Oxenhope... col conditions produce! 19-09-2009

Sunrise... illumianted cloud tops over the North Sea! (c) 2009


Fogs in the Vallies.... looking north (c) 2009


Fingers of Fog penetrating the high moors... looking NW (c) 2009

Altocumulus lenticularis.... mid morning looking north (c) 2009

0640 - 1105hr Dave Barker Howard Creber

SF 1 / calm initially rising S F3 by 1030, 10degC at 0600, 100km + initially reducing 5 then increasing 25, 8/8 becoming 4/8 stratus - stratocumulus - lenticularis, QNH 1016 falling.

Transitional weather yet again producing the goods with ideallic conditions in the hills both to be out in and also to induce movement.... inversion mist in the vallies but up here fantastically clear with a brilliant but short lived sunrise over the North Sea. An 8ok sky initially made the birds very easy to see... most were going high but well within unaided vision range above 1280ft asl. Mipits were coming strong in loose flocks of up to 75. Most interestingly the considerable initial surge was again moving E, and SE but the flow soon became south or just east of south and remained so for the rest of the morning. Most of the mipit movement was prior to 0810 when things slackend off a bit only to resurge later in the morning with more birds moving south out of the Worth Basin than could be noted out to our east. Albas were noteable with a high count today of 43, the maximum flock size being 10 and mostly going SW. Chaffinch also going exceptionally strong with a total count of 89!! with max party 14. A Merlin powered south in level batting flight at 0710 and Crows also on the move but much later in the morning with Jays, the first Jackdaws and a Magpie all passind through and away. Jackdaws and Magpie were going west and Jays south west and south! Peak count of Mistle Thrush to date with 24 total in dribs and drabs mainly west.

Moving birds in order of appearance:

Meadow Pipit 1348 > E, SE and S

alba wagtail 43 > SW and W

Merlin 1 > S

Goldfinch 23 > SE

Chaffinch 89 > S and W

Swallow 59 > S

Reed Bunting 1 > W

LBB Gull 31 S and N

BH Gull 493 > mainly south

Mistle Thrush 24 > mainly W

Linnet 12 > SE

Wheatear 1 > SW

Snipe 1 > W

Tree Pipit 2 > SW

Stonechat 3 > S

Jackdaw 4 > W

Magpie 1 > W

Jay 8 > W and S

Skylark 1 > W

Starling 3 > S

Red Admiral 3 > SE

Peacock (butterfly ) 1 > SE

House Martin 5 > s

Greenfinch 10 > S

Dave