Re the Starlings - I understand that there were still good numbers passing west over the valley this afternoon.
I had a look at the Bradford birding website - www.bradfordbirding.com - this has a visible migration link near the top of the page and then a further link to latest sightings. Have been having a look at this tonight and they state " Squadrons of Starlings West were an ongoing theme throughout todays watch". Looks like there have been large numbers of this species migrating west on a fairly broad front all day long, as Steve Atkins suggested.
I also understand that the Kittiwake was still present this afternoon.
Hi Bill, It was good to see you again. I thought you might be interested to know that there has been on average only one November Kittiwake record per year in Greater Manchester over the past ten years,so a good find on your part. The Starling movement this morning must have been on quite a broad front as 80 flew over Blackstone Edge at approx. 12:30 hrs heading west and north-west.
Cheers
Steve
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The Watergrove Skyline (January 2010) - before desecration.
An adult winter-plumaged Kittiwake was a surprising but very pleasant find on Ogden Reservoir this morning. It showed well, when not being pestered by Black-headed Gulls! This is my first record of this species here and the first record at Piethorne since 10th April 1999. Many thanks to Steve Atkins for coming over and helping confirm ID.
Also present 1 Cormorant, 2 Great Crested Grebe.
Good numbers of birds flying over - c30 Siskin, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 6 Bullfinch.
In addition, there was a major westerly passage of Starlings throughout the morning. A very conservative estimate would be well in excess of 1,000 birds. One flock was so large and passed over so quickly it was not possible to count numbers - but this flock alone was probably close to four figures. There were several other smaller flocks in addition to this.
Finally, one of the local residents informed me this morning that there were 6 Swans on Piethorne Reservoir on 25th October. He is not a bird watcher and could not recall the colour of their bills but the numbers and timing of the sighting would suggest probably Whoopers or maybe even Bewicks? Fancy missing that!
It showed well, when not being 