Pennine Skywatch: 4 Apr 2010

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Stainburn Moor, Harrogate... not outstanding! 04-04-2010

Stainburn Moor, Harrogate (N Yorks, England)
Sunday 4 April 2010
Counting period: 6:45-10:40
Weather: 3C rising to 8 later. 4 Oktas - visibility outstanding at forst - 50 + miles ( if the curvature of the earth allows for that!) Wind NNW 2 rising to 3 later.
Observers: Andrew Hanby, John Blacker

Moving Birds:
Cormorant - 3
Sand Martin - 2
Mistle Thrush - 2
Grey Heron - 2
Swallow 2 2
Carrion Crow - 4
Cygnus sp. 2 -
Meadow Pipit 26 + 293
finch sp. - 1
Black-headed Gull - 1
alba wagtail sp. - 3
Goldfinch - 9
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 + 4
Blackbird - 1
Linnet - 7
Herring Gull - 9
Fieldfare - 30
Great Black-backed Gull - 3
Redwing - 1

Totals: 408 individuals, 19 species, 3:55 hours

Present: Mallard 3, Red Kite 6, Common Buzzard 4, Kestrel 1, Oystercatcher 4, Golden Plover 880, Curlew 10, Woodpigeon 80, Skylark 12, alba wagtail sp. 2, Magpie 4, Carrion Crow 18, Starling 350

Comments: Another steady but not outstanding movement of mipits with little supporting cast.

Counting period: 13:45-14:30
Weather: 8C, Wind NNW 3-4 light showers.
Observers: Andrew Hanby

Moving Birds:
Meadow Pipit 1 + 3
Goldfinch - 2

Totals: 6 individuals, 2 species, 0:45 hours

Comments: Vain hope to see if the White tailed eagle would come by but the bleeper told me it was in the Flamborough area at 1315 so I guessed it wasn't going to come by anytime soon- so my enthusiasm waned- augmented by a 'virtually no bird situation. However negative reports are also useful too!

Andy and John

Hunter Hill.... mipits still moving pm! 04-04-2010

See the report from Brian Sumner here:

http://birderbri.blogspot.com/2010/04/hunters-hill-cold-edge-dams.html

Dave

Stockbridge.... 04-04-2010

Read your vis-mig report for today Dave. Although we had only one mipit at Stockbridge, in the playing fields adjacent to the Reserve, this is not a common bird here. 2 LBB also passed going west.

Regards

Shaun

Oxenhope... magical mipit skies! 04-04-2010

Raven moving off North... OOF montage (c)

WNW F3 rising F4, 3degC, 20 - 100km, 6/8 - 2/8 - 8/8, rain storms to west, QNH 1006 rising.

0640 - 1115hr

A tremendous morning early doors but soon falling off into sterilality.... the conditions initially were just right for catching mipits on the move whilst looking out east over the flat lands of Yorkshire... layer after layer of northward moving mips at increasing distances were apparent in the first hour through the haze.. the close ones were obvious but it needed the scope towards the just risen sun and eastern skyline to catch the ones that were far out in silhouette... just like autumn but going the wrong way. A brilliant sunrise through a reducing strip of open sky was all that it needed to backlight the sky. Overhead and to the west it was terrible with dark skies and approaching rain and biteingly cold in the increasing WNW wind... rainbows were prolonged and complete and my back was saturated by lashing rain. The first 20 minutes was the best with 184 mips through before 0700hr with the biggest flock being 41 strong. As the morning progressed their flight level dropped and essentially they were just skipping over the in-byes.... thus most difficult to see! Otherwise a Merlin dashed N, batting away at 0820hr, not unusual on good mipit days and left high N out over Airedale as far as the scope could see. A Raven close in initially, also went N... chivied on by a pair of C Crows. Unusually the large gulls started off well probably due to the better conditions out to the south east but soon tailed off as the skies darkened and rain lashed down.. the worst of which never seemed to reach us here.... so we were lucky!

Mipit Breakdown:

0640 - 0700hr 184, 0700 - 0740hr 103, 0740 - 0800hr 23, 0800 - 0900hr 31, 0900 - 1000hr 26, 1000 - 1100hr 6.

Moving Birds:

Meadow Pipit 385 > N

Starling 72 > E and NE

Fieldfare 76 > E

alba wagtail 2 > N

Oystercatcher 4 > NW

LBB Gull 37 > NW

Herring Gull 1 > NW

Merlin 1 > N

Redpoll 1 > N