Some Highlights of 2014

                       Pinkies over Queensbury Feb,

                                                 Ogden Shelduck

                          Queensbury Buzzard

                             Ditto

                 Mixenden Whoopers

                               Ditto

                            Soil Hill Woodcock

              Curlews returning, March

                           Ditto

   Whoopers in fog at Ogden

                        Teal  Raggalds Flood

                                  Ogden Shelduck

                                     Shibden Park Kittiwake

                    1 of 5pr Stonechat, Fly Flatts

               Queensbury MOT Buzzard

                        Redshank  Raggalds Flood  1 of 2

                Wheatear Raggalds Flood

              Female Teal, Ogden

  Little Ringed Plover and Redshank ., Raggalds Flood

             Greenland Wheatear Shelf Moor

 Breeding success, Queensbury Little Owls

   Fly Flatts Common Scoter

  Fly Flatts Barnacle Goose, still in area

   Rare sight, Coot at Ogden

              Ogden Whoopers

              Whoopers over Oxenhope

            More Queensbury Pinkies

               Queensbury Buzzards

  Bird of the year Mixenden Great Northern Diver

  Found by DJS 2 week ago and still present

           Ogden Goldeneye

  Soil Hill Grasshopper Warbler

  Breeding success, Soil Hill Whitethroat

              Fly Flatts Dunlin

     July Fly Flatts Great Northern Diver, distant shot from road

     Fly Flatts Short Eared Owl mobbing Kestrel

                Ogden Common Scoter

     Cormorant downing Trout, Leeshaw

         Fly Flatts Buzzard

 A big thank you to all my blog watchers for joining me in the journey through 2014 sticking with me through good and bad. Also many thanks for all your comments, e mails, photos and concern for Lyndas health.
2014 has been a nightmare for Lynda and me, Lynda especially, so hopefully 2015 will be a turn around in our lives although theres a long way to go yet. This time last year she was waiting for her operation but thats behind her now and starting the road to recovery.
Birding and keeping up the blog has been a great therapy to me as it sends me into another world while I,m on the computer.
 Lynda and myself wish you all a very Happy New Year and I hope you join us as we make our way through 2015.
BS

Time to get skywatching

          Low cloud over the eastern horizon
            from the top of the Dailies

                A good passage of birds >N

       8 Collared Doves , Dailie Top allotment.

With JL getting moving geese and me yesterday I thought it time to get some sky watching in at lunchtime with perfect moving skies and having drawn a blank at Shelf Moor fields again.
Top of the Dailie fields seemed a likely spot with amazing views east and north, problem turned out to be all the Pinkies were moving on the west side of the area.
Traffic was busy up the Aire Valley with 7 Herring Gulls, 19 LBB gulls and 2 Gt Black Backed as well as several Commons all directly >N.
Also flying through were 8 Meadow Pipits and a few small flocks of Fieldfare with several Redwing and Fieldfare down in the bottom fields.
8 Collared Doves and around 30 House Sparrows were in the allotment field nearby.

As I left the Dailies for work a grapevine message reported 200 Pinkies >N over Pellon. A quick about turn to the top of the fields with a good view north thinking if the geese kept directly >N or veered >NE they were mine ,but not to be, they obviously headed >NW away from me. Later in the afternoon another 700 were reported over Ringstone >W again by the grapevine. So a great day for moving geese, just a shame I did,nt choose the Roper Lane watch point viewing west where I,d have got the dinner time 200. No wonder I never win the lottery.
BS

Dailies Dinnertime Dash

       Frozen ground left a gull free Foxhill park

        Looking east from the top of the Dalies

           The old triangular railway station

                Across over Black Hill with Bradford beyond.

A bright sunny day with just a bank of fog over briefly before lunch time with otherwise clear blue skies.
A good start off this morning with 5 Pink Footed geese over at 0845 heading >E which nearly got past me but luckily spotted them disappearing over Station Rd flying fast and low.
Foxhill park was void of gulls at midday due to frozen ground but there were several Goldfinch and tits moving through the hedges.
A quick look from the top of the Dailies hoping for geese or swans just produced several Herring and LBB gulls heading up the Aire Valley >N whilst several winter thrushes were still down in the station after the few remaining Hawthorn berries.
Shelf Moor trailer park fields were void of bird life once again.

On a sad note, I received the news this morning of customer and dedicated daily watcher of my blog being killed in a road accident on the boundary of Queensbury  on Boxing Day evening due to the heavy snow. Graham Maloney was ironically booked into the garage today where he often called in when passing to ask about Lynda,s health and comment on my blog reports. He was a lovely man and will be sadly missed.  Our deepest sympathy to Mrs Maloney and family.
BS