Raggalds Flood,Soil Hill & Oats Royd

After a visit to Paul & John Royston , joiners, down Deep Lane below the farm shop - highly recommended by the way - we had a look at Raggalds flood this morning as we passed.

There is lots of water but just Small Gulls were present as far as I could see.

12:45 - 15:15 

The weather started in fine fashion with some sunshine on Taylor Lane and there was a solitary Mistle Thrush on the wall here.

Soil Hill

I dropped some birdseed on the big rock and went in search of Snow Bunting but no dice.

Soil Hill is extremely boggy in places with most of the snow now a memory.

A good scout around up here saw me flush a Common Snipe from the West side and a Pheasant had flushed earlier.

Nothing much seen after that just a Kestrel over the quarry and the odd Common, Black Headed and Lesser Black-backed Gull passing overhead.

Oats Royd

There are some "improvements" going on here.
Wooden fishing platforms are being built by the pond edges and the rushes and overgrown grassy area between the ponds have been chopped down.
There were 3 blokes kicking about further along the north path. I don't know if these guys were "improvers" or not.

C20 Common Gull were in the fields, a few Chaffinch were by the ponds and a Moorhen was scuttling about and that was it.

I lost my cap and had to backtrack to find it again, then the very heavy drizzle set in and diminished my chances of seeing anthing, so I upped sticks and left.

A Heron left the pond near Bradshaw Park where the fenced in tarmac path is flooded above boot level - nice.

Not one of my better days but ok none-the-less.

Good news from NK's blog of Waxwings seen in Halifax.

Hope they come my way soon.


Raggalds Flood:

Taylor Lane / Soil Hill:

A tad boggy here and there

Oats Royd:

yk08uks