Oxenhope.... swallows and buzzards! 03-09-2010

Oh Dear!.... when will it lift.... FOG.... (c) 2010


Sunset this Evening.... The Great North Road in the Sky!!.. (c) 2010

The best of the Holistic Sky images.... (c) 2010
double click to make it bigger!

Oxenhope, Bradford (W Yorks, England)
Friday 3 September 2010
Counting period: 6:15-12:00
Weather: SE F1 becoming S F2 then CALM,12degC,100m - 30km haze, 8/8 fog improving 3/8 QNH 1023 falling
Observers: Dave Barker, Howard Creber

Moving birds:
Black-headed Gull 23 -
Meadow Pipit 21 -
Common Gull 2 -
Grey Wagtail 3 -
Lesser Black-backed Gull 190 -
alba wagtail sp. 1 -
Swallow 95 -

Totals: 335 individuals, 7 species, 5:45 hours

Comments: Thick fog with a base at c1000ft asl for the first thee hours then improving rapidly. Only a very "white" calling alba and two Grey Wagtails in the first period until the fog lifted, then quite poor with only a very few mipits through till 1106 when Swallows started to come through SE suddenly this trend was increasing and was to increase dramatically in the afternoon.

Counting period: 14:00-20:00
Weather: ESE F2, 18degC, 45km, 2/8, QNH 1021 rising
Observers: Dave Barker

Moving birds:
Common Buzzard 2 -
Herring Gull 2 -
Peregrine 2 -
Swallow 744 -
Common Snipe 1 -
Meadow Pipit 31 -
Black-headed Gull 191 -
Grey Wagtail 1 -
Common Gull 3 -
Mistle Thrush 3 -
Lesser Black-backed Gull 210 -

Totals: 1190 individuals, 11 species, 6:00 hours

Comments: Swallows were the main feature of the afternoon, still moving into the wind and no doubt continuous since leaving this morning. Groups of upto 75 were counted and lots of singles and smaller groups moving on a broad front into the wind, as last night, almost right up to sunset! Raptors were strong and most interesting with two seperate pegs, both going off south and two distant Buzzards late afternoon out to the east moving through south west. No evidence of southward mipit movement yet!

Dave and Howard