Oxenhope 04-10-2008

Open sky to the very far east at dawn!! (c) 2008

Stratus with secondary fractus below in all other directions at dawn (c) 2008

Oxenhope, Bradford, W. Yorks.
0715 - 1030hr DB/HC
SSW F3 rising SSW F6, 3degC rising 6, 65km to the E, 8/8 stratus, spots of rain after 0940hr, QNH 1011 falling 1005.

A very cold night with a minimum temp of 1.4 deg overnight. Despite multy layers of clothing another bitter cold morning! Stratus with 4000ft ceiling throughout the watch. Despite excellent conditions for viewing the sky, another virtually birdless morning with hardly anything either on the move, in the wood or in the sky..... Everything gone! With the exception of mipits most of the movement was after 0910hr. Mipits, the few that were going, were nearly all in singles or twos and all were very high and going fast south. The birds that saved the morning were two sizeable groups of Redpoll south, the first of which went through at 0910hr and a close, well seen Hobby comming in low from the north, over the water and away south at 0924hr.

Moving birds in order of appearance:

Meadow Pipit 21 > S
Greenfinch 2 > S and W
LBB Gull 12 > S
Mistle Thrush 1 > E
Snipe 1 > W
Chaffinch 7 > S
Siskin 1 > W
Redpoll 34 > S
C Crow 2 > NW
Linnet 4 > W
Starling 2 > E
BH Gull 1 > S
Hobby 1 > S

Dave.

Stratus nebulosus translucidus with lower fractus mid morning (c) 2008