Oxenhope....... somewhat sparce! 2011-09-11

BIG Sky at Dawn..... just post sunrise!... (c) 2011

 The A Team!.... (c) 2011

 The Next Front Moves on Approach.... (c) 2011

Dispursing Grey Squirrel "en vis".... middle of the Moor!!.. (c) 2011

0600-1115hr
W F5 gusting F8, 2ok, 12degC rising, 30km decreasing, QNH 998 falling

Weatherwise a much better morning than expected despite the wind which gave little trouble.... virtually all the movement was high to very high, with mipits o/head only observed with difficulty... in the mid to late part of the watch the western sky was dominated by ther dramitic skies of an obvious advancing front.... it just gave a very few spots of rain and soon passed over. Whilst there were birds on the move things were sparce but with reasonable diversity for the condition of the day, reflected by the small numbers. Two parties of Snipe were the most interesting vis but despite targeting this species for some while when we realised they were on the move, no more were seen. A Grey Squirrel mid moor was interesting.

Swallow 159 > S and W
Mipit 185 > S with just a few W
LBB Gull 7 various
House Martin 8 > S
Curlew 8 > W
alba 4 > S
Sparrowhawk 1 > S
Starling 5 > NE
Snipe 20 > W
Wheatear 10 > S
Skylark 3 > W
Rook 1 > S
Linnet (many blogging on Soil)
BHGull 1
Grey Squirrel 1
Goldfinch 1
Sand Martin 2
Merlin 1

Dave, Howard, Gordon, Lester and Chris