No Waxwings today

                                              Waxwing food

                                            Yesterdays Waxwings

 Another bright icy cold day but slightly cloudier with a half decent forecast for the weekend which should get stuff moving around now.
No signs of Waxwings at Foxhill today but plenty berries that they were feeding on yesterday if anyone can i.d. them from the not so good photos.
Nothing else doing today though plenty resident birds about frantically feeding ready for another cold night.
Yet another report today from the old Queensbury railway station with 3 Woodcocks being seen from the new cycle track there. All say the same that these birds look new in and tired as they only fly a few yards away.
BS

Todays Star Prize, Waxwings for Queensbury

                                 2 Flocks totalling C40 Waxwings Foxhill

                                            Plenty Common Gulls around

                                         Sundog over the garage

Just wiped all report from computer somehow and out of time to do it again but the highlight of the day was c40 Waxwings feeding in gardens by Foxhill park on Cotoneaster berries, a mega for Foxhill and Queensbury.
Record shots only as flocks flew further into estate before I could get nearer.
BS

Quiet Queensbury but a nice Tawny Owl

                                           Out of the wind

                          Takes some finding is this lot.

A bright, cold but dry day with clear blue empty skies other than plenty small gulls moving around for food.
A quick dinner today then down to check the local owl site out and get some pics which luckily I managed after a bit of searching. The Tawny wasnt in its usual position but had moved around the other side of the tree in the sun and out of the wind but was well hidden in the ivy.
The garden owner informed me that he had also seen the second bird so you can stop worrying about it for now Tracy.
Another report from Roy Morris this afternoon of 2 Woodcocks being flushed down the old station, thanks for that Roy.
BS

Mystery Goose sp. over Queensbury

                               W T F  are these geese ?

Just getting back to work after lunch when I spied these 6 goose sp flying over the garage >NW, very high and sauntering rather than the usual direct goose flight, they even stopped wingbeats to glide momentarily .
Managed  the 2 photos with the pocket camera but no ID as yet. The pointed wings stood out making me think , looking at them on the camera, Cormorant but on the computer they are geese. Zoomed well in they look  to have a dark neck and lighter body, Canada type but the flight was all wrong and the wing shape.
Answers on a postcard please or just a comment will do.
BS

Tawny Owl back at its Queensbury roost.

                   Tawny Owl at undisclosed site.

Thanks to a Queensbury resident that took the above photos in his garden and sent them on to me.
The Tawny Owl is one of two which roosted there over last spring then disappeared over the breeding season and now one has returned and taken up residence in the same tree.
Hopefully the bird will stay and the garden owner has mentioned having a nest box erected.
BS

Soil Hill/ Raggalds flood. pm

                                           A frosty sky

                         Watching the fool on the hill

                                           Raggalds Flood.

A last hour visit to Soil Hill via the Raggalds flood, 1500-1600hrs then lights out.
Clear frost skies with good visibility and a slight W>4.
Raggalds flood was as this morning and still no Teal present but the Raggalds football field held c150 small gulls.
As I arrived at Soil Hill I pulled up by the mast track and flushed a massive female Sparrowhawk which must have been down on the track. It flew low over the car just above the windscreen showing the size of it, about the same as the one around Queensbury a couple of years ago, possibly the same bird.
Otherwise the hill was quiet with 2 Skylark and 1 Meadow Pipit until, as the last time, as I was ready for coming away with the light going fast a Snow Bunting flew across the front of me from the west summit to the  mounds. A search of the mounds flushed the bird which dropped just over the track onto the grass hill so with the light now gone I left it for Nigel in the morning.
BS

Ogden, wet and windy

                                            2 Cormorants present

                                     Water Water everywhere

                                                        The team.

An atrocious morning with early fog, strong WNW> 6-7 winds and heavy rain easing to horizontal drizzle mid morning.

Very quiet on the water with 2 Cormorants and 5 BHGs and all the passerines were keeping in the wood sheltering from the weather.
Several tit flocks, mainly Long Tailed.
5 Goldcrest
2 Siskin
1 Redpoll
5 Dunnock
2 Robins

Raggalds Flood
14 Mallard
42 Common gull
3 BHG
No sign of Teal but could have been in next flooded field out of sight.
BS

The Queensbury Heron

         Thanks to Cllr PGS Cromie for sending me this photo of a Heron keeping an eye on his garden pond.

No tea time birding session today as by the time I got back from doing the family thing (1545hrs) it was already coming dark and thick fog had descended on the village and within another 15 minutes we were back to heavy rain.
A poor forecast for morning too with strong westerlies and rain possibly brightening later but I,ll be out there somewhere hoping that something has been blown in with the recent gales.
Thanks again for the photo Paul.
BS

Queensbury Today.

A bright sunny day with clear blue skies and a drop in temperature but very little moving around.
A few Redwing and Fieldfare were heading >S over Foxhill first light probably from the Queensbury station roost and a single Mistle Thrush went over SW.
Foxhill Park was quiet, as were the skies at midday ,with no gulls present, just a single Pied Wagtail on the changing rooms roof.
A customers report today of up to 4 Snipe at the bottom of the Dailie Fields, flushed by his dog, and 2 Woodcocks flushed by the entrance to the old Holmefield railway tunnel.
Green Woodpecker was also present down there and several winter thrushes in the Hawthorns.
Not a good forecast for the weekend but they have been known to be wrong.
BS

Windy Queensbury

          Dont buy a plastic greenhouse if you live in Queensbury, this one was in a garden just above the garage before it blew up like a balloon and launched over the wall, briefly snagging on a lamp post before heading off in the direction of Thornton.
Strong S>7 gusting 8 which by Queensbury standards is nobbut a stiff breeze and fortunately the rain held off till after dark. Just been dog walking over the mountain and the wind has dropped considerably with light rain.
Report from TC this morning when she braved it out from work to check out a previous report of Waxwings by B & Q on the euroway estate, Bradford (DP) but nothing found and no berry trees, well done for giving it a go Tracy.
A few Redwings were moving around over Foxhill Park midday but the gulls must have been taking shelter from the wind.
Looks like a decent day tomorrow so we may get some reports in.
BS

Queensbury berries

           No shortage of berries  in the Baptist church graveyard

                       Most Holly berries are the yellow kind.

Another day of wind and rain improving slightly p.m.
A snoop around the Chapel Lane graveyard at lunchtime found good supplies of berries, not sure what the red ones are but the local Blackbird seems to enjoy them. The Holly is also in full berry but have never seen a Waxwing in a Holly bush, has anyone else ?
Plenty small gulls over the park at midday with about 42 present but very high and soaring excitedly and noisy as also described by NK yesterday.
No local Waxwing reports today so far.
BS

Sundays Ogden Scenes

                                               Fog creeping over the hill top

                                  Autumnal trees

                                   Bright sun on still waters

Just a few Ogden scenes taken Sunday morning before the geese started coming over.

Another wet and windy day deteriorating p.m. but this didnt deter NK picking up a record count of 8 Teal on the Raggalds flood, see Queensburybirder.
An empty park midday with no gulls present although bumped into NK on his way back from the hill who reported good numbers near the Raggalds flood.
A quiet day on the Waxwings with no grapevine or Birdguides reports for the Brighouse birds so it looks like Tracy and Denise just got down there in time yesterday.
BS

Tracy gets her target bird

                                            A real fierce sunrise

                       Waxwings at last       Photo Tracy Collier.

                            At least 11 birds present.     Photo Tracy C.

                        Some tend to be camera shy.      Photo Tracy C.

A real bright ,fierce sunrise this morning which was short lived leaving a strong SW>6-7 and heavy rain.
Tracy managed to get to Brighouse in her lunch break for another attempt at her target species and hit the jackpot with the Sainsbury Waxwings and managed some good photos despite the poor light
Tracy missed the birds yesterday and also the Bradford birds last week but at last a well deserved reward for her efforts
Well done Tracy, Snow Bunting next on the list ?
Thanks to messages from Calderbirds grapevine with the Waxwing info, a real asset to birding.
BS