Otley

I had intended to take a look for the Kingfisher at Ogden this morning but things worked out slightly different than expected so we had a drive out to Otley for a change of scenery.

11:45 - Otley

The weather was dull but mostly dry and very mild for mid-December.

We had a stroll through the park and up the west bank of the river until Nearing Pool Bridge when we turned back.

I was hoping to visit the “Otley Ponds” but my memory had let me down, because the ponds are accessed via the east bank of the river not the west bank.

Across the river, just after the park, there is a new housing development in progress with a double Archimedes Screw electric generating system in with the housing deal apparently.

A chap told me that the first 2 attempts to build the screw foundations had failed with the river washing the foundations away.

There was a lot of evidence of the recent floods with large deposits of river pebbles being washed into the fields.

The river was still in full flow so there were very few birds on the river once we had left the weir by the park.

There were Red Kite circling during the walk, the photos are nothing to write home about due to the bad light and the distance they were from us. 

(There looked to be a good few Canada Geese in the fields by the Raggalds Flood – seen from the car, on the way home).

Birds:

C90 Black Headed Gulls by the park, 3 Mute Swan, 1 White domesticated goose? C40 Mallard, 10 Long Tailed Tit, Heron, Kestrel, Male Goosander > S.

5 Red Kite and others.

Lots of Blackbirds feeding in the boggy crop fields