Bradshaw – Queensbury Play Gym via R.F.

13:30 A dull day with a glimpse of the golden ball now and again.

Raggalds Flood.

Raggalds Flood water diminishing but enough for a wader or two (but not today).

Just 3 Swallow & 3 Woodpigeon amongst the cows.

Lowe Lane & Queensbury Cycle Path.

2 Goldfinch and a Pied Wagtail on the way to Lowe Lane.

On the Lowe Lane fields 3 Lapwing and a Pied Wagtail. Further along, after the pub, 2 Pied Wagtail and a pr. Bullfinch.

Total Swallows seen c20 with just one Swift seen.

On the old railway cycle path Pr. Linnet having some fun yet another Pied Wagtail and 2 Whitethroat.

A wren was singing loudly and a Dunnock hopping on the wall.

Greenfinch were in good supply either side of the cycle track also 2 Willow Warbler and a Chiffchaff with a very distant Mistle Thrush and a few others.

Half a bullfinch is better than no bread.

Scarborough Soaking.

Wednesday and a few days away at the Park Manor Hotel in Scarborough with friends.

The journey there was wet, wet, wet with the car wipers just able to shift the rain off the windscreen.

All booked in  - we  then took  a damp walk around the shops with the winter raincoats making an early appearance.

Thursday morning the rain gave up (mostly) so a short walk on the cliff path was possible.

On Friday morning we just had time for a game of crazy golf. 

I obviously won because I had the highest score on my card, although the non-golfers I was with ,didn’t understand the rules..

As we left for home a strange golden ball appeared in the sky to frightened us.

A few (poor) pics:

Ogden in the rain, rain, rain a Poor Do.(& RF Later on)

Typical bank holiday weather saw me retracing my steps in search of the Redstart  I'd possibly seen on Thursday. Only a couple of Robins having a barney in the area (maybe one of these was disguised as a Redstart earlier)?

During the search a Kestrel flew West over the Golf Course and Curlew were calling. Another brief sighting of a deer brought to 3, my deer sightings in 3 outings – maybe I should take up deering or drawing tractors for the Granddaughter?

Not a lot else about, the usual Willow Warblers singing but relatively few Chiffchaff heard. 

A Heron was skulking at the edge of the water.

The highlight of a rather poor show was 2 Drake and 1 Tuffed Duck on the water.

Also seen Meadow & Tree Pipit and a M. Pheasant with the usual sp.

16:35

A quick scoot up to Raggalds Flood.

Couple Pied Wagtail, a few Woodpigeon, 4 or 5 Male Mallard crouched in the grass, a starling or two.
A solitary Swallow feeding low to the ground and a single Lapwing plus some nosy cows.
A good supply of water.

Old Hilda of Corrie.

Another free outer clothing laundry on offer at Ogden this aft.

Leaving home I was greeted with a great commotion from the Carrion Crows nesting in the large ash tree opposite our house – the reason –a common buzzard had landed in the tree. It was soon mobbed by the crows and it left before I could get the camera on it. As it turned out this was to be the highlight of the afternoon.

From Ogden Water I took the b/w towards Withins for a change and left it via a small stile, after the last of the pine trees, on the right. On the way to the stile a Skylark over the golf course, LBB gull flew over and Great Tits were foraging for grubs. Over the stile the path goes parallel with the b/w for a while – a ‘white rumped’ deer saw me and made a fast get away (2^nd deer I’ve seen in two days). Birds were in short supply because of the constant very heavy drizzle. At least Chaffinch and Coal Tit were seen.

Then in the lower branches of a small bush I got a fleeting glance of a possible Redstart. It disappeared as soon as I saw it and after ½ hr hunt I gave up( I can't really call it a sighting though).

I’m not sure how significant a redstart sighting at Ogden is , or whether the bird it is likely to stay put. However for anyone interested, if you find the red & white marker post number “G6” and with this post on your left head back towards  the golf course ( retracing  your steps) for about 100 yards. The marker post (G6) is at the end of the path I was on at the time of the sighting ,where the path drops dramatically down towards the stream that comes in from the north end of Ogden water.

There was some bird song and a Dunnock & Wren piped up but after an hour feeling like “Johnny no mates “ I headed back to the car after raiding the rucksack for a slice of drizzle cake ( a choc bar really).

At least a Male Bullfinch had the decency to bid me farewell from the car park.

(The water held 5 Canada goslings and not much more).

Oh the joy of birding.

The drive past the Raggalds saw the flood with some damp mud nothing more.

Some pics based on Jim Bowen's Bullseye “Look what you could have won!”

xx

Bradshaw & Oats Royd – a walk in the sun.

Hot sunny afternoon stroll to Oats Royd.

Fledgling Starling in great supply and 3 Swallow on the way down.

On arrival at Oats Royd a Wren was singing it’s heart out. There was a Moorhen with one chick on the second pond. Willow Warbler singing from the tree top with many a Chiffchaff also 3 Whitethroat playing hide and seek.

A pair of Canada's one on a nest. a few more Canada's on the water with a few Mallard & Mallard chicks.

A Jay made a quick flight across the ponds & into the trees.

Also around, a fledgling Dunnock and a few Meadow Pipit.

Evidence of a predator - hope it's not the mink.

3 Collard Dove and 2 Pied Wags on the way home.

A few pics:-

Ogden - On the hunt for a pic. of the common sand.

10:00

A trip around Ogden in thick mist looked decidedly a waste of time. However the weather improved but no sigh of the common sand mentioned in B.S’s blog yesterday.

A Heron was hiding on the west shoreline only just visible from t'other side.

3 Grey Wagtails hightailed it from their feeding area beneath the prom.

Going around the circuit Chiffchaff were in good supply and a Willow Warbler piped up every 10 yards. A greedy Magpie was devouring all the seed in the feeding area. 7 Swallow and the usual small birds about.

A Blackcap made a welcome appearance near the ‘Nuthatch’ tree where the Rhododendrons have been  cut back.

On the water 2 LBBG, 2 Canadas and a great number of Mallard ducklings. Some ducklings look to be beyond bite sized for the Heron now.

A Green Woodpecker , later heard calling,  flew into the trees below the prom.

The mist lifted and the sun tried (but failed) to come out.

With no sigh of the Common Sand. I tried my look with NK’s Whinchat – so I headed towards the  golf course.

The small bushes and heather were alive with song with lots of Skylark and Meadow Pipit and 2 Tree Pipit about.

2 Reed Bunting near the Golf Course and a Linnet on the power line helped to brighten the day.

Also spotted a Male Pheasant and Jay but no Whinchat.

A Whitethroat seemed to know when to move to the next perch – failed to get a pic.

All in all not a bad morning after a poor start.

A few misty snaps:-

xx

A very elusive Jay.

A Tree Pipit (Thanks NK & BS)