Oxenhope... still waiting? 27-03-2010

Goldies in the early morning Sun... (c) 2010


Goldies... on the move!... (c) 2010


More Goldies... (c) 2010

Wheatear on the Deck (c) 2010

Another Wheatear.... (c) 2010

WSW F3 quickly rising WNW F5 / 6, 6degC rising, 20km increasing 60 Haze, 4/8 fractus troublesome, QNH 997 rising 1030.

0555 - 1200hr

A moderate morning with mipits passing N at variable rates of between 9 and 65 per hour...the best this year so far but quite honestly I would have thought it might have been better! The wind was not as forecast being just too strong and despite 6deg and rising it felt very cold without shelter on the hill. If we havent missed it I would believe we are still waiting for the "mipalanche" as Andy says! There was a good bit of Golden Plover activity with flocks in the fields and some movement NW through the wonderfully hazy bright spring light. Common Gulls were on the way out all going E and SE... lagging behind their other "small" congener the BHG now seemingly almost totally absent from the local skies here. Wheatears were everywhere, obviously now back in numbers following the surge last week... but only the ones thought to be on the move were counted. The mipit breakdown is as follows:

0555 - 0655hr 50 > N

0655 - 0755hr 9 > N

0755 - 0855hr 56 > N

0855 - 0955hr 65 > N

0955 - 1055hr 46 > N

1055 - 1200hr 31 > N

Moving Birds:

Meadow Pipit 257 > N, 1 > S

Golden Plover 121 > N and NW

Greenfinch 1 > NW

Goldfinch 1 > NW

Common Gull 59 > E

Starling 36 > E and SE

LBB Gull 23 > NW

Jackdaw 24 > NE

Reed Bunting 1 > NW

C Crow 12 > N

Wheatear 5 > N

Oystercatcher 2 > NW

alba wagtail 1 > N

Dave