Cold Edge Dams - Wainstalls

After lightening my wallet at Queensbury Tesco's this morning-  "The friendliest shop in town"  I drove over to Wainstalls.

I managed to get a parking place on the main road above the school and then legged down to and  along Castle Carr Road for a short distance.

After crossing a stile on the right I followed a good path up the moor , that crosses he Calderdale Way path at a wooden bridge, to the dams.

This path can be quite boggy but today it was as good as it gets really with just the odd boggy bit.

It was a glorious day for a walk and the moorland scenery and views made up for the lack of birds.

As usual its "muck of nettles" here a saying I don't really get - both muck and nettles are unpleasant!

I enjoyed the views as I sat, out of the draught , on a bony rock eating my curds and whey sandwiches  for lunch.

Birds:-

3 Red Grouse. 

3 Common Gull.

C30 Black Headed Gull looking pristine in the sunshine. (Just 2 first winter birds).

5 Meadow Pipit. 

2 Wren. 1 Crow. 1 Magpie. Jackdaw.

Canada Geese calling from somewhere (in french).

2 Starling.

Bradshaw & Ogden

9:30 - 15:00.

A longer than usual, five and a half hours, birding outing today with birds at Ogden difficult to come by.

I did two circuits of the water, two cafe visits and a trek up to Giants Tooth to try and eek something out !

The "new" non-disabled six toilets at Ogden are now down to one usable one with the other five having been vandalised in one form or another.

Its a pity the vandals don't have to pay for the repairs they will cost hundreds of £££££.

Chris was driving the Christmas tree taxi around the circuit, so the lack of birds is all down to him! 

Nothing at all to do with my poor birding skills.

There was a watery greyness about the place after the early brightness disappeared.

Perseverance did pay off eventually with a few birds on offer though.

Birds:-

Little Owl.

4 Stock Dove.

Wren.

Buzzard.

4 Pheasant.

80 + Jackdaw.

At least 4 Raven.

c30 Small Gulls at one point.

1 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Long Tailed Tit.

Kingfisher.

Red Grouse.

2 Treecreeper.

And a few others.

Bradshaw Fields Late Afternoon Outing

I did not get free until later on today and just managed to squeeze in a short birding walk along the local fields to Ned Hill Road and back.

It was a cold day today but it stayed dry - snow tonight????

Birds:-

Greenfinch.

Three  Raven.

2 Bullfinch.

2 Stock Dove.

Two Little Owl.

Buzzard.

8 Ling Tailed Tit.

3 Coal Tit.

and a few of the usuals.

Ringstone Reservoir (Wet!) a.m. / Local Fields (Dry!) p.m.

As I went outside early morning to deposit some recyling in the bin, I heard the faint call of Pink Footed Geese and managed to see three Geese heading WSW in the dark sky.

A bit later on I had another run over to Ringstone.

Obviously, I had had insufficient disappointment here yesterday so I went to have a disappointment top-up.

The weather was very wet and breezy as I legged it across the banking to shelter behind the bird hide.

I spent most of my short visit scanning from here, but seeing very little.

After lunch the rain stopped so I had a walk along the local fields to Ned Hill Road and back.

I got a few more 'ticks' ✓✓✓ today which was comforting.

Birds:-

Garden:

3 Pink Footed Geese.

Ringstone:

7 Fieldfare > South.

2 Herring Gull over the water.

Common & Black Headed Gulls in the fields.

(Just 3 Common Gull on the water).

A "mass" of Canada Geese.

Greylag Geese.

Local Fields:-

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Herring Gull.

Common Gull.

Black Headed Gull.

2 Stock Dove.

Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch.

Blue, Great & Long Tailed Tit.

Robin, Blackbird, Magpie, Crow, Jackdaw.

3 Pheasant.

Little Owl.

Ringstone:

Bradshaw:

Ringstone Reservoir Barkisland

I made the longish trip over to Ringstone reservoir mid-morning.

It was very, very windy here with the threat of rain that did not materialise during my short stay.

There were no birds at all on the water and many birds in the  fields were hunkered down.

A disappointing visit really but yesterday's cobwebs, that had formed on my lug holes, as I sat in all day doing crosswords , were blown to blazes.

At least the Greylag Geese gave me a yearly tick.

Birds:-

1 Meadow Pipit.

c10 Lapwing.

 c20 Starling.

12 Greylag Geese. (One with prominent orange eye ring).

28 Canada Geese.

Black Headed and Common Gull.

One with prominent orange eye ring above.

Bradshaw - Soil Hill etc

A cold icy day again today but bright and sunny for a lot of it.

I had a visit to make to B&Q this morning to get some G9 led lights.

It might be me but I find that there so many different light bulbs nowadays - they are really confusing and expensive. I had a cupboard full of all sorts of them but you can be sure that the one that fails isn't in the cupboard , when you look for it in the first place, but somehow, miraculously, they turn up just after you've bought some more.

Anyway at least I got to see the Peregrine down there.

This afternoon I had a walk up Taylor Lane, over Soil Hill Summit, down Ned Hill Road and through the farms to home.

Nothing on the deck on Soil Hill summit and just 2 Common Gulls flew past as I was eyeballing the tundra hoping for a S.B. or L.B.

It was pleasing to see 7 Meadow Pipits on the west sloping fields as I left the hill - they were very very flighty.

It looks like I'll wake up to a garden full of snow tomorrow - hopefully it will melt before teatime.

Birds:-

Peregrine Falcon - Dean Clough Chimney.

2 Raven.

Heron.

7 Meadow Pipit.

2 Stock Dove.

Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch.

Kestrel.

3 Starling.

Little Owl.

Plus a few others.

Soil Hill Summit.

Taylor Lane.