Soil Hill Top & Bradshaw

9:15 - 11:30

The usual outing today - up and over Soil Hill Top along Ned Hill Track and home via the farms tracks.

A dry cool start, warmed up nicely later - clouds building now with some rain.

You could see a long way this morning.

Not a lot on offer today really.

Birds:

Home to Ned Hill Track:

Little Owl (Bradshaw Lane).

c30 Swallow.

12 Meadow Pipit.

c15 Goldfinch.

Feral Pigeon.

1 Skylark (Flushed from Soil Hill Top).

2 Wren.

Stock Dove. 

2 Pheasant.

Ned Hill Road to Home.

5 Swallow.

Chaffinch.

3 Starling (I Think) fast north north east - no photo.

"Loads-a" Jackdaw.

28 Canada Geese.

2 more Little Owl (Ward's View Area).

Looking North-ish from Soil Hill Top.

Three Peaks on the horizon.

Little Owl - Ward's View Area

Little Owl - Bradshaw Lane.

Ogden - Osprey

12:45 - 15:15

I've not been out birding for a day or two with Abby staying over for a  very enjoyable few days.

There is a new game on the Daily Mail app called Jig Saw where 2 photos appear on the screen.

One is the correct photo and the second photo is mixed up small bits of the real photo placed at random.

You have to move the small bits around to recreate the original photo - like a jig saw.

When you have done it the system tells you how long you have taken to completed the task, in relation to the others completing the jig saw.

(I am rubbish at it).

Abby came 2nd out of 6660 players - which was pretty impressive.

Mind you when she texts on her phone you can hardly see her hands move.

Anyhow...

A truly lousy morning weather wise - "fortunately" I had some stuff to sort out with a few banks.

Following some mega advance payments by my publisher, for my soon to be released debut book "The Secret  Life of a Carpet Mite" I needed to open some bank accounts  - In  The Cayman Islands, The British Virgin Islands and Switzerland. -  only took 2 hours - not bad.

BS had a great find at Ogden this morning of a Ruff (link to his West Yorkshire Birding Blog is on the right) - but no sign of it when I arrived much later, which wasn't a surprise really.

I did 2 circuits of the water, telling myself if I did not see the long staying Common Sandpiper I'll pack in  this birding malarky. The second circuit was quite dry.

No sign of it 1st time around but I did eyeball it in with the Mallards on my 2nd circuit.

Later, I was under the trees on the west side when all the Gulls took flight.

I searched the bit of sky available to me and I was very fortunate to see the cause of the commotion - an Osprey.

I soon lost it in the Gulls but it re-appeared for a moment before heading off NW - ish "probably".

A Little Ringed or Ringed Plover was seen on the wedge shaped mud bank but it immediately ran out of sight over the east edge of the mud not to be re-located alas.

Birds:-

Osprey.

8 Cormorants.

2 Heron.

2 Pied Wagtail.

1 Grey Wagtail.

c30 Swallow.

Canada Goose.

Great Crested Grebe. 

Usual Gulls.

(Little Ringed or Ringed Plover).

21:38. ooooops...

Missed reporting a few ... got hungry. ... put tea on !!

Buzzard.

3 Chiffchaff.

Coal Tit.

Common Sandpiper.

Osprey.

Best I could do with my small Lumix Camera today.

Bradshaw - Soil Hill Top - Ogden Water - Bradshaw

8:50 - 13:00

Bits of drizzle and a lot fresher this morning before it brightened and became a bit on the muggy side, but a lot easier to lug me camera , bins and rucksack about today.

I had my usual walk up Bradshaw Lane and over Soil Hill Top, down and around Ogden Water before heading home via Syke Lane and the farms and field tracks.

Lots of muddy stuff around Ogden now with the water line, like my hair , receding, but apart from a couple of Lapwing I could not find any Waders (Again).

A great sighting by DJS of an Osprey over Mixenden, coming my way towards Ogden, but his WhatsApp 'ping' fell on deaf ears - Not seeing the message until 30 mins later. I was probably supping coffee and eating my Yorkie in the 'cafe'.

Click below for Dave's photo.

Osprey Calderdale Birds Blog

Birds:

To Soil Hill Top:

House Sparrow. Blue Tit. Pheasant. Goldfinch, Crow. Woodpigeon.

6 Linnet. 122 Starling.

Soil Hill Top:

1 Skylark. 1 Meadow Pipit.

A few Lesser Black-backed Gulls over head.

Blackbird. 2 Wren.

6 Partridge species flushed silently from the west side and flew off down to the Shay Fields.

Grey Partridge but I'm am unsure!!! - see poor photo.

2 Feral Pigeon.

Syke Lane Fields:-

Little Owl.

Ogden Water.

My Merlin app reported a Yellow Legged Gull - this is my third outing here where this has happened , but in each case I have failed to eyeball one.

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

Willow Warbler. Chiffchaff. Robin. Swallow. Nuthatch. Grey Wagtail.

Heron. 4 Canada Geese, 2 Bullfinch. Coal Tit. Great Crested Grebe.

2 Lapwing.

Bradshaw Fields.

10 Mistle Thrush. 2 Stock Dove. Dunnock. Little Owl.

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Soil Hill Grey? Partridge

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Syke Lane Little Owl.

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Bradshaw Fields - Little Owl.

Ogden - Bradshaw

11:50 - 15:10

A real scorcher today.

Geraldine dropped me near Coal Lane exit on out way back from a breakfast at Wildes Cafe, Crossroads near Keighley so I could lose some bodily liquid through perspiration on my walk today.

I went through the activity centre where lots of kids were having fun on scooters and the train thingy.

Half a circuit of Ogden Water was followed by a cafe visit and a full circuit of Ogden Water before another cafe visit to rest a bit before walking home along the local fields.

Another long gawp along the shoreline refused to bring me the long staying Common Sandpiper - I am guessing it rests in the afternoon - birding excuse No: 27.

I did get something new-ish with 7 Lapwing on the shoreline stones.

Birds:-

Ogden:

Black Headed Gull.

Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Common Gull.

Herring Gull.

1 Cormorant.

Green Woodpecker called.

2 Chiffchaff - one singing.

4 Tufted Duck.

7 Lapwing.

Pied Wagtail.

2 Nuthatch.

Bradshaw:

10 Mistle Thrush.

Linnets.

4 Kestrel close together along the fields.

1 Little Owl.

Tuesday Evening - Local Fields:

1 Kestrel.

1 Buzzard.

2 Stock Dove.

2 Little Owl.

Bradshaw Fields to Ogden Water and Back

10:55 - 14:30.

I enjoyed a walk along the local fields, around Ogden Water and back the same way today.

It became quite hot again on the return leg (and other body parts).

Gulls at Ogden were slightly down in numbers from yesterday and nothing in the Gull species stood out as 'different' - but who knows.

Nothing new around the , quite busy, circuit for me again today. 

Leaving Ogden along the lane, noisy Swallows helped me pick out a Sparrowhawk that they were not happy with.

Along Bradshaw Fields C60 Goldfinch took flight , I eventually picked out a Kestrel nearby.

Birds:-

Black Headed Gull. Lesser Black-Backed Gull. Herring Gull. Common Gull.

Cormorant.

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

3 Buzzard.

1 Kestrel.

1 Sparrowhawk.

c12 Chiffchaff.

c40 Swallow.

2 Stock Dove.

2 Little Owl.

and a few others.

Bradshaw - Soil Hill - Ogden Water

12:30 - 16:25

There was a fire yesterday afternoon / evening on the hill north of Crabtree Hall Farm, Bradshaw to Ned Hill Road bottom.

The Fire Brigade were still there this afternoon as I came home along the Bradshaw Fields.

Large water hoses ran along Perseverance Road from near the mast fields to reach the burning area.

This afternoon I enjoyed a walk to Ogden Water via Soil Hill.

A breezy, dull, humid kind of day.

Ogden was 'covered in Gulls' and the ones on the west side kept taking to the air, noisly,  in unison but I did not spot the reason why.

A long tedious hunt along the shoreline for B.S,'s Common Sandpiper, seen here recently, proved fruitless - It's probably here but probably 40% of the shoreline remains hidden or almost hidden,  by foliage.

Some Birds:-

2 Buzzard.

2 Willow Warbler.

c20 Swallow.

Moorhen.

2 Skylark (Soil Hill).

Rook.

c10 Herring Gull.

c400 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

c80 Black Headed Gull.

4 Common Gull.

c20 Mistle Thrush.

Raven.

Pied Wagtail.

Cormorant.

Stock Dove.

Saturday - 8th.

I had a non birding walk on Saturday that took me past the Raggalds where a solitary Lapwing was in the Raggalds Flood field.

(There is a large puddle on the NW roadside, which presumably is a leak from underground -  which might bring something down later on).

I had a short walk up the local fields Saturday evening ...

Birds:-

Buzzard.

3 Little Owl.

6 Linnet.

6 Goldfinch.

8 Mistle Thrush.

A Bat was inspecting my vino collapso, at dusk,  as I sat in the garden later. 

Today:-

Saturday: