A wet one

Light to heavy prolonged rain showers, 11°, fresh WSW.

Bunk line proved quite fruitful today with several migrants moving through. I was out a.m. and Alan p.m.

A single House Martin, 5+ Sand Martin, 2+ Swallow and singles of Greenshank and Shelduck all moving generally north in between the rain showers.

A single Willow Warbler and Blackcap, several Chiffchaff, Treecreeper, a single Black-headed Gull, 5 Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Raven and Sparrowhawk also noted.

A few Yellowhammer back in their summer quarters and several Skylark in song .

From Alan yesterday: Grey Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Wheatear, Nuthatch, Kingfisher, 2 Little Egret and 2 Raven.

Plus a Peacock and Brimstone butterfly and Dark-edged Bee-fly all yesterday.

Raven courtesy Alan

Willow Warbler

Dark-edged Bee-fly courtesy Alan

Little Egret courtesy Alan

Spring is in the air but so is rain.

Rain showers, 13°, light to breezy SSW.

A light sprinkling of migrants today with 2 Swallow and 4 Sand Martin seen, Bunk line and Lollingdon respectively.

Sparrowhawk, 60+ Linnet, 2 Little Egret, a Grey Heron, a handful of Redwing and Fieldfare, and good numbers of Chiffchaff in song.

One of the young Rooks was taken from a nest site by a Red Kite near Church road  but then dropped from a height.

The Rook was badly injured and did not make it.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Little Egrets

Sunshine for a change

Sunny, 10°, light S.

A fairly quiet couple of days. Alan found a Wheatear up near Silly Bridge yesterday but little else evident.

Today, Bunk line, Lollingdon and the River covered but again very little happening.

Most of the wintering Gulls have dispersed now and only a couple of Common Gull, a handful of Lesser Blackback Gull and Black-headed Gull and a couple of Herring Gull noted today.

2 Lapwing still in the area and hoping that they may stay and breed as one seen in display flight over the weekend.

A concern is that we have not recorded Bullfinch in the parish this year. Usually 4 sites where we find them but nothing noted yet.

Other species noted: many Chiffchaff, a Raven, Treecreeper and Nuthatch.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Brimstone and Peacock.

Raven & Peacock courtesy Alan

Showers

Rain, hail and sunshine, 12°, breezy SW.

A quieter day than of late. Lollingdon hill was deserted which was not surprising considering the wind was blasting the southern face. Just 6 Red Kite and 2 Buzzard taking advantage of the sunny spells and gusting wind.

Nearby a flock of 100+ Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling, 3-4 Yellowhammer, several Chiffchaff and a flock of 30-40 Goldfinch.

After all the rain recently some of the fields are beginning to flood again and approx. 12 Pied Wagtail taking advantage.

A Sparrowhawk in the garden again.

Bunk line and river still fairly quiet. A few Yellowhammer and Chiffchaff.

One I forgot was Alan saw a Barn Owl hunting up near Westfield road earlier in the week.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Sparrowhawk

Frogs in Alan's pond

March Hares & Butterflies

Bright at first then clouding over, 13°, fresh SW.

Much the same as yesterday covered.

4 Wheatear still present out at Lollingdon and Chiffchaff everywhere, obviously a big influx over the last few days.

2 Lapwing, Kingfisher, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Yellowhammer, several Redwing and Fieldfare plus the regulars.

Mammals: Brown Hare.  

Butterflies: several Brimstone, first ones of the year as far as we know.

Mad March Hares ↕

Brimstone courtesy Alan

Starling

Yellowhammer

Wheatear (f) courtesy Alan

Linnets ↕

Wheatears again

Sunshine and showers, 14°, breezy SSW.

I covered Lollingdon today whilst Alan covered the Bunk, River and Lollingdon Hill.

4 Wheatear (3m & 1f) still present at Lollingdon. Whether these are the same birds as in previous days?

Nearby I only saw 1 Fieldfare whereas Alan had a flock of several hundred Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling along the Bunk.

Good numbers of Chiffchaff also present with 6 singing birds on the walk out to Lollingdon and Alan had 10+ along the Bunk.

Other birds noted: 1 Goldcrest, 3 Mistle Thrush, 3 Great-spotted Woodpecker, Little Owl and 1 Sand Martin.

River area, very quiet.

Mammals: Muntjac in the garden.

Pics 4, 5 & 6 courtesy Alan

Wheatears

Muntjac

Wheatears

Overcast with rain, 13°, light SSW.

Up to 6 Wheatear on Lollingdon hill. Per Alan Dawson & Michael Pocock.

courtesy Alan ↕

North of the Wall

Mainly cold and wet.

Have spent the last week up in Huddersfield visiting Loren's family.

Managed to get out a few times along the river Colne and Huddersfield Canal area.

not a lot going on but managed to find a pair of Dipper and a good number of Grey Wagtail.

A few arrivals

Cloudy with some light rain, 13⁰, breezy S.

A few migrants arriving with 3 Wheatear and 4 Stonechat on Lollingdon Hill today.

Plus a Chiffchaff, several Corn Bunting and Skylark. Per Alan.

Spring, maybe?

Light rain showers, 12⁰, breezy SSW.

Bunk line: up to 6 Chiffchaff today near CSW with one or more in song and 3 Sand Martin flew over heading north.

Usual Fieldfare and Redwing plus a Grey Wagtail and Goldcrest. Per Alan.

Chiffchaff courtesy Alan

A bit cold but no snow

Mainly cloudy and drizzly with some sunny spells, 4°, light W.

Both out along the Bunk line today at different times.

Lots of Gulls still around with 4 Common Gull, several Herring Gull, 100+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 150+ Black-headed Gull (most sporting their dark heads now) and a single Yellow-legged Gull.

Several hundred “Winter Thrushes”, mainly Fieldfare and fewer Redwing.

3 Lapwing flyovers, 3 Chiffchaff, several Pied Wagtail, a single Grey Wagtail, Kestrel and Grey Heron.

Rook

Great Tit ↕

Nothing happening

Cloudy with light rain, 4°, light NW.

Well I can’t recall a quieter start to a March than this year. Alan and I have been out most days and apart from the usual there is very little to report on.

It also looks as though winter is attempting a comeback with snow and ice forecast. Whether we get it here or not is another matter though.

Just about the only thing I noticed today was 3 Yellowhammer back along the Bunk line. They had been mainly absent for the last couple of months.