Walk to Gaddings Dam

Took the opportunity to walk to Gaddings Dam as it wasn't raining, hailing or snowing for a change! It was windy but as the sun was shining the weather was too good to miss.

At Lee Dam there were 7 Goosander, 5 Teal and a female Goldeneye. Lots of Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits and Blue Tits were in the hawthorns along with a few Goldfinches.

The moors were very wet underfoot and although I looked forward to seeing what birds may be at Gaddings (none as it turned out) the view over towards Stoodley Pike and a large mass of lenticular clouds proved to be the day's highlight:

Stoodley Pike

Stoodley Pike gets a dusting of snow -

and is shrouded in mystery (well, in mist anyway)

Squirrel and Lumbutts Water Tower

A walk through Lumbutts on a sunny morning and a nice view of Stoodley Pike behind the Lumbutts Water Tower. This local feature is a bit different because the tower held 3 water wheels, each mounted vertically one above the other and water was fed onto them from above. I'm still researching how the water got above them as the three mill dams are at ground level.

 In the garden, a squirrel managed to get into the pigeon-proof bird feeder. Good job we don't get many squirrels in the garden or the food wouldn't last long.

Recent pics

Last Wednesday I managed to see a Desert Wheatear for the first time. A visit to Bempton Cliffs RSPB in blustery but sunny conditions was rewarded with great views of this smashing bird:

 

 The following morning I went over to Hornsea Mere to try and catch up with the Smew that had been reported recently on BirdGuides, but no luck. However, 2 Snow Buntings flew in and one of them stayed on the shore by the boat launching jetties for about 5 minutes, feeding in the gravel. 

 

CD Rock Carving

As I was walking over the hills to the North of Stoodley Pike I came across this carving in the rock in a small quarry. It has been done quite recently because the stone hasn't had time to discolour. I wonder who CD is? Quite nice though.

A walk to Gaddings Dam

It's been a while since I visited Gaddings so I walked up there this morning to see what was about. Although it was raining when I set off, it soon stopped and the calm day made for pleasant walking conditions. I made my way through Mankinholes and Lumbutts, past Longfield Dam and up the Pennine Bridleway to Gaddings. The highlight of the walk was undoubtedly the Golden Plovers at Gaddings. They were on the South East side on the shore line and I'd taken out my camera to get a photo but then the battery died on me! By the time I'd changed it they had taken off.

Mankinholes

Long Tailed Tit – 7

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Treecreeper

Little Owl in usual place

Kestrel

Lumbutts

Goldcrest – 5 in the church yard

Longfield Dam

Black-headed Gull – 34

Common Gull – 2 (1^st winter)

Lapwing – 10

Canada Goose - 19

Gaddings Dam

Goldeneye – 4 (1 x ♂ 3 x ♀)

Tufted Duck ♂

Golden Plover – 20 on South East shore

Red Grouse – 2

Raven -2 flying over

Above are the 20 Golden Plover after they had taken off!!!

Great Northern Diver

Went to Ringstone Edge res this morning with Andy H to see the Great Northern Diver that's been there for the last few days. Good views of this wonderful bird - only wish the pics had reflected this! I'll have to get a new camera soon...

Sparrowhawk in the garden again

A Sparrowhawk came into the garden this afternoon for a snack. Looked like it took a Blue Tit and went to the garden wall to pluck and eat it.

Little Gull

I caught up with the Little Gulls at Hornsea Mere this week at long last. Here are a few pics -

Langfield Edge and Gaddings Dam

Took my first walk to Gaddings and Langfield for 5 months this morning. A smashing still day with the sun shining, blue skies and a real pleasure to be out after the horrendous gales and rain of the last week. There were lots of Meadow Pipits around, enjoying all the flies and insects.

Jail Hole
Mipit - 30+
Wheatear
Sparrowhawk - 3







 

















Langfield
Mipit - 20+
Reed Bunting - 2
Stonechat
Kestrel
Flock of Goldfinches and Chaffinches - 40+ birds. Goldfinches were feeding on the grass seeds
Red Grouse - 2

Gaddings
Mipit - 100+
Skylark
Tufted Duck
BH Gull
Swallow - 43 feeding over the dam

 The sun was glinting through the rain drops on the grass so I couldn't resist putting the starburst filter on the camera!

        

 

Sparrowhawk in the garden

A young male Sparrowhawk was keeping a watch on the garden bird feeders to see if there was a tasty snack to be had:

but then it spotted me taking photos and was off empty talon'd

Over on the East coast last weekend the weather was good so a few pics were in order:

Teasels starting to flower

Wildlife photos are hard to come by at the moment as I'm sort of house bound so I've resorted to taking pics of the garden. Sad, but I'm finding several new subjects of interest. Today's subjects are seeds and bulbs that were given to me by friends.

The teasels that were planted as seeds last year (thanks Robert) are now starting to come into flower and although there are only a few florets on the flower heads at the moment, they are already attracting a fair number of insects:

Hopefully the 20 or so flower heads will self-seed and we'll have a karger crop next year, although they don't actually flower until the second year so we'll have to wait a while for any significant increase.

The Crocosmia Lucifer (thanks Allan) are bursting with colour and really brighten up the whole garden:

Mink

We have a mink. It was seen killing a Canada Goose (an adult Canada Goose!) and swimming off to the far shore with it. I don't have a problem with introduced species killing introduced species :) However there is no guarantee it won't kill other creatures, like the fish it had when I saw it -

New Chicks

The Little Grebes that I've been monitoring for the last few weeks have 4 chicks and seem to be doing OK:

Meanwhile, over at Bempton Cliffs over the weekend there were several Gannet chicks to admire:

Langfield and Gaddings Dam

Walked to Gaddings Dam via Lee Dam and Langfield Edge this morning, my first walk onto the hills for a couple of months. It was a fine but blustery morning and a shower threatened to spoil the day but it didn't last long and the sun came out shortly after.

A Grey Heron watched a family of Canada Geese go by at Lee Dam -

and the same Canada Geese were eyed up by a passing Little Grebe -

A pair of Twite at Langfield were a good find, as was a juvenile Stonechat. At Gaddings Dam Swallows and Swifts were feeding over the water and a Ringed plover and a Dunlin were at the water's edge -

While walking back I almost stepped on this beetle. Turns out it is quite an uncommon beetle called Carabus nitens  It's a beauty!

Fledglings all over the place

Following the young GSW's seen earlier in the week, there were lots of young birds around today as I went for a walk down to Hardcastle Crags with Andy. Tons of Great Tits, a few Coal Tits and many Blue Tits flapping about finding their wings -

 A family of Mallards was on Gibson Mill pond (this image doesn't stand blowing up but looks OK at this small size) -

... and best of all, a group of 5 Treecreepers were being fed by an adult. Sorry about the quality here as the lighting was challenging to say the least -

Later we came upon a singing Wood Warbler and Andy managed a good pic (mine were rubbish as usual. I just can't get a decent Wood Warbler pic for some reason) -

Another Great Spotted Woodpecker