Thursday, October 20, 2011

lancaster skein!!.... 2011-10-20

Very first light.... open sky... (c) 2011
Mid Morning... open sky... (c) 2011
Late morning looking east.... (c) 2011
Late morning looking north west.... (c) 2011
Trans-Pennine pinks.... (c) 2011
Trans-Pennine pinks.... (c) 2011
Trans-Pennine pinks..... (c) 2011
Golden Plover passage.... (c) 2011
Whoopers a-hoy.... (c) 2011
Whoopers.... (c) 2011
Whoopers.... (c) 2011
Whoopers through low.... (c) 2011

Oxenhope, Bradford (W Yorks, England)
Thursday 20 October 2011
Counting period: 6:50-15:50
Weather: wind West2, cloud-cover 1/8, visibility 60000m, temperature 1 ℃, CALM increasing W F3, 0 increasing 7ok, 1degC strong frost, 100 reducing 30km, QNH 1025 ridging 1026, 1025
Observers: Dave Barker, Howard Creber

Cormorant 3 -
Lesser Black-backed Gull 3 -
Raven 2 -
Whooper Swan - 3
Woodpigeon 2810 -
Starling - 57
Pink-footed Goose - 538
Meadow Pipit 202 -
Chaffinch 47 -
Sparrowhawk 2 -
alba wagtail sp. 4 -
finch sp. 45 -
Merlin 1 -
Dunnock 2 -
Greenfinch 81 -
Golden Plover 469 -
Fieldfare 1165 -
Goldfinch 55 -
Black-headed Gull 21 -
Mistle Thrush 4 -
Siskin 5 -
Common Gull 62 -
Jackdaw 35 -
Lesser Redpoll 1 -

Totals: 5617 individuals, 24 species, 9:00 hours

Comments: First really hard frost of the season with calm cloudless conditions overhead initially. Deep cumulus tops visible far out into the North Sea north of Lincolnshire. Woodpigeons moving very strongly at all ranges for the first half hour after sunrise with virtually all that were counted in this period. Mipits also moving very strongly initially and to a lesser extent throughout the day. Morning then just degenerated into quite a good finch passage all west and mips still south, with noteably thrushes absent. Then at 1123hr tight flocks of Fieldfare coming in from the east and at hill top level began to be noted, with continuing matching but strengthening passage throughout the afternoon, an obvious fresh arrival of which due to the diversity moving we probably picked up just a few. From 1215hr several large skeins of pinks at intervals passed very high NW, most on the usual track and making the usual 90deg turn over the Pennine ridge. A Lancaster bomber was first mistaken for an approaching skein of geese... snaps to follow and what looked to be a Eurofighter? a peregrine!! Whoopers, our first this season passed quite low, also NW but the afternoon was most noteable for the large numbers of Golden Plover passing south. Starlings again almost absent throughout.

Dave