Oxenhope.... fog TOP!!! 04-09-2010
The RIGHT kind of FOG!... (c) 2010
INVERSION!.... Above fog top level!!... just terriffic!!! (c) 2010
Looking north... fogs in recession.... everything coming from here!...
The Great South road in the Sky... looking South... (c) 2010
Periodic invasions from the North!!... (c) 2010
Another invasion from the North.... (c) 2010
DEATH in the Sun and DEATH in the Fogs... just no escape! (c) 2010
Oxenhope, Bradford (W Yorks, England)
Saturday 4 September 2010
Counting period: 7:00-12:00
Weather: CALM - SE F1, 7degC, 50m - 40km, 1/8 inversion fog, QNH 1022 ridging
Observers: Dave Barker, Chris King
Moving birds:
Peregrine 1 -
Swallow 383 -
Mistle Thrush 1 -
Dunlin 3 -
House Martin 684 -
Siskin 1 -
Black-headed Gull 40 -
Meadow Pipit 169 -
Lapland Bunting 1 -
Common Gull 1 -
Grey Wagtail 1 -
Reed Bunting 2 -
Lesser Black-backed Gull 71 -
alba wagtail sp. 1 -
Sand Martin 79 -
Stonechat 1 -
Totals: 1439 individuals, 16 species, 5:00 hours
Comments: A dramatic but tremendous morning at c1300ft in all respects at fog top level with deep inversion fog filling the vallies, Dales to the north and out to the east over Yorkshire. Both ideallic and optimal to maximise the vis skipping along the top of the fog!! Except for a very short spell, which sluffened the move for a while we were in the clear with everything heading for "land" over a "sea" of deep fog!!! Right from arrival hirundines, unusually for up here with lots of House Martins in the mix were pouring through south with the first appreciable move of mipits in that direction as well.... a sign of things to come! As the morning moved on things became less, quite quickly but at 0945 calls very different from the norm were heard way out over the fog from a bird on approach... a Lapland Bunting coming in at fog top level from the north!... it passed just below eye level against the moor with its well spaced deliberate calls all the time but despite trying neither of us could pick it up as it hit the land, continuing south up the moor and over the ridge calling all the time! A Peregrine went through south after pausing and a Stonechat the first of the autumn up here also went off south and three Dunlin went SE. Late on site this morning just hanging back as just a bit further down the hill the fog was so dense with no suggestion that an inversion was in place below the watchpoint, I thought it would be a rerun of yesterday.... oh well, I should have known.... live and learn!
Counting period: 14:55-18:00
Weather: SSE F3, 17degC, 30km haze, 8/8, QNH 1021 falling
Observers: Dave Barker
Moving birds:
Common Buzzard 1 -
Swallow 21 -
Peregrine 2 -
Meadow Pipit 6 -
Lapwing 14 -
flava wagtail sp. 1 -
Dunlin 1 -
bunting sp. 3 -
Totals: 49 individuals, 8 species, 3:05 hours
Comments: After this morning an unexpectedly poor afternoon! Swallows were few, with no House Martins but a flava did pass quite close. The most interesting and intreguing thing during constantly scanning the skies were a two and a single what appeared to be bunt sp heading fast and direct well above eye line SE... as the wind had picked up, any calls were well out of range. The raptors were going south west.
Dave and Chris
posted by Dave Barker at
9/04/2010 09:09:00 pm
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