Oxenhope.... second wave? 21-10-2010

Pre sunrise... the back of the front, through the rain! (c) 2010


The last rain band overhead... (c) 2010


Sunrise through the rain... quite obviously clear out to the east beyond!... (c) 2010

The back of the front!... (c) 2010

Westland Lynx (Army).... (c) 2010

Grey Partridge covey... (c) 2010

Whooper doopers... (c) 2010

Pink attack!.... (c) 2010

Oxenhope, Bradford (W Yorks, England)
Thursday 21 October 2010
Counting period: 7:10-14:00
Weather: W F5 increasing F6, 5degC, 65km, 8/8 becoming 1/8 rain for first 1/2 hour, QNH 1018 steady
Observers: Dave Barker, Howard Creber, Lester Ward

Moving birds:
Pink-footed Goose 84 -
Fieldfare - 3406
Merlin 1 -
Redwing 10 -
Golden Plover 47 -
Starling - 111
Lapwing - 3
Chaffinch 8 -
Common Snipe 2 -
Brambling 10 -
Woodpigeon 102 -
finch sp. 15 -
Meadow Pipit 25 -
Greenfinch 15 -

Totals: 3839 individuals, 14 species, 6:50 hours

Comments: Open sky overnight til c0400 then rain band moving southeast clearing 0745, then scattered for rest of morning. Wind from westerly quarter and QNH steady then falling. Rain clearing from northwest initially probably causing a block as it tracked south east... but after it cleared Fieldfares started to come out of the south east again... the main difference from yesterday was that virtually all movement was low, most very low into the wind and also it was along the ridges NW. Flock after flock followed a similar track along the watershed with the ones low against and carpeting the moor and in-bye being exceptionally difficult to see... so this is a minimum count and today looking only in one direction as we needed the shelter from the wind and initially rain. Late morning they slackened but the biggest flock (300) came through after lunch in a period of virtual nothingness!! So far as we could tell all of the flocks were pure, except for one which contained a few Redwings and was going in an aberant direction! Total number of flocks were 56, about half the number of flocks recorded yesterday which was 99. Otherwise Starlings and woodies were again poor, a Merlin shot SW, a few Golden Plover went south, a small flock of finches towards the end turned out to be Brambling and finally a skein of pinks passed almost over head and low....Three Whoopers, missed from the watchpoint or arriving overnight were on one of the nearbye reservoirs in the afternoon..... thanks to Brian Vickers for the info....

Dave, Howard and Lester