Shibden Valley

This evening 5.30 - 6.30.

1 Kestrel
1 Green Woodpecker
3 Jay
2 Goldcrest

Autumn Quiz

I,ll put you out of your misery now by giving you the answers.
I,ll put them on a comment on this entry and then if you dont want to know yet you dont have to see them.
Isn,t this exciting.
BS

Ogden

Mistle thrush at Ogden

2 Little Grebes this afternoon
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker
1 Grey Wagtail
15 L T Tits

A Fair Wind

Fresh wind from SW generally: surprisingly bought dividends until it switched to S when things dropped off dramatically.

Queensbury - 13 Common Gull, 4 Pied Wagtail, 8 Meadow Pipit, Little Owl, Goldfinch.

Soil Hill - 26 Meadow Pipit, 13 Skylark, Pied Wagtail, Pheasant, Kestrel, 2 Snipe, 30 Goldfinch, 2 Reed Bunting, Twite. In the conifers opposite the track entrance were 9 Long-tailed Tit which is a personal first for me, if not for the site (AC & D Prest).

Oats Royd

Tawny Owl, Little Owl, 3 Kestrel, Moorhen, Dunnock

Shelf Moor / Old bacon factory

07/10/2008 1800hrs
9 Redwing in Hawthorns,
3 Mistle Thrush
4 Blackbirds
1 Little Owl.
BS

Quiet Oats Royd

Well, I didn't get wet this time in the mild S wind, but not many birds either:

2 Blackbird, Jay, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Little Owl, Corvids, 8 Long-tailed Tit.

Ogden

Ogden (golf course) and Soil Hill from Hunter Hill (last week) !

Today

5 Redwings >SW late morning through Ogden Clough. It's good to get them after spending some late evenings at home out listening for them going over, without success - yet!
16+ Robins and 13+ Goldcrests

Newsletter Puzzler

I just got round to a casual look at Brians newsletter; needless to say it's another good 'un. Can I ask you to extend the timescale on the Autumn Quiz please Brian? I reckon I need another 8/9 days before I even get upto three answers; cryptic clues are not my forte.

Well done and thanks for your effort.

Shibden ValleySwalesmoor

Shibden Valley (upper)
Still at least 12 Swallows this afternoon around Scout Hall and the nearby farm.
2 Sparrowhawks and at least 3 Kestrels

Swalesmoor
18 Linnets around the Shorelark area!

Oats Royd

Curlew >NE, 3 Jay, Little Owl.

Soil Hill delivers again.

At 1105 hrs I was stood by the red container near the ponds with KM, indulging in a general moan about how crap it was and can be, when Keith threw in the safety catch of "Yet something can always turn up". An adult Hobby immediately flew by us, circled the hill twice, before smartly heading off due South!

Also present: approx 40 Meadow Pipit, 15 Skylark, 3 Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, 2 Golden Plover, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, 30 Goldfinch, Greenfinch, 2 Stonechat, 3 Reed Bunting.

KM (earlier arrival) reports 6 Stonechat, 3 Swallow, 1 unidentified hirundine additionally.

Queensbury - 6 Meadow Pipit; 5 Skylark at CC.

Ogden/Back Lane.

OGDEN GOLDCRESTS

OGDEN RAPIDS

05/10/2008 Misty wet start improving. Calm.
Ogden
8 Canadas + Barnacle
8 Goldcrest
4 Robins
7 BH Gulls
No Grebe

Back Lane
4 Redwing
1 Merlin
5 Goldcrest

VIS MIG
68 Meadow Pipit >S
2 Redpoll >S
9 Siskin >S
2 Snipe >W
4 Mistle Thrush >W

Syke Lane
7 Pied Wagtails in field by stables.
BS

Goldcrests and Redwings

A trip down into Oats Royd revealed all the usual birds (except Goldfinch), all in good numbers (except Greenfinch). There were at least nine Mistle Thrushes perched on the pylons being hastled by a couple of Chaffinches. Loads of Goldcrests about. They were distributed in four or five small groups. Hard to keep track of them but I estimate twenty or so overall. My first 'on the ground' Redwings of the year were spotted near the small pond. There were four seen but probably a few more deeper in the bushes. A sparrowhawk nearly got one of them. other birds of note were the Little Owl (in it's usual spot), 1 Grey Heron, 2 Moorhen, 2 Jays and 2 Bullfinches.

Ogden

Just a female Blackcap this morning near the NE pond
1 Dipper in the stream leading down to the golf course
No G C Grebe this morning!