Double Fiasco Day!

Bonne Soirée Peeps.

A very warm and humid afternoon's walk today.

We were late out of the stalls today catching the 11:07 bus to Halifax and a bus to Hebden Bridge.

At a Hebden dress shop, Sue exchanged one new dress for another new dress before we set off along the canal towards Luddenden Foot.

Some sections of the canal looked very short of juice.

At The Blue Cafe, Mytholmroyd we had a toasted T cake and a Rolo Cake for lunch.

The walk to Luddenden Foot was enjoyable enough but nothing new bird wise.

At Luddenden Foot, we called at Sue's friend, Helen's,  for a rest and a cuppa.

It was pleasing to see a Juv. Great Spotted Woodpecker  noshing fat balls in Helen's garden.

We then caught 17:05 bus into Halifax....... But....

Then....

Chaos...

When we arrived at the bus station there were stationary buses all over the shop.

Three or four fire engines were parked in the bus bays area.

Rush hour in the bus station and a bus had set on fire .... great.

We got off our bus, looked bewildered like many, many more folk.

The bus drivers knew very little about what was happening or how long things would take to return to normal.

We decided to leave them to it and legged it along to the train station to nab a taxi before everyone else did.

Sue rode in the front and I was relegated to the back seat.

It was one of those big white jobs with small windows and a metal grill to protect the driver.

It felt like travelling to Pentonville Prison in a Prison Van.

£12.60 Lighter we arrived in Bradshaw.

We should have known it was going to be "one of them days" when earlier.....

Sue had a parcel to return to Mountain Warehouse, so after reading the instructions carefully regarding returns, we drove over to ASDA.

The lady here was very helpful, she suck a label on the parcel, asked Sue for the QR code. No probs, there it was on her phone. Scanned it, then honk, honk. No deal.

A few Honk, Honks later the lady says, this is not an Amazon package is it?

No its a Mountain Warehouse, Evri return. 

The lady took her label off again!

As per Mountain Warehouse website we can return it from here.

No - we don't do Evri. Take it to JR's at Highroad Well.

We did that, but our QR code would not work because it was set up for ASDA not JR.

You need to get a new QR code, the kind young lady in JR's told us.

We sat in the car and and after some smart phone gymnastics managed to get a QR code that we could use in Sharma's shop in ..... Bradshaw.

We drove back to Bradshaw and it all went well at Sharma's.

One bonus was that they had a slightly damaged Carrot Cake on special offer on the counter - yum.

Birds:-

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

8 Grey Wagtail.

Dipper.

Buzzard.

Heron .

Song Thrush.

Blackcap.

Willow Warbler.

Chiffchaff.

Nuthatch.

Sand Martin and House Martin.

Garden this evening:- A Red Legged Partridge (heard) ,4 Swallow a few Lesser Black-backed Gull.

There and Back

We had a dinner date with friends late afternoon in Spoons Brighouse and I took the opportunity to race along to the Ski-Lake  / Lagoon and have a nosy about.

The lagoon could do with a lot of Corporation Pop.

Another blustery showery miserable day with some rain about but it became very humid down here, late afternoon.

Not much happening I'm afraid.

I met a man as I was walking along the canal and during the course of our conversation he mentioned that he was looking to buy an old really posh big car.

He had his mind set on buying a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud , but he was unable to find one for sale.

Have you tried the "Lining Family Garage" in Brighouse? I asked.

Why would I try them?, he asked.

Well, did you not know. that every Lining had a Silver Cloud.

Sometimes I am so funny I amaze even myself!

Birds:-

2 Heron flew over the canal.

Mallards with some quite large Ducklings was nice to see.

4 Black Headed Gull.

Moorhen.

Goldfinch.

Bullfinch.

Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Song Thrush.

Buzzard, Long Tailed Tit.

Sand Martin. Swift.

and a few others.

Garden Greenfinch.

On the buses - Monday

Another June day and another bus ride or two.

It was drizzly and very, very blustery as we legged it down Bradshaw Lane for an earlier than usual 9:07 a.m. bus to Keighley, followed very smartly by the 64 to Ilkley.

We alighted ( that doesn't that mean we lit a fag-arette? ) just after Addingham and enjoyed a blustery tread along the river Wharf into llkley.

Lots of in leaf trees now along the path so viewing the waters edge is not straight forward.

Later, we walked back along the same path, to the same bus stop and caught the same bus back to Keighley.

Along the way there we called at the Ilkley Tennis Club Cafe (No scones!!!).

We did some shopping (Sue spent £6 and apart from buying lunch in Spoons - I bought nowt).

At Spoons I had the shawarma Chicken Warp and salad - It is so hot it makes me bald patch sweat - but its's yummy.

It was after 4 p.m. when we arrived at  Keighley and we caught the 16:20 p.m. bus.

I think problem buses wait in the wings for us to appear.

This bus had some real difficulty in 1st and 2nd gear going  uphill at a snail's pace or a snail with a broken 'leg' pace.

BUT on the downhill it could really SHIFT.

(Seen from the bus - It looks to be some new wind turbines on Soil Hill? )

Birds:-

Full of Junes's disappointment.

Nice to see a Jay for a change.

Good few Chiffchaff.

Blackcap.

Pied Wagtail.

Coal, Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tit.

Nuthatch.

Dipper. 

c6 Oystercatcher.

Lots of Sand Martins above the river.

A couple of Lesser Black-backed Gull.

5 Black Headed Gull and a few Mallard.

A Not very Ilkley Like Sign

Bradshaw.

Tennis Club Cafe

Thunderstorms that never arrived

A poor weather forecast and oppressively hot weather affect our plans today.

No birding, No walking - just lots of 'bus'.

Sue wanted a new dress from a Hebden Bridge shop so with the poor weather forecast we decided to do some bus journeys to get one.

The 10:30a.m. 526 got us to Halifax soon followed by the Hebden Bus.

We were successful in our dress hunt , getting two, pretty frocks.

We enjoyed a coffee and a toasted currant T cake in 'innovations' in Hebden.

For pud we walked to 'Ted's' ice cream joint and had a waffle cone - yummy.

For a change of scenery we opted to catch the 901 bus that for some reason we thought went through West Vale, where we would catch a Halifax Bus.

Cragg Vale came and went, so did Blackshaw Head Reservoir, then down the hill , Ripponden was left in our wake as we climbed up the opposite hill past the Fleece and on through Barkisland, and as we passed the outskirts of  Stainland in became apparent that we had 'dropped one'.

We eventually arrived at Huddersfield bus station - not to worry - we caught the x83 fast bus to Brighouse.

After a coffee and biscuits in Spoons, and a bit more shopping, we caught two more buses to get us to our front door.

The final bus in this saga, a modern 526 bus , had a problem with the door electronics.

A very pleasant American voice kept telling us "Door Open", "Door Open" each time we stopped / started.

The old Queensbury Red Hebble bus, that I used to catch when I started going to work in the 60's, did not have this problem - it did not have a door, just and opening with a long metal pole to grab. 

I now wonder if this pole had a name? Probably May.

Birds:

Not much!

Blackstone Edge has loads of shoreline seen from the bus.

A few Swift and Swallow were seen.

A Buzzard over the house earlier and Coal Tit, Red Legged Partridge and an Oystercatcher were all heard while I was sitting in the garden later. A few big plops of rain came and went this evening.

On the buses / local fields p.m.

A real scorcher today - sunshine from A - Z .

We legged it down the road for the 10:07 a.m. bus to Keighley, forsaking it at Cross Road where a 30 minute wait for the B3 to Oxenhope forced us into the excellent Wilde's cafe for a egg custard (small) (each!) to pass the time.

At Oxenhope railway station we got off this bus and enjoyed a walk along the river to Haworth.

Along the way we caught up with 5 Green Beetles.

Well, they weren't beetles really, they were school girls on a hike to ? and they were looking at an OS map and doing lots of head scratching.

Their packs were massive and one girl looked to have some painfully red bare arms.

As is usual just one girl had the dubious pleasure of map reading while the rest had maps, but they weren't reading 'em.

Sue gave them some advice, drink plenty of water, get some sun cream on the red stuff... and .....after Sue had a quick squint at the OS map and I legged it to a nearby house to check it's name we helped them 'slightly'  with their direction problem.

It always seem to be either pouring down or really hot days when these school hiking trips occur.

In Haworth we had a current teacake (as per menu) and a  drink before climbing up to the village for a well deserved ice cream.

On the way home I did consider getting off at Ogden to try for NK's Redstart, that he'd seen near the golf course - but it was blistering hot and I am an old geezer who makes noises like a gyser when it is this hot.

After tea I had a look up the local fields - but not far!

Birds:-

Walk:

Not much seen but plenty of bird song.

Blackcap , Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler.

C8 Swift together over Wilde's cafe was a 'high' point.

Local:

Buzzard.

Red Legged Partridge.

1 Meadow Pipit.

2 Oystercatcher seen in flight landed - presumably near the Bradshaw Pond.

Magpies and Crows going bonkers - a Fox the cause.

Walk:

Local:

Soil Hill - my second blog tonight - wow I hear you say!!

I had a late evening, tiring, walk up to and over Soil Hill today.

Really nice and sunny and a bit of a breeze was welcome.

The usual birds for here, but it was good too hear and see a Grasshopper Warbler .

It was away to quick to get it's mugshot alas.

More digger work on the very top with lots of grass 'turned over' and smaller bushes and trees removed.

Birds:

2 Swallow , 1 Swift.

4 Willow Warbler.

Grasshopper Warbler.

3 Whitethroat.

5 Skylark.

6 Stock Dove.

6 Linnet.

Moorhen.

Kestrel seen - dropped down onto a mown field and picked up prey.

Flew off with prey towards Queensbury - after a short 'nibble at it.

Grasshopper Warbler in completion with a Skylark.

Ringstone Reservoir , Barkisland

Lots of running around again today - Elland, Sowerby Bridge , Halifax.

Along the way we stopped off at the excellent Barkisland Post Office to pick up some lunch.

Last time here I had some sort of curry pie which was yummy, yummy but the calories were too many - see my tummy - second thoughts - don't!

Today I opted for less calories and got a Ham salad sarnie and a yoghurt.

The sarnie was so big we could have shared it - so much for a smaller tummy then.

We ate lunch looking over Ringstone Reservoir and after, Sue read and I had a nosy about.

The Great Crested Grebe pair have constructed a second nest but I don't hold out much hope for it's survival, unless this warm, dry, calm weather persists.

Good to see quite a few Pied Wagtails flitting about and a bit of shoreline as well.

Not much on the water  - as expected.

Birds:-

2 Great Crested Grebe.

Moorhen with 2 young.

Oystercatcher.

Heron.

6 Mallard.

5 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

2 Black Headed Gull.

Buzzard.

and a few other species.

2 Buzzards flew over > W the house yesterday evening.

Buzzard over the garden.