Pennine Skywatch: 27 Mar 2010

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Stainburn Moor, Harrogate... steady move! 27-03-2010

Black Redstart.... montage (c) John Blacker 2010

Stainburn Moor, Harrogate (N Yorks, England)
Saturday 27 March 2010
Counting period: 6:35-11:30
Weather: W moving NW then W F1-2 gusting F3 8/8 increasing 3/8 oktas. vis 40m+
Observers: Andrew Hanby, John Blacker

Moving Birds:
Cormorant - 3
Collared Dove - 1
Turdus sp. - 10
Grey Heron - 3
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Coal Tit - 1
Greylag Goose - 3
Skylark - 2
Starling - 139
Shelduck 1 -
Meadow Pipit 8+312
Chaffinch - 16
Lapwing - 6
alba wagtail sp. - 20
finch sp. - 6
Black-headed Gull - 25
Black Redstart - 1
Greenfinch - 4
Common Gull - 340
Wheatear - 4
Goldfinch - 27
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 4
Fieldfare - 38
Linnet - 16
Woodpigeon 6+ 16
Redwing - 15
Yellowhammer - 1

Totals: 1029 individuals, 27 species, 4:55 hours

Present: Sparrowhawk 2, Common Buzzard 7, Oystercatcher 2, Lapwing 4, Common Snipe 1, Curlew 12, Common Gull 400, Pied Wagtail 2, Magpie 6, Jackdaw 40, Rook 50, Carrion Crow 30

Comments: A fine morning with lots of movement. Highlight a Black Redstart, but 4... poss 5 Wheatear also flew in and out. Mipits, Finches, Wags and Thrushes moving through steadily with a 31 flock by far the largest. Shelduck flew S our 2nd of the year. Large numbers of common gull soaring and moving generally N on thermals.

Andy and John

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

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