Oxenhope.... pig "mania" 24-10-2010

Pre sunrise!... (c) 2010


Pre sunrise... big and dusky blue!!!... (c) 2010


Rapidly developing cu > cb.... c150 miles NE of Newcastle out to sea!!... (c) 2010



Cunim way out E over the North Sea

Tremendous morning skies!!...NE... (c) 2010

Tremendous morning skies!!!...E... (c) 2010

Just BIG Blue and open!!... (c) 2010

Afternoon.... up there!... (c) 2010

Just TERRIFIC!..... (c) 2010

Sunset and almost the end!... (c) 2010

The End to a Perfect Day.... A Waxwing Moon!! (c) 2010

Sorry just swamped out with birds today.... details to follow!

Lots of bird shots today as well, but the real holistic sky takes pride of place!!

Oxenhope, Bradford (W Yorks, England)
Sunday 24 October 2010
Counting period: 7:20-13:50
Weather: NW F2, -1degC frost, 65km, 0/8, QNH 1012
Observers: Dave Barker, Howard Creber, Brian Vickers

Moving birds:
Whooper Swan 3 -
Stock Dove 5 -
Raven 2 -
Pink-footed Goose 41 -
Woodpigeon 3048 -
Starling - 69
Canada Goose - 6
Skylark 3 -
Chaffinch 6 -
Goosander - 32
Meadow Pipit 10 -
Brambling 32 -
Sparrowhawk 1 -
alba wagtail sp. 5 -
finch sp. 42 -
Merlin 1 -
Fieldfare - 4665
Greenfinch 30 -
Peregrine 1 -
Redwing - 65
Goldfinch 8 -
Lapwing 19 -
Jackdaw 25 -
Siskin 28 -
Common Snipe 6 -
Carrion Crow - 1
Reed Bunting 4 -

Totals: 8158 individuals, 27 species, 6:30 hours

Comments: Pre Period.... Open sky overnight and through the day becoming scatterd c lunchtime before lunchtime before clearing again. Wind from a northerely qtr with QNH rising strongly all day. A hard frost initially with many cunim's seen out over the North Sea, some beyond 200 - 300 mile range and especially NE of Newcastle way out. A check on the rainfall radar confimed this and also that whilst many scattered cumim's out the that passage was essentially clear right down the east coast with big gaps between... Woodpigons and thrushes were on the move before sunrise today... thus scuppering the regular sunrise snap which in any case was a clear colourless big blue sky job... shrouded by the anvils out to sea!; ..... Period One: Brilliant Woodpigeon movement south down the east Pennine flank flyway and more or less restricted to this first hour. Very high thrush flocks way up confirmed an arrival that would become much mor obvious later in the morning.; .... Period Two: Woodpigeon almost stopping but thrushes building up further...; ..... Period Three: Thrushes powering through, mainly high but dropping towards the end with a tremendous c600 flock, over the in-bye above res plateaux level, along the moor, before off the Nab and rising up mega high off NW. The first white back Goosanders of the autumn, a pure flock of five went NE.; .... Period Four: Thrushes quelling with flight level dropping but still keeping coming...; .... Period Four: Further quell of thrushes but Bramblings coming through.; .... Period Five: All migration quelled, thus decide to pack up!

...........................
Counting period: 16:15-18:30
Weather: N F2, 5degC, 65km, 0/8, QNH 1020
Observers: Dave Barker

Moving birds:
Whooper Swan 5 -
Fieldfare - 520
Waxwing 7 -

Totals: 532 individuals, 3 species, 2:15 hours

Comments: .... Period Six (late pm): Thrushes going over at home mid pm suggested that movement was picking up again, this together with news of Waxwings getting into the Pennines from this mornings massive country length influx from Norway necessitated a further visit... initially to our low watchpoint and later to the winter station... just four flocks of Fieldfare albeit very big ones up very low out of the valley from the east with nothing up in the sky at all, but a check of the wood and beyond after sunset heard trilling from the Swedish Whitebeams, with three Waxwings located in the tops and shortly after from the plantation with a further four, disturbed, all got up coalessed and off into the glowing sky, Lancashire bound!

Dave and Howard