock Sandpiper

Nordmann's Greenshank

Latham's Snipe

Malabar Lark

Chihuahuan Raven

Olive Sparrow

the list is endless.

the 'punkbirders' have nothing on this guy

LAPLAND BUNTING,southowram

2010-09-16T16:33:00.006+01:00

what a day!

picked up on call flying over barrowclough lane at the back of beacon hill.

heard it call once and thought 'whats that?' given the number of power lines up here i thought it may be a sound in the wires, but it called again,heading south west.my first in calderdale and the first ive seen for a few years.

it should be noted this is a very early record for the autumn but large numbers of lapland buntings have been moving across england in the last few weeks.

i think one was seen over bradford earlier this week?

having looked here maybe this is calderdales first american passerine??

lapland bunting

barrowclough lane

southowram this morning

2010-09-16T13:48:00.002+01:00

at last the strong winds and rain have eased!!!

a bright and breezy morning,after a quick breakfast i headed up the hill at the back of the house towards southowram.

wheatear 2

swallow 6

chiffchaff 1

goldfinch 126

linnet 24

starling 400 apx

meadow pipit 112

skylark 12

the wheatears were the best of the morning,1 in the ploughed field alongside coal pit lane,and the 2nd along barrowclough lane.

wheatear

barrowclough lane

bank top

you never know whats under your feet!!!

2010-08-15T22:31:00.004+01:00

since my parents moved to Riccall in 2005 i have birded the area quite a lot,its very seasonal with winter being the best.

recentley on my drive to Riccall i have been noticing signs for various mines in the area...........

Gascoingne wood

Wistow

Riccall

Stillingfleet

Whitemoor

North Selby

the thing is these mines are not in production anymore! just signs by the roadside,all thats left of the 'jewel in the crown of UK coal mining'

the Selby area is not your typical coal mining area,no pitheads to be seen,no miners welfare,no rows of housing, just nothing!

which exactly what it was meant to be,a coal mine in the middle of a tory heartland!.

it was originally to be called 'Escrick Mine' but people who lived in the village were dead against that name so it became the 'Selby Complex Combine'

coal was only brought to the surface at Gascoingne wood,which will explain why the 5 mines all look like non-descript factorys.

for a better description visit this site

wistow mine

as it looks today

wistow mine

Gascoingne wood

not much left now

map of the complex

BANNERS

selby combine

Gascoingne wood

this machine is still underground somewhere under

skipwith common

Riccall

butterflies around siddal

2010-07-24T16:48:00.003+01:00

small tortoiseshell

peacock

small white

a lovely day in the village today, took a short walk to check on what was about.

birds

still quite a few goldfinch about,with 5 at coal pit lane and 3 in southowram,linnets are doing well with 7 at coal pit lane.

good numbers of swallows around and even 5 house martins which i have found quite scarce this year!

ST Aidens its fucking big

2010-06-19T21:07:00.002+01:00

dipped on the wood warbler

2010-06-07T19:51:00.002+01:00

last week dave sutcliffe found a wood warbler at old shroggs tip which is becoming a bit of a rare bird in calderdale.

just got back after not seeing or hearing it! though it did give me chance to take a few photos of Dean Clough

cross hills

dean clough

Iberian Chiffchaff Potteric Carr

2010-05-16T19:52:00.003+01:00

after seeing the parents this morning i headed down to Potteric Carr for the Iberian Chiffchaff thats been present the last few days.

got there about midday,and havent been to Potteric for a while,but its a good place to visit.

saw the bird easily but viewing was difficult in the dense scrubby hedgerow.the song is very distinctive once heard (link to the bird singing)

bumped into garry taylor,who looked to have some cracking photos of the bird.the bird showed briefly during our chat.

after a walk around i bumped into Nick D and Stephen C and walked back to try and get better views.

some birder had the call on his phone,the call was played and the bird landed in the sunlight on top of the hawthorn bush singing its little head off.

the pie master

all in all a good day a lifer and yorkshire tick which makes my very poor yorkshire list to 316

2010-05-15T18:29:00.002+01:00

a very pleasant 10 mile walk today around home, i was never more than 2 miles from my house!
i intended to try and find Brookfoot House but gave up when i saw how steep the location is :0(

birds today

whitethroat 1 still at siddal and 1 at southowram

garden warbler 1 at salterhebble

blackcap 1 at elland

grey wagtail 6 at various places along the canal (very common in these parts)

dipper 1 pair on the hebble at salterhebble

st anne in the grove

the church from

'wuthering heights'

the horse knows all

work

2010-05-14T19:35:00.002+01:00

a few pictures from work!!

despite the destruction the birds dont mind

kingfisher 1
grey wagtail 1
chiffchaff 3

an evening round siddal

2010-05-11T21:42:00.001+01:00

sunset from siddal

an hour around siddal this evening

garden warbler 1

blackcap 1 male

whitethroat 2

chiffchaff 4

willow warbler 8

linnet 3

goldfinch 4

more wanderings!!!

2010-05-09T19:38:00.002+01:00

a bit of a trek today

the aim was to add some year ticks to my 'green' halifax year list!!!

quite a good day

tree sparrow 3 at jay house lane

reed warbler 1 egp

garden warbler 1 ashday

greylag 1 at lillands

sand martin 4 at egp

also

swift 2 egp

blackcap 6

whitethroat 8

lesser black backed gull 2

cormorant 1

tufted duck 1

'brewers duck'

siddal to shibden and back via bank top and southowram

2010-05-08T16:51:00.003+01:00

did 12 miles today!

quite a cool day with the sun coming out at times.

headed from home to Horley Green via Old Bank then dropped down Horley green Lane to the Old Shibden Mill Inn was made up with the 2 grey partridge that flew from the track (a green list lifer!!)

at the junction of Whiskers Lane and Lee Lane i decided to go up Simm Carr Lane towards Limed House,very little though jay and green woodpecker are not to be sniffed at.

a Whitethroat at Bare Head Tunnel was the first of the year as were the swifts over Kell Lane.

shibden park had jays and green woodpeckers.

as i head back home from Southowram down Coal Pit Lane,lapwing,linnet,chiifchaff and another whitethroat were seen

horley green lane

Clipster Hall

path

Shibden

birding amongst the slums

2010-05-01T19:04:00.002+01:00

yes halifax has slums always had always will!

not the best area to be birding but hey you never know what could turn up!

turns out very little

chiffchaff 4

willow warbler 2

pied wagtail 2

song thrush 1

214 empty flats

richmond road estate

a slum

321 empty flats and a slum

the RSPB what is it good for???

2010-04-30T19:11:00.002+01:00

£40 a year for what?

firstly they only like nice birds ,if your a Ruddy duck then your fucked,cos you may fly to spain and fuck a white headed duck.why not kill the fuckers that are shagging the spanish white headed ducks,not the ones in spain/portugal leave the ones in leeds alone.

secondly ,why do you turn good birding sites into theme parks?most of the data for a site comes from birders.

yet the RSPB would rather have records from the public,ergo the public are not birders.

reserves not worth visiting are all the ones in yorkshire ie

fairburn they stuck a parking ticket machine in the car park,and the hides are miles away from the birds

old moor well they fucked it up completely,the area was better 20 years ago,here you can see nothing from the paths

bempton avoid the charges for the car park by parking on the road, and as its a cliff what the fuck do the RSPB do? nothing just take your money

rant over

redstart elland now thats a good one !

2010-04-25T20:49:00.002+01:00

set off around 12 and headed towards Elland.

from the house i dropped over exley towards elland with the intention of having a look around the woodland to the east of the A629 which was storth brickworks.alas nothing left just a few ponds.

as i headed up the hill from elland towards ainleys a bird flew out of the bush,the bright red tail meant it had to be a redstart,it landed in a willow tree and surely enough a male redstart was found! it flitted round for a minute or so before flying off towards the A629.

a great find in such a location especially in spring when such migrants usually head straight to the breeding grounds.

i texted dave sutcliffe with the news.

nick d rang me for the exact location but never saw the bird.

redstart

elland

the rest of the walk was rather dull,though the old mink farm looks good for photography,if it wasnt up such a big fucking hill

there's one near you!

2010-04-21T16:25:00.004+01:00

had a visit to norland moor this morning

is it just me or are there loads of chiffchaffs and willow warblers? heard loads today.

now im wandering around and i see this.....................tall fencing topped with razor wire and a telegraph pole??

the gate was open so i let myself in...................what is it?

yes calderdale had its own part in the 'cold war'

like the title says theres one near you!!!!!

brickworks,birds and bacon butties

2010-04-20T17:37:00.002+01:00

up at 0530 but didnt leave the house till 10! called for g and set off at 1030.first stop the butty shop at the end of union street south, after browsing the extensive menu g opted for bacon and black with brown sauce and my good self a bacon sausage and mushroom.god it was fucking fantastic.

past the pump room then the minster towards matalan for the long steep hike up old bank then onwards and upwards over beacon hill,with the hard part out of the way we made our way down dark lane aka the magna via towards badger lane,then to hipperholme brickworks,willow warblers and chiffchaffs were singing along with the odd blackcap.

after a good look around the brickworks we headed down sunny vale towards brookfoot then onto the gravel pits,which had quite a few swallows but little else of note.

a quick pint in the barge and barrel then onto salterhebble,14 swallows over the fields before the bridge and 3 blackcaps along the towpath.

chiffchaff

elland

the best of both.................its all 'starfish'

2010-04-17T19:05:00.003+01:00

about 10 years ago i went towards great manshead hill for a barn owl,which turned out to be an escape! i always wondered what the bunker was for.................................

................This was the operations bunker for a 'Starfish' decoy intended to draw German bombers away from their intended target, in this case the railway station and yard at Greetland. The decoy consisted of a double line of about a dozen flash pans, where oil would be burned to simulate incendiary bombs. There would also have been decoy lights and shadow buildings, possibly constructed using walling stone from alongside some of the enclosure period tracks in the area. The bunker consists of two rooms either side of a central entrance passage, defended by a high blast screen. The room on the right housed the generators. The control room was on the left, with a escape / observation hatch in the roof. The decoy itself was located to the south west in the area leading towards Great Manshead Hill.

the blast wall

bunker

the decoy is the obvious pale grass

i have a new alarm clock!!!

2010-04-15T20:22:00.002+01:00

can you see my new alarm clock which went off at 03:30 this morning? noisy big bugger woke me but i dont mind.

yes the photo is shit but its all could manage with a 50mm lens

yet more 'green birding'

2010-04-11T20:12:00.002+01:00

so whats 'green birding'? as far as i can make out it is birding without the use of any transport whatsoever though a bicycle would be ok.

set off at 9 this morning made my way down to salterhebble then on to the gravel pits then on up through cromwell wood to southowram then down coal pit lane to home

buzzard 1 over ashday wood

blackcap 1 at salterhebble and 1 at cromwell wood the first of the year

swallow 2 along coal pit lane by the barn

chiffchaff lots dont think ive ever heard so many

willow warbler 4 in siddal and salterhebble

nuthatch 1 in cromwell wood

grey wagtail 1 at salterhebble and 1 at the barge and barrell

green woodpecker 2 around southowram

great spotted woodpecker 1 in cromwell wood

linnet 4 at coal pit lane

bullfinch 1 at west vale

not a bad little walk

shibden valley

2010-04-10T17:21:00.003+01:00

bare head tunnel

step into the light

a snap descion this morning to go up shibden valley,walked about 10 miles the highlight was finally finding bare head tunnel

the birding was good too

swallow 1 pair set up at the large farm house along blake hill end

willow warbler 1 singing at upper lane

chiffchaff about 16 in various locations

lapwing 1 pair on swalesmoor

sparrowhawk 1 female over ploughcroft,1 over upper shibden hall,1 male by water scout and another female in siddal

green woodpecker at least 3 yaffling in the valley

great spotted woodpecker 1 pair at water scout

coal tit 3 disputing territory at the junction of kell lane and brow hill

mallard 1 pair at the old peoples home in horley green which was odd as the nearest water is shibden park

siddal to wheatley valley and back

2010-04-07T18:58:00.002+01:00

a day off today

upto 21 chiffchaffs heard singing in various places on the walk,also the first willow warbler of the year singing in the old tip at shroggs along with a great spotted woodpecker.

a kingfisher on the hebble at wheatley was a nice find.

geraldine is a perfoming monkey!!!

2010-04-05T19:56:00.006+01:00

my mate geraldine texted me last night......

g 'still on for a walk tommorrow?'

me 'yep'

g 'where you thinking?'

me 'snake hill wood,meet at aldi's carpark at 1'

g 'sounds scary and i have had better meeting places'

so off we went into snake hill wood along the very ill named angel road ,we had a look for Birks Hall near brackenbed road but no luck.

a burnt out fiat punto made for some great photos.across the old shroggs tip and on to the new council tip.

had a good look around the outside of old lane mill,made more interesting by me saying 'watch out for needles' which geraldine replied 'thats not something you hear everyday'

into town we went and headed for the gibbet

us Halifax people are very proud of our gibbet and Halifax was the last place in england to chop off peoples heads!!

off to the gibbet you go

ready

ta da survived!

ooo a monitor

its amazing

im on telly

happy in car

not sure i like it

yes! ill take it!

around the town center

2010-04-04T17:55:00.003+01:00

well the easter holidays are drawing to a close ,so i had a walk around the center of halifax town!!!

very quiet on the bird front only the following of note

coal tit nest building at pheobe lane mills

grey wagtail 1 over shaw lodge mill

goldfinch 2 along union street south

chiffchaff 1 singing by the paris gates

redwing 1 by north bridge above dean clough

druggies paradise

snake hill wood the return!

2010-04-03T17:50:00.003+01:00

well i returned to snake hill wood after febuarys tramatic visit!!

very little apart from a jay and 3 chiffchaff.

a female sparrowhawk went over nestles factory

guillemots and razorbills

2010-03-28T19:10:00.002+01:00

not taken at the 'with' but bempton

a few hours this afternoon but it was far too windy for any decent photos :0(

guillemot

razorbill

incoming

razorbill

love the yellow

wheatears at the 'with'

2010-03-25T19:05:00.000Z

2 wheatears this evening,very little else of note

around southowram

2010-03-21T20:34:00.002Z

took a 3 hour walk around siddal and southowram this morning,

a chiffchaff in walterclough valley was the best of the day,as it was only calling i think it may have over wintered? it put on a great show feeding in the sunlit bushes.

nuthatch and treecreeper were seen along sunny bank lane.

coal pit lane had 1 skylark singing also 5 flying around the fields more than likely disputing territory.

also 1 meadow pipit and 6 common gulls.

coal pit lane

the great 'with' extravaganza

2010-03-17T19:10:00.002Z

well still very quiet up here still! another week and it should be better

on the res 1 male mallard and 3 canada geese

2 carrion crows flew over the moor and the pump house trees held a cracking male blackbird which is the first up here since the 27th november 2007!!!! roll on april

the 'with' crates

2010-03-16T20:01:00.002Z

a nice hour up here this evening..........yes the evening visits have started!! hurrah

lots of work going on,yorkshire water seem to be doing some work on the dam which hopefully will end up with being drained? already some shoreline

crates

only 3 species seen this evening

canada goose 16 + 'noisy bob' the white greylag thing

carrion crow 4

skylark 1

long tailed tit stoney royd cem

2010-03-14T20:43:00.003Z

had a look around stoney royd cem this morning

no sign of the lesser spotted woodpecker,but did see

green woodpecker 2

great spotted woodpecker 1

treecreeper 1

jay 3

goldfinch 7

long tailed tit 4

i will never tire of seeing these beautiful little balls of fluff!

this isnt any gull this is an ASDA gull

2010-03-12T18:04:00.003Z

this is what happens when you throw away plastic bags!

so please dont

moore nr great black backed gulls

2010-03-11T20:18:00.002Z

well its still not staying light enough for visiting the 'with' after work,so at the moment i going to moore near warrington after work to have a look at the gulls on birchwood pool.

nothing much of interest so far but its a nice way to spend an hour before having a easy drive home on the M56,M6,M62,M60,M62

back to the 'with' eventually!!!!!

2010-03-07T19:31:00.002Z

upto gorple this morning

16 curlews

12 lapwings

2 oystercatchers

5 redpoll

1 reed bunting

34 red grouse

at midday i went to pugneys as its only 30m mins down the motorway

bumped in to mick c had spent a few minutes chatting.and finally saw the the drake smew,red breasted mergansers and red necked grebe on the calder wetlands.

walked over to pugneys just to save 50p for parking!!! left 10 minutes later as some bloke bored the tits off me going on about fuck all..............white lenses tend to attract oddballs

at 2 i thought fuck it im off to the 'with'

35 minutes later im at 1200 feet and walking over 2ft of snow!!! in places

not a bad first visit for the year

2 mallard on the very frozen res

1 skylark

6 carrion crows

1 male stonechat

now the days are getting longer and im back working in runcorn i hope to make up for all the days lost last year

the 'with'

ring billed gull mirfield

2010-02-28T19:20:00.004Z

ring billed gull

mirfield

despite waking up with a hangover the size large universe at around mid morning i made my way to mirfield just a few miles down the road for the ring billed gull that has been presant for the last few days.

after about an hour i saw the bird fly in and land behind the island,shitty views through the bins but still a good yorkshire tick.

anyway the loafed on the lake for about 20mins before flying off north to where???? my guess is the retail park by the M62

kites,camera,action

2010-02-20T21:02:00.004Z

common buzzard

gigrin farm

black kite

gigrin farm

red kite

gigrin farm

at last i managed to get to gigrin farm,blue skies and snow made for some excellent photos,if i do say so myself!!!

gigrin farm is the one place any birder should visit once,its not a reserve but just one persons vision to bring masses of red kites to the people.

a 3 hour drive for an hours worth of photography! worth it? YES

black kite

gigrin farm

the hidden halifax

2010-02-15T20:33:00.002Z

well from the feedback i have recieved i have set up another blog!

yep its the HIDDEN HALIFAX i hope any local readers can add comments about the photos i will be posting.

i am going to try and post a 'then and now' kind of thing with what i know about about it.

if anyone has any knowledge or info of places to go they are most welcome

out and about

2010-02-14T18:23:00.003Z

just my luck that the sun was out whilst i was at my parents in york!!!! after a few hours and a cracking bacon sarnie,i went to bubwith loads of water but very few birds!

gave up and went to north cave which was a bit better but everything is miles away.........which seems to be a common problem in yorkshire

faxfleet was the best of the day with distant barn owl and 2 marsh harriers,then to add to a crap day i went to fairburn....................................................................

teal

mallard

shoveler

hard going but not a bad day

2010-02-13T17:34:00.005Z

well a nice walk today from siddal to salterhebble then elland gravel pits up through cromwell wood to southowram and down coal pit lane back home about 9 miles

very little between siddal and salterhebble except 2 jays,it was even worse from salterhebble to the gravel pits with nothing of note seen.

elland gp

with the lack of birds so far i was suprised to find it was quite good with 3 sinensis cormorants on the ski ramp 7 sinensis were present and 1 nominate carbo

the best of the rest included

goldeneye 2

goosander 6

tufted duck 7

siskin 27

green woodpecker 1

bullfinch 6

cromwell wood only had the pair of tawny owls 23 goldfinch,49 redwing

cormorants'sinensis'

elland gp

stoodly pike

from coal pit lane

wainhouse tower

from coal pit lane

grey heron

elland gp

mallard

elland gp

dunnock

elland gp

robin

salterhebble

10 miles 1 year tick

2010-02-05T14:44:00.002Z

was hoping for early morning walk but it was chucking down with water!

at 10 headed for stoney royd cem no lesser spotted woodpecker but 15 goldfinch, 2 jays,2 redwings, then doubled back on myself towards siddal top lane then to coal pit lane which was quite good with 1 golden plover, 27 common gulls. northowram and bank top held nothing :(

beacon hill via green lane had 2 green woodpeckers which are a stunning bird in flight and definatley brightend up a misty walk.

from beacon hill to claremount 4 black headed gulls,23 house sparrows chulpping away was a great sound.

hollins greave lane and bradford old road held nothing just a mistle thrush

ploughcroft had 7 greenfinch and up at swalesmoor 1 reed bunting,1skylark,1 meadow pipit.

down ploughcroft lane to mill lane then old mill lane was devoid of birds apart from the lone mournful song of the robin.

the hebble brook below the railway station was too fast flowing for any grey wagtails or dippers shame

well my 'green' year list stands at 68

never been so scared in my life!!!!!

2010-02-04T18:15:00.005Z

id noticed on google earth that the old tip at shroggs looked worth a visit.

so off i set

i found a way in from the back of halfords on pellon lane,going down angel road through snake hill wood,which in itself is scary enough,i suppose i wouldnt have been so scared if it was not for the snow (lots of footprints) who else uses this path/road? and the thick fog which even added to the impending doom.

with back to back houses rising above me from the walls and footpaths closed off with metal railings i felt trapped!

i had no idea where i would end up!

i have been so pleased to see B&Q in my life.

so onward through dean clough,charlestown and nestle and in to stoney cemetery no LSW which was a shame

sefton street

looming above

angel road/snake hill wood

and the birds?

very poor

grey wagtail 4

sparrowhawk 1 female over shroggs old tip

mallard 46 at peoples park

jay 1 stoney royd cemetery

RIP gran love you

2010-02-03T18:22:00.002Z

well today i went to the funeral of my last grandparent,i got home at about 1ish got changed and went for a walk.
my mother has never really spoke about her mums life,and i do not know what my great grandparents were called.

my mum is 60 odd and even just hours after grans death my mum said to me 'she was 90 a long life but not a nice one' only in her last few years did she find true happiness.

life was rough in the 'city'

all gone now but at its height it had over 700 people crammed into the size of a supermarket carpark.

'the city'

halifax

6 hour walk and only 12 miles!!! boo

2010-02-01T19:27:00.002Z

well the first day of my week off work.

as i live halifax which is not the best place to live for birds or birding.i took my friend Geraldine on a long walk,which basically was from town to old mill then ploughcroft,catherine slack,shibden valley,hipperholme,norcliffe,southowram,bank top,beacon hill then back to halifax.it was only 12 miles i thought it would be more,its the fucking hills that fuck it up!

law hill school plaque

we found a collared dove injured/stunned at the roadside a friendly workman put the little fella out of harms way (i was hoping for a mourning dove when i saw it)

lunch at the new cafe in shibden park was very nice

scout hall

lesser spotted woodpecker 300 meters from the front door

2010-01-31T12:17:00.005Z

set off early for a shortish walk

i was so glad i was carrying 2 cameras,id only been walking a minute or so,when no sooner as i entered stoney royd cemetery i heard a lesser spotted woodpecker drumming from near the non-conformist chapel.

in overdrive i made my way towards the little fella after a bit of searching i found him feeding high up in the tree tops,great bird and always a favourite.

got a week off work so i will be going back

lesser spotted woodpecker

stoney royd cemetery

location of the lesser spotted woodpecker

a dull and wet day

2010-01-24T19:24:00.004Z

a very wet and dull day today

walked about 9 miles around southowram with a sneaky detour to lightcliffe

skylark 1 in fields at siddal
grey wagtail 2 a pair displaying at siddal
pied wagtail 1 beacon hill
jay 1 siddal brickworks

tawny owl 1 calling at shaw hill

the birding was quiet

coal pit lane no doubt named after a nearby coal pit,this place looks good for birds

'judd walls'

southowram

judd walls are very common in this part of west yorkshire,built from quarry waste to support the quarry,the wall on the left is over 10 meters in height

got home around mid afternoon then took another walk.

shaw lodge mill

pugneys more ring necked duck madness!

2010-01-17T19:42:00.006Z

had a great time this afternoon at calder wetlands and pugneys cp,well apart from the dog shit and crazy dogs.with most of lakes frozen over the birds showed well.

the day briefly got better when i thought id found a female lesser scaup but i hadnt! oh well

for a shit load more photos click here

ring-necked duck

'oh hai i'm american'

'is that a ring necked duck....fuck me'

a nice shot showing the 'ring'

look in to my eye's

bombs away!!!

sunday ( a bit late.......i know)

2010-01-11T19:34:00.003Z

late posting due to a bad back and trying to get the heating working!

went for a short walk yesterday.
from siddal to old lane mill then back home via the town center and shaw lodge.

very few birds about now,most of the thrushes have gone

grey wagtail 3 (2 at lilly lane and 1 old lane)
goldfinch 4 at old lane mill
herring gull 4 over dean clough
sparrowhawk 1 stony royd

never took my 400mm with me as the light was bad.

whilst walking past dean clough i thought i would try to replicate Bill Brandt's famous photo

'the snicket'

though not a proper snicket not alot has changed since it was taken in 1937

bill brandt's

snicket

1937

darrell prest's

snicket

2010

8'' of snow,-5 but still birds about

2010-01-07T16:58:00.002Z

with the car stuck on a iced road,a nice snowy 10 mile walk today.salterhebble,elland gp,southowram and siddal.

it seemed very devoid of birds along the canal but 23 goosanders 2 treecreepers and dipper were good to see.

elland gp was frozen over with 34 lapwings on the lake,a small flock of redpolls flew over calling.

then onto southowram through the wood 2 tawny owls roosting high up,1 nuthatch and a coal tit

W lane leading to siddal was very quiet apart from 9 herring gulls and a great black backed gull heading west.

tawny owl

southowram

meadow pipit

southowram

lapwings

elland gp

approaching home

todays walk

2010-01-05T19:25:00.003Z

well i did try and get to work i left at 0600,i made good time to oldham when the snow hit.it took another 1hour to get to stockport where the town was gridlocked after a hour of queuing and sliding around the well gritted roads(not) i gave up and headed home.

at for 10,during the 4 hours 4 inch had fallen the roads were bad(and still are)

so at midday i went for a short walk through stony royd along waterside into town then home via shaw lodge

meadow pipit 1 sheltering by a wall at the top of the street

grey wagtail 2 (1 lily lane,1 woolshops)

redwing 1 over the house

kestrel 1

around the town

2010-01-04T19:29:00.002Z

stocked up the food in the yard for the robin and blackbird! and set off on a walk to shibden park

totals for the walk were

mallard 47

moorhen 7

common gull 4

black headed gull 57

stock dove 2

pied wagtail 1

grey wagtail 2

dipper 2

song thrush 5

blackbird 16

redwing 27

fieldfare 5

mistle thrush 3

nuthatch 1

long tailed tit 28

great spotted woodpecker 1

jay 3

linnet 2

goldfinch 5

bullfinch 2

total for the halifax area this year so far 57

a good long walk

2010-01-03T16:41:00.004Z

a long 15 mile walk today (see map)

highlights

siddal to elland

dipper 2

grey wagtail 1

redwing 23

fieldfare 5

great spotted woodpecker 1

jay 4

mute swan 1

elland gravel pits

scaup 1

tufted duck 27

great creasted grebe 4

little grebe 2

goosander 3

sparrowhawk 1

siskin 13

teal 2

black headed gull

elland gp

common gull

elland gp

brookfoot to beacon hill (via sunny vale)

water rail 1 at sunny vale lake

jay 8

great spotted woodpecker 2

grey wagtail 1

goldfinch 21

robin

sunny vale

beacon hill to swalesmoor

common gull 2

fieldfare 46

redwing 34

mistle thrush 7

greenfinch 1

reed bunting 1

catherine slack to halifax (via old lane)

bullfinch 2

goldfinch 4

kestrel 1

halifax tc to siddal (via stony royd cemetary)

grey wagtail 1

tawny owl 2

2010 a great start!

2010-01-01T14:51:00.002Z

the day started at scammonden with both juvenile great northern divers present,though distant.

the newer bird moved to the middle of the res,it spent 5 minutes preening and flapping before taking off,it circled the res 5 times before heading north ringstone maybe?

great northern diver

(bird 2)

bird #1 was still by the dam doing a nice feeding routine and coming very close at times

great northern diver

(bird 1)

then onto elland gp

1 scaup 1st winter male

2 pochard male

4 goldeneye 2m 2f

4 g c grebe

2 little grebe

cormorant

elland gp

have a great 2010