Sun 26/4 17:00-18:00 bright clear bitter North wind

Ring ouzel 1 female halfway up white brook lane and 1ad male on hill side just below summit below obelisk at pots and pans

wheatear at least 10 incl 2 females

Jackdaws c. 40

Willow warbler singing at bottom of lane

-- Edited by Mike c cooper on Sunday 26th of April 2015 08:17:03 PM

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 26th of April 2015 08:26:42 PM

At least 20 Ring Ouzel present this afternoon, mainly males but quite a few females too.

Few groups of 3's/4's feeding fairly close and then a group of around 7 flew up and scattered as I didn't even know they were there. They were striking classic poses every few seconds looking up to see where I was.
As I reached the derelict building I could see 3 more males further up on one of the sloping fields.

-Few Blackbirds around
-Mistle Thrush 2 lower down near Tunstead Lane
-Plenty of Meadow Pipit
-Dunnock 2
-Wheatear 4 giving exceptional views
-Kestrel 2
-Lapwing 2, 1 of which was doing overtime trying to clear off all the Carrion Crow and Jackdaw

Hiked up from Mossley this morning and there were 6 or 7 very flighty Ring Ouzels by the ruined house at Pots and Pans. My first Wheatear of the year as well.

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Friday 24th of April 2015 04:31:28 PM

At least eight at Pots and Pans when I went up this morning. First time I've seen them. :)

Also seen from the same area, c15 wheatear (first of the year), c20 meadow pipit, 2 skylark, one peregrine, and a couple of lapwing displaying off in the distance. Plenty of willow warblers and chaffinch could also be heard in the trees just below, too.

My first trip ever to 'Pots and Pans', or just below.
On the way up there were many Wheatears to see and some striking male specimens enhanced by the early morning sunshine.
Around the 'Old building' were around 7 Ring Ouzels, 4 males, but difficult to keep track because they were moving around between
the higher ground above the old building and the field below it, and the moorland terrain also played a factor in losing track of which birds had or hadn't been counted!!
Also seen were Curlews, and a Raven.

One single male Ring Ouzel just past the derelict building at 11.15. Was fairly distant perched on a rock then flew some distance over the lower fields with sheep in. Many Wheatear. Single Raven.
It was had work finding the Ring Ouzel but worth the slog.

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Tuesday 21st of April 2015 12:58:14 PM

Liz Headon wrote:

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Red-legged partridge at Binn Green (I've seen one on an odd occasion before: are they naturally occurring, or introduced ? I didn't think this was in their normal range...)

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They're definitely introduced, Liz, though when I don't know. Some have been around for at least 20 years to my knowledge. You never see more than one or two together so I don't think there have been any recent introductions.

Andrew Mitchell wrote:

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Hi all,

As someone who doesn't know the area well, how do you get to the area where the Ring Ouzels are currently being seen (and where is the best place to park)?

Cheers

Andrew

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I'd drive up the A635 Holmfirth road out of Greenfield, and park at Binn Green (higher up than the turning for Dovestones Reservoir). If you walk out of the car park back to the road and cross the road, there is a gated track onto the hills. Follow that (turning left as you stand with your back to the road) and after a while the ruined building and the stone walled fields will come in sight ahead of you. It's worth keeping your eyes open on the rocky slopes to the right as you get further from the road - the ring ouzels are sometimes lower down than people are generally reporting them.

Over 20 Ring Ouzels between 6.30 and 7am, mostly males with 4 definite females seen
C10 Wheatear
Raven

If you look on Google Maps for White Brook Lane, you'll see the ruined building if you zoom in, and a grid of fields which are separated by dry stone walls. They have been in the furthest two fields east and on the slopes behind. I walked up the hill from Tunstead Lane up a footpath. 20 or so mins from the roundabout at the bottom of Holmfirth Road to looking at the birds.

Parking I don't know, don't drive, sorry...somewhere in the village maybe.

5-7pm
23 Ring Ouzel seen in fields around the derelict barn just below Pots & Pans. There were probably more, but they were moving about quite a bit and kept disappearing behind walls.
They were flushed on a couple of occasions and moved off en-masse. 3 more birds (2m, 1f) seen from the top of the hill in the burnt section.
Also -
20+ Wheatear (very vocal)
2 Buzzard
2 Dipper on the stream below the reservoir

12.30 28 Ring Ouzel still present spread out in fields beyond the ruined barn and counted right past us as they were flushed by two walkers coming straight up the fields where they were all feeding. They flew round and up the hill towards the war memorial

-- Edited by Tim Wilcox on Sunday 19th of April 2015 11:53:15 AM

-- Edited by Tim Wilcox on Sunday 19th of April 2015 03:24:47 PM

I was trying to be clever this morning, and I headed for Dove Stones via Intake Lane imagining a Ring Ouzel or two might have crossed the valley overnight. Looking across at the slope below Pots and Pans at about 9am I was clearly wrong, as I saw a birder watching something in the fields where Mark Rigby had reported the birds yesterday.

I did see some Lesser Redpoll in the conifers, at least 3, which were displaying I think. Lots of circuits of the trees and calling. Great to watch and listen to anyway.

Nothing much in the environs of the reservoirs.

Walking back into Greenfield I saw a Dipper at the weir at the roundabout, and then I decided to try for the Ouzels up where I'd seen the birder before. This was a great decision if I say so myself. I soon picked up birds in the fields which they had presumably occupied all day; it was about 2pm by now.

Anyway I think there were 10 or so birds about, males and females. The most I had pinned down simultaneously was 8 but there were probably more. Showing well feeding, also lots of nice views as they flew about, perched on rocks and generally busied about. Brilliant stuff, it was really nice up there, some great views back down the valley too. John Spalding turned up too, nice to chat to him.

Pota and Pans (with Gary Crowder)

Ring Ouzels 15 (Possibly more).
Wheatears 5-6.
Raven 1.
Rook 1.
+ Meadow Pipits, Linnets, Pied Wagtails.

Cheers John

-- Edited by John Rayner on Saturday 18th of April 2015 03:05:30 PM

A walk around the sewage works, about 20 swallows, chiffchaff, a few willow warbler, blackcap, 2 dipper, grey wagtail, treecreeper, nuthatch,
bullfinch plus the usual.

Morning (post eclipse) walk around the moorland edge.

Woodcock flew off from bracken at Warlow Clough, heading towards Dove Stone.
Plenty of Red Grouse much lower down the moor than usual - maybe the result of a fire (apparently under control) on the slopes of Alphin Pike.
A fair number of Lapwing displaying in the fields - but not half as many as there used to be round here.

March's WeBS counts (dreary drizzle)

Waterside Mill (Tanner's) Lodge: pair Oystercatcher (site first)

Royal George Lodge:

pair Oystercatcher (site first - probably the same pair as at Tanner's)
Mallard: 15
Canada Geese: 43
Moorhen: 8
Coot: 1
Little Grebe: 1
Black-headed Gulls: 19
Common Gull: 1

+ the introduced birds: Mute Swan: 2, Wood Ducks: 4

Pair of Dipper gathering moss on riverbank.

Pleasant stroll between the sleet and hail showers:

Pink-footed Goose with Canadas in field where John Spalding noted it a month ago. Not limping as badly as when I first saw it. Reports from Elton that their Pinkfoot was present this morning mean that it's not the same bird (I had wondered...). 9 Moorhen in the same field but the Water Rail hasn't returned this winter.

Singing Dipper with metal ring at Wrights Mill on the Tame.

Late afternoon walk yesterday to see if Herons had started building nests - they hadn't.

However I did discover a magpie roost in trees between the old railway bridleway and Well-i-hole Farm fields. When I left there were at least 49 birds in two adjacent trees, many perched in pairs like Jackdaws.

January's snowy WeBS counts

Royal George Lodge (c10% frozen)

Mallard: 26
Canada Geese: 70
Moorhen: 8
Little Grebe: 1
Black-headed Gulls: 142 (a WeBS count record for this site)
Common Gull: 1

+ the introduced birds: Mute Swan: 2, Wood Ducks: 4

also one Dipper (unringed) on the river

2 Rough-legged Buzzard relocated at 'Pots and Pans' viewable from Tunstead Lane on moorland East of the Obelisk at 1330hrs (info A.Platt)

Back to the routine WeBS counts after all last week's excitement...

Tanner's Lodge: only one waterbird - a Moorhen, but Red Grouse very vocal on the nearby moor and a male Gt. Spotted Woodpecker in a pondside willow.

Royal George Lodge:

Coots have now all gone but the wintering Little Grebes are back.

65 Canada Geese
26 Mallard
10 Moorhen
2 Little Grebe
2 Tufted Duck
2 Mute Swan (usual "Polish" introduced birds)
41 Black-headed Gulls
1 Heron

Further sightings/updates of the Rough-legged Buzzards are now on the Dove Stone thread.

Brian, they covered quite a distance over a huge area and probably could have been viewable from binn green but to get a better vantage point your better walking up the hill to over look more of the moorland