Bradshaw - Soil Hill (Summit) - Ogden Water - Bradshaw Fields

9:00 - 14:30

A Cracking sunny morning with frozen snow lying on Soil Hill summit and a cold northerly wind up here - I left the north slope for another day.

By contrast Ogden Water was sheltered and an overcoat warmer.

Mr. Predictable I'm afraid again today with my usual circuit.

Ogden was very busy with it being school holiday week but I enjoyed a real good laugh with Pat and Janice who were on duty as I made my usual 2 visits, to the "cafe" on my rounds.

I did not pack any lunch and had to settle for a bag of Cheese crackers and a cuppa soup or was it a cuppa salt?

Birds:-

Bradshaw, Soil Hill (Summit) & Ogden Water:

Starling, Greenfinch, House Sparrow. Little Owl. Common Gull. Woodpigeon.

2 Stock Dove. Canada Geese,, Wren, Herring Gull.

Pheasant.

Raven carrying nesting Material (Soil Hill) & Raven heard (Ogden).

c10 Small Gulls on Ogden Water at one point.

6 Tufted Duck.

Dunnock. Robin. Blackbird. Great Tit, Blue Tit. Coal Tit. Wren.

Treecreeper.

Goldcrest.

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Mallard.

1 Redwing.

2 Nuthatch,

Song Thrush.

Ogden Lane to Home.

2 Mallard. Little Owl. 2 Pheasant, Chaffinch.

Bullfinch,

Usual Magpies Crows and Jackdaws.

2 Black Headed Gull.

c10 Common Gull.

Mistle Thrush.

Cromwell Bottom Nature Reserve

Another wet and windy cool day today.

After lunch I had a drive down to Brighouse to have a quick look at the Ski-Lake area.

The "Avocet" car park area was rammed so I parked in the busy Nature Reserve Car Park.

The weather during my visit was mostly kind with just a couple of heavy showers to contend with.

Most of my visit was gawping through the railings at the ski-lake.

Many Gulls were on the metal fencing way over on the SW(?) end of the lake - obscured by trees.

I took quite a few photos to see if I could spot a scarce Gull but didn't.

I did not see any Tufties either today?

Birds:-

2 Mute Swan.

Little Grebe calling from the lagoon.

Canada Geese.

Usual Gulls as far as I could tell with 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

A group of Siskin were calling noisily from trees above the wooden walkway that crosses the lagoon.

They very near but I could not find them in the bins!!

5 Goldeneye (3 Males).

Buzzard.

Jay.

2 Coot.

2 Heron.

10 Cormorant.

Plus a few others.

2nd Winter Herring Gull

Bradshaw - Raggalds - Soil Hill Etc

12:30 - 14:45.

'Back to the future' with rain, sleet and lots of wind on soil hill.

A bit of a dismal outing today but good exercise climbing over soil hill summit.

Sleet at the Raggalds for starters then a dry sandwich then a trifle wet for afters.

At the Raggalds the little bit of water there, was frozen.

Most birds were showing more sense than me keeping dry out of sight.

Anyway I did see a few.

I hope the electricity does not pack up like it did last evening in Bradshaw - 241 properties affected apparently.

I was Halfway through cooking my chicken a la king with Heinz Ketchup when the power went caput.

I managed to knock together some sanglier, pissaladiere and crepes suzette using one gas burner though.

Redshirazplonk to accompany it was very, very (c)hic.

Maybe I read the French menu without the required Frenchy accent because...

It didn't look much when I'd made it - I'll stick to English cuisine next time.

Birds:-

5 Rook.

C40 Starlings.

1 Mistle Thrush.

2 Raven.

2 Mallard.

1 Moorhen.

Plus usual crew.

What I can create when the power goes off is awesome...

Sometimes I just amaze myself.

Bradshaw - Soil Hill (Summit) - Ogden (Brief Look) - Bradshaw

On this bright and sunny cold morning I got my boots on , after what seems like a month, and set off to Soil Hill.

Taylor Lane was well dodgy with thick ice and laying snow and I had to keep walking on the snowy verge to stop falling on me pride.

DJB was on the summit of Soil Hill, when I got there, and we had a very enjoyable hour or so sky gazing.

DJB had been here a while and he had, had a few north slope specials (which I didn't),

We did get some birds moving from time to time which kept us alert.

I found looking into the bright blue sky quite difficult - an age thing probably.

But the younger eyes next door were very helpful and informative.

My one plus was that I did hear a skein of calling Pink Footed Geese first.

After we went our separate ways, I headed down to Ogden to get a warming coffee.

Unfortunately the visitors centre was closed today presumably because of the snow and ice.

Can't blame the volunteers for giving Ogden Lane a miss today!

I had a very quick look at the water from the visitors centre and decided that I would not do a circuit of the water today with the path looking well dodgy.

Soft sod what I am.

I came home for lunch, via the farm track and the field footpath.

I've made a bit of a pig's ear with the Golden Plover photos.

Birds:-

316 Pink Footed Geese. (DJB Photos).

11 Curlew (10 seen, one heard).

4 Golden Plover.

2 Buzzard.

3 Skylark.

2 Little Owl.

Greenfinch, Dunnock.

Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Black Headed Gull.

3 Wren, Bullfinch, 2 Stock Dove, Chaffinch.

Crows, Magpies and Jackdaws.

and a few others.

Bradshaw Fields.

Bradshaw Lane

Dragged this out of a photo - Lesser Black-backed Gull?

Jackdaw

Some Snowy Stuff.

Main Track

Taylor Lane

Bradshaw - Soil Hill - Ogden - Bradshaw

10:00 - 14:10.

A bright morning for a change and I had a walk over Soil Hill summit and around Ogden Water coming home via the Bradshaw Farms and fields.

Some Pinkies skeins reported but I seemed to be in the Ogden cafe when the local ones went through!

Ogden car park was rammed again - nice to be on foot at times like these.

I lost a black woolen glove (probably on Ned Hill Track or Ned Hill Road) - £1.99 from Boyes in Brighouse - Now I'll have to save up to buy another pair.

Luckily I've got a cupboard full of odd gloves and one of them will do for now.

There were plenty of bird calls in the brightness this morning but Ogden was poor again - probably affected by the number of folk here.

Birds:-

Bradshaw, Soil Hill & Ned Hill Track:

Greenfinch, Starling, House Sparrow.

6 Skylark, 21 Magpie. Woodpigeon.

Both Pied and Grey Wagtail on the lower Taylor Lane midden.

Canada Goose. 3 Mistle Thrush, Robin.

Chaffinch. 2 Herring Gulls over (probably lots more over!).

Common Gull.

Blue Tit, Great Tit, Blackbird.

3 Mallard.

c10 Meadow Pipit.

Crow. Dunnock.

c50 Jackdaw. Feral Pigeon.

2 Pheasant. Kestrel.

Little Owl called from west of Ned Hill Track.

2 Little Owl usual garden area Bradshaw.

Ogden:

Goldfinch, 3 Herring Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull. c40 Small Gulls.

Song Thrush, 2 Mistle Thrush, Buzzard.

2 Raven. Long Tailed Tit, Crow,

Mallard. Blackbird, Robin. Dunnock.

Goldcrest.

Nuthatch. 

c60 Gulls in Syke Lane fields.

Wobbly Video of distant Gulls in

Syke Lane Fields.