Bradshaw - Queensbury via Old Railway Track.

Cool and blustery this morning with the sun soon appearing to warm things up.

The usual jaunt to Queensbury play gym this morning.

Two flocks of Starling one with 20 and one with c100 in the fields.

1 BHG nr Raggalds & Pied Wagtail.

RF.

Raggalds Flood disappointingly grassed over with just a small patch of mud & no birds.

Lowe Lane:

A single swift > West – most prob. the same bird seen later on.

Quite a lot of bird activity in the hedges on Lowe Lane with some juv. birds proving hard for me to ID. Meadow pipit and a good number of Linnet chasing about. Also House Sparrow and Goldfinch in good numbers.

At the bottom of the bridleway, just before the galvanised bridge over the cycle track, there are some interesting pine trees. A couple of birds were secreted away here with a song I could not recognise. I waited about for a good while but they failed to make an appearance. A job for another day.

A pr of Bullfinch were in the bushes here with some others which were most prob. Bullfinch but hard to see.

House Martin flew over the bridge and a singing Whitethroat in its’ usual bushes. The Whitethroat song seems to be on the wane now.

A couple of Swallow, a Greenfinch & Chaffinch also 4 Stock Doves spotted from the track. I suppose the highlight of a fairly mundane trip was a Grey Wagtail just under the Queensbury railway tunnel.

Other birds 3 Wren, a mostly brown bird on the flowers which from the photo I believe is a Dunnock. A Jay made a fly past & disappeared into a tree – I’ve yet to get a decent picture of a Jay this year.

The second large iron gate by the tunnel has been the victim of a metal cutter & has disappeared to the scrap yard in the sky.

A Willow Warbler & GSW (heard but not seen) completed the mornings outing.

The weather by now had improved dramatically so most of this morning warm clothes were in the sack for the pull up Station Road to the play gym.

Spot the Swift.

Whos' not a pretty boy then

Stock Doves?

Dunnock?

This bird appeared very large at a distance but I suspect its a Carrion crow.