Oxenhope Watchpoint 01-10-2007

The Leeming Valley at Dawn (c) 2007

The Stubden Valley at Dawn (c) 2007

0700 - 1100hr (Dave Barker / Howard Creber)
SE F1 rising SE F4, 5.6degC rising, 200m, 8/8, Fog, Dry, QNH 1025 steady.

Clear skies until 0445 when mist and fog starting to form at home. No fog on the moor upon arrival but fog top level only c 100 feet below watchpoint, however fog soon rising and enveloping us until a brief dramatic clearance at 0910hr. Just a 10 minute gap of clear sky (1000m horizontally) and brightness and then dense fog again for the rest of the watch!! Very disappointing! In that ten minute gap of clear, a total of 84 mipits streamed through south with an absolute urgency in jiz not seen before this autumn. The birds were comming out of the fog below us and past us on both sides as well as overhead.... a brilliant ten minutes of pressure and very typical of a big day! Albas were exceptionally strong in relation to the overall numbers of birds seen and again urgency to "get out" was reflected in their jiz with many birds actually cutting purposefully through the fog. Otherwise a couple of Song Thrush > west, two Blackbird contact calls and calls from an unseen Ring Ouzel in the plantation. Siskins were heard on several occasions but none were seen.

Moving Birds:
Meadow Pipit 148 > S
Song Thrush 2 > W
alba wagtail 25 > W
Swallow 22 > S
Siskin heard
Linnet 2 > S
Goldfinch 25

Other:
Ring Ouzel

Dave


Fogged Off and Redundant (c) 2007