Bradshaw Fields

We were tied up for most of the day, today.....

(Somehow I managed to wriggle one arm free though,  hold my Ray Mears bushcraft  pocket knife between my teeth and sever my binds).....

On our visit to White Windows , Sowerby Bridge, mid-maoring, there were a few birds in the gardens there.

Later on today,  I enjoyed a cold leg stretcher up the local fields, one hour before sunset.

A Barn Owl was hunting above the snow fields and a wily Kestrel was shadowing it (landing on various fence posts) hoping to relieve the Barn Owl of it's tea. 

However both went tea-less before the Owl left.

Meanwhile back at the ranch:-

Tonto and his friend Thomas are out birding the wild west.

Lots of Eagles, Vultures and Owls to see but no luck, yet, with a Red Tailed Hawk.

Then Tonto shouts "Look Tom, a Hawk!"

Tom looked up , but, schooooooop, too late.

The tomahawk took his 'ed  right off!

Quiz.

Which former Premier League footballer played for Aston Villa, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City and Sunderland.

Birds:-

White Windows:

1 Treecreeper. Bullfinch. Great Spotted Woodpecker.

2 Nuthatch.

2 Cormorant on a pylon south of Sowerby Bridge.

Bradshaw Fields:

Barn Owl.

Little Owl.

Green Woodpecker.

Kestrel.

2 Pheasants.

House roof.

Looking south fog in the valley.

Above - from the garden.

Bradshaw Fields:

Quiz Answer:

Dwight Yorke.

Bradshaw - Soil Hill Circular

The first white rain of the autumn fell last evening and continued into the night.

Given the hours of this snow, the snow shifting this morning wadn't toooooo bad.

After lunch I had a walk up to and over a snowy Soil Hill, keeping to the main paths.

Bit on the chilly side but quite enjoyable up there today.

Very little moving in the sky today but a flying Common Gull and a flying  Snipe over Soil Hill top, bucked the trend.

Mean while back at the ranch ...........

The big steam iron horse is broken down and sits in the train maintenance shed.

The chief boilerman is struggling to get the  thing started.

 "We need an engineer!!!" he shouts at his secondman.

The secondman goes and gets Tonto, telling Tonto to come with him to see the boilerman.

 "What's he doing here?" asks the boilerman.

 Secondman replies "You told me you needed an Injun here!"

Quiz:

Which NHL team is based in Nashville, Tennessee?

Birds:-

3 Mistle Thrush.

Stonechat (Taylor Lane threshing machine ruin).

Snipe.

2 Bullfinch (farms).

Barn Owl.

Little Owl.

c40 Gulls at Mixenden , seen from the top.

Plus a few of my regulars.

A fox sniffing the snow as it made its way through the snow fields.

Probably Goldfinch.

Barn Owl.

Soil Hill

Quiz Answer:

Nashville Predators.

Out and About

A stiff frost last night and neither the garden gate nor the car door wanted to open up this morning.

The weather through the day though was ok, cold and crisp, good for a walk.

Some 'stuff' to sort out this morning but afterwards we parked at Sowerby Bridge and walked to Hebden Bridge along the canal, getting a bus back to the car.

We had our obligatory cafe stop,  at The Blue Teapot today, for a T cake and some other sweeter calories as well.. yum.

As old age starts to get the better of me, some odd little things seem to catch me out.

Today was a prime example.

As we headed along the Hebden Bridge road towards the bus stop, Sue shouted "come on there is a bus coming".

As we legged it to the bus stop and jumped on board I was fumbling with my wallet getting my old farts  bus pass out.

I duly swiped it along the reader, got a reassuring 'ping' only to realise, too late, that the card was my debit card.

Nice to know that the card reader accepts both cards!!

Just a small camera with me today.

Meanwhile back at the ranch....

Tonto is waiting for The Lone Ranger outside the Fortune Teller's Tent, listening.

Gypsy Rose Lee says "Cross my palm with silver, Mr Lone Ranger"

soon followed by:-

"EEEEEK - get that white horse of me mitt!"

Quiz:

Who directed the film  No Country for Old Men?

Birds:-

Pair Peregrine Falcon (Halifax chimney near Matalan).

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Goosander.

2 Nuthatch.

c10 Goldfinch.

Quiz Answer:

Ethan and Joel Coen.

Garden Sky Watch

A couple of enjoyable hours sky gazing this morning (some days I am easy to please!).

Cool but it stayed mostly dry.

A small (20) skein of Geese passed to the ESE of me > west that looked like pinkies.

They were in a very disciplined long linear line.

A distant photo, messed about with on my laptop, changed my opinion - I think they are Canada Geese.

Other birds seen were 2 Buzzard and a Kestrel.

Plenty of birds moving this morning, but mostly Gulls, kept the interest ticking along.

Meanwhile back at the ranch....

The Lone Ranger sends Tonto on ahead to scout for baddies..... later......The lone Ranger catches up to Tonto.

Tonto has his ear to the ground, looks up at the Lone Ranger, and says.

"Kemosabie - Wells Fargo Coach, 6 Horses here!!"

Lone Ranger "Amazing Tonto! How do you know".

"Well Kemosabie -  Tonto not happy bunny - They just run over Tonto".

Quiz:

Which NBA team did Michael Jordan play for between 2001 and 2003?

Canad Geese above?

Quiz Answer:

Washington Wizards.

Local Fields

Abi with us today so not much birding time, just a 30 min. walk up the local fields mid-morning.

A strange sort of day with the sun coming out on the very edge of us, some rain clouds with just the odd drip here.

Dark clouds seemed to appear then wander off towards Halifax leaving us dry - Sue even managed to get the bedding dried outside.

Quiz:

Which novel is set in the fictional West and East Egg on Long Island?

Birds:-

1 Little Owl.

8 Goldfinch.

c20 Common Gulls.

3 Herring Gulls.

Mistle Thrush.

2 Raven over head was a nice surprise.

Raven 1.

Raven 2.

Quiz Answer:

The Great Gatsby.

Ogden Water

A bit late on parade this evening, with Abi here and insisting on games of kids pool.

(The table is dead wonky! It must be I lost 8 games to 10!).

A poor day today with mist and drizzle.

A Calderdale Group WhatsApp message from DJS via B.S. of a Med. Gull at Ogden had me drive over there mid-morning to see if it was still present.

Lots of Small Gulls to check through on both side of the water as I went around the circuit.

At the far SW end I bumped into DJS on the same hunt as me - neither of us had any luck though with finding the Med. Gull alas.

We enjoyed a coffee and a natter in the cafe there before DJS left and I set off to do a second circuit.

The weather had deteriorated with thicker mist and drizzle setting in.

The second circuit did not bring me any nearer to the Med. Gull but I did eyeball a few Birds.

I took loads of photos to look through and have ended up with what might be called a 'long shot' of a possible candidate - but given that it's flying and photos can be deceptive I am not putting any money on it being the real deal.

Meanwhile back at the ranch......

A baddie sticks the end of a gun into the back of Tonto and turns him into a palindrome!

Quiz:

Which band wrote the songs "Intervention", Ready to Start" and "Black Mirror"?

(Some) Birds:-

Top of the shop was a Teal in with a few Mallards.

Herring Gull.

Black Headed Gull.

Common Gull.

Mallard.

Bullfinch.

Many Long Tailed Tit.

Coat Tit.

Treecreeper.

Plenty of contact calls but the tree canopy was very dark and birds difficult to make out.

Above- Med. Gull - Clutching at straws!

Top photo of the three, probably best chance?

Quiz Answer:

Arcade Fire.