Oxenhope 16-09-2006

Members Only Watchpoint 16-09-2006
Saturday 16th September 2006
0710 – 1045hr. (DCB/HC)
Weather and Sky:
A poor but improving morning of deep fog with a light ENE wind. ENE F1 rising F3. 13 rising 15, 100m – 1000m max, Fog throughout 8ok, 1013 steady.

Initially a desperate morning with no visibility but nearly always with the sound of mipit vis on the wing prominent overhead up in the cloud, some could be seen but most were just out of vision. To start off with virtually all were going NW along and off the leading line of the embankment. Then at about 0900hr the fog started to lift a little to bring an immediate change in the mipit activity with wave after wave streaming up out of the valley to our north and off fast south over the fog bound water. Considering the fog, in our narrow corridor of visibility we counted c450 > S and 55 > NW. There must have been a lot of mips on the move, going south, and possibly the start of the "big south push". Towards the end of the count at c1030hr there were lots of mipits on the blog and in amongst low and behold was a brilliant Yellow Wagtail and at least two Tree Pipits were heard over head.

Moving birds:
Mipit 450 > S
Mipit 55 > NW
Grey Wagtail 4
Oystercatcher 1 > NW
Yellow Wagtail 1
Tree Pipit 2
Wheater 1
Alba Wag 6
Willow Warbler 1
Great Tit 2

Other;
Robin 4

Dave