WEST YORKSHIRE BIRDING

BRIAN SUMNER.
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KEEPING BIRDING LOCAL.

BLOG UPDATED DAILY AROUND 2000 hrs.

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NOTE !!
No sightings of Roe Deer, Fox, Hare or Badger will be mentioned on this blog throughout the year and links will be removed from other blogs giving the whereabouts of these mammals due to the rising influx of poaching, long dogging and lamping by sick individuals.
BS




Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Good news on the Caspian then another stonker at Fly Flatts

Got the thumbs up today on the Caspian gull from gull expert Mick Cunningham who sent a lengthy explicit reply on the bird but had a slight issue with bill length and head shape possibly moving it towards Caspian/Herring hybrid but after checking more pics he put that down to the angle of the photos in flight so a new bird for Calderdale. Thanks to Mick Cunningham , Nick Dawtrey and David Crawshaw for their expertise  and everyone else involved.
                                                           With that sorted we can move on to todays highlight again at Fly Flatts and again a first for Calderdale.
                                                         1430 hrs and on arrival  it was one of those days where the conditions were ideal with a smell of birds as soon as I got out of the car.
100% light grey sky with slight dampness carried on a SE>4-5 and decent visibility.
Walking along the west bank I started with a few Red Grouse and the 2 Barnacles on the water but soon the sky started to liven up with Herring gulls moving over very high and >SW whilst Cormorants were moving dead opposite heading very high and >NE.
By the end of the watch I ,d had 25 Herrings and 11 Cormorant along with several Mipits >SW and a Bunting sp. that I had to let go as it was in silhouette and distant with no call but it looked like it could have been interesting.
                                           By now I was at the NW corner of the water checking for Snow Bunts in the conduit and as I scanned to the SW for any more Cormorants what I thought was a Little Egret was heading towards me but fairly high heading >NE. As it got closer it got bigger and bigger and as I was blasting away with Big Bertha I could see its long black legs through the lens. The bristles on the back of my neck stood up as I realized it was Great Egret.
                                                         With Caspian gull Monday and Great Egret Wednesday I expected wakening up anytime to go to work and it was all a dream. Boy am I in for a big downer when this stretch of luck runs out and Im back to looking at empty skies.
                                                    Its ironic that this is my hat trick with firsts for Calderdale, the first one being Little Egret, then Caspian and finishing with Great Egret. Only Cattle Egret to get now, better start checking the fields.

                         It dont get better than this.








BS