Friday, April 09, 2010

Oxenhope... express north west! 09-04-2010


Express North West... (c) 2010


Lesser black backed Gulls > NW.... (c) 2010


Goldies > NW.... (c) 2010


Kestrel overhead... (c) 2010


Lapwing... on territory... (c) 2010


Swallows... well almost.... galore! (c) 2010


Wheatear fall... (c) 2010

W F1 / F2, 5degC, 35 increasing 65km, 4/8 haze, QNH 1032 rising.
0730 - 1330hr
A bad start....Slept in... thus missing the first hour of mips, so could have done better... but mipits moving well to start off with and then steady all morning. A Ring Ouzel calling from the breather area at 0735 was not seen during investigation later in the morning so it was assumed to have moved on. Hirundines, some distant, all thought to be all Swallows moving north in singles throughout the morning and on a broad front with the first one at 0916 amounting to 24. Small numbers of Common Gulls moving NW and again BHGulls barely making it into the ranks with just two also NW. Lessers were moving strongly NW on a broad front up Aredale and not all were counted in the late part of the morning. Presume... next stop Walney? A small flock of northern race Golden Plovers also went NW and a couple of distant Buzzards snook NE over the basin. Explorations later in the morning confirmed a fall of Wheatears and a few late morning Skylarks went west. Linnets are back around the edges of the moor. At 1235 whilst on the NE bank... the unmistakeable tsweep calls at first distant then closer from an approaching Yellow Wagtail rang through as the bird came obliquely overhead and off, not high, north. The morning had been fulfilled!!... Interesting that Starlings have evapourated up here today!
Moving birds:

Meadow Pipit 278 > N
Woodpigeon 3 > NW
Curlew 1 > NW
Common Gull 19 > NW
Ring Ouzel 1
Swallow 24 > N
LBB Gull 30 > NW
Golden Plover 8 > NW
Greenfinch 1 > NW
Linnet 10 > NW
Buzzard 2 > NE
Kestrel 1
BH Gull 2 > NW
Carrion Crow 8 > N
Lapwing 1 > NW
Skylark 4 > W
Yellow Wagtail 1 > N
Other:
Wheatear 10
Dave

3 Comments:

Blogger Brian Sumner . said...

A good mornings report there Dave and absolutely belting photos

April 09, 2010 6:39 pm  
Blogger stephen lilley said...

Like the Wheatear Dave, it is in my opinion a very photogenic bird , but not easy . I do not have a shot that I can say I am really satisfied with. Stephen

April 09, 2010 7:10 pm  
Blogger Dave Barker said...

Cheers Bri and Stephen, at least there is something to snap up here now... the winter dearth is over and the moors are again alive! The longer the spring goes on Stephen the more tame the Wheatears on passage seem to get... the big Greenland ones come later from late April into May... these seem more social than ours and are easier to snap...so its these you want to get for that blue riband snap.. that first bunch on Trough a few weeks back were despite being photogenic quite wick. This mornings birds, the one I snapped especially were much more approachable. I even got some snaps of one of the birds having a bath and it dident seem bothered at all. Dave

April 09, 2010 7:47 pm  

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