driving

noticed 4 kestrels whilst driving home today on the wires
not all at the same place

oxenhope moor

a cold morning in bleak -1.5 degree conditions
40 (precisly) red grouse, i very close, so close you could see every detail
1 robin
1 very breif glimps of a golden plover
3 flyover mipits
almost trod on a rabbit whilst running, this practically killed me with fright

a sucsessfull morning

burnsal

a quiet morning down by the river
4 dippers
one seen swimming diving and doing other stuff about 2m away
numerous goosanders quite close
blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits, nuthatches
mallards
heard some "fencepost" birds which were probably mipits

ogden

coal tit

a quick walk round this morning

1 greater spotted woodpecker

usual gulls and mallards

birdtable birds:

1 chaffinch

2 coal tits

2 robins

1 great tit

bolton abbey-yesterday

goosander

jesus duck-walking on water

a very nice walk but little to show for it:

2 goldcrests less than 2m away hovering and just being goldcrests-superb

a pair of goosander swimming up the river

1 dead long tailed tit, perfectly preserved

1 live long tailed tit in the tree tops

1 jesus mallard walking on water

merry christmas

recently

Halifax town center yesterday at 5.00
i was in town yesterday and remebered about the wagtail roost but looking up could see none. i walked under the tree 5 mins later and something fell on my head. i looked up and there they were sat in the top of a tree.
it was amazing
the most amazing wildlife spectacle this year
well worth it
there must have been about 300 in one tree

Ogden this morn
1 treecreeper
3 goldcrests
1 wren really close
1 woodpecker heard

ogden

not much there this frosty morn
1 goldeneye was out in the middle of the res, male
usual suspects besides that

i want

hopefull

went to york yesterday

5 long tailed tits and 1 grey wagtail

went to take my fossils to york museaum

incredible news-one fossil is definatly a pterosaur-great stuff

the other has baffled all it has met and is now in the museaums hands hoped for an i.d

instead of just being a tooth in that rock there is now a handful of bones which, i hope, could lead to a positve i.d

ogden this morning

birdlife very good:

2 jays

one flew across and so i got out my camera and waited for the other to do the same. i stood there in wind and rain for 15mins without a hope. the jay sat in the tree for ages hopping around the branches-fab birds though

1 female goosander

quite close to the shore but still not close enough to get any photos

usual mallards and blackheadd gulls

quite a large number of crows, chafinchs, dunnocks and robins this morning too. crows are quite flighty to say they can beat up a buzzard

mammal life was brill

1 roe deer climbing the bank of a river. not really aware that we were watching it. we saw it on one side of the river very close but then it idssapeared and reappered having crossed the river on the other side. it started to eat some plants and progressivly made its way out of sight. great views

1 rat which kept swimming back and forth other the water treatment area. it must have been very confused

waxwings

saw 10 waxwings this morning

got a text in pets at home about 8 waxwings on some road
pulled out of pets at home and asked by text where that road was
nick told me that the road was just opposite pets at home
we were already out of pellon
so we did a loop the loop to get back and see them

they were smashing
no pics though
i didnt think id need a camera

red-breasted mergansers

this had been planned for a long time becuase i had so many pics

memorable moment

my dad has just bought us a special memory card reader
this means that i can upload my photos once again
if you wish to see any photos gone by (the merganser ones are especially good)
simply scroll down the previous posts and find them

last day

the dreaded packing up
but happy cause in a few hours we will be home and i ill see my pet fish again
campsite this morning, very quite and a serious frost.
apparently it froze on the inside of the caravan
1 jay, heard before seen
1 woodpecker, very breif
1 nuthatch heard calling

off we go home

we called off a stratford on the way home
last time i was here i had severe vomiting and we didnt go on the boats
despite the minus temperture 1 was still dragged unwillingly onto the frozen boat of doom

tufted ducks in small numbers
2 pied wagtails-the nicest bird this holiday
numerous lost blackbirds-no compass in their heads
mallards
swans-en masse
canada geese (not goose)
black headed gulls
1 grey wagtail-wish it was as tame as those yesterday

traffic was terible getting home so didnt get to see my fish much that day
how unfortunet

day-went to some river thing in a village

it was a very peacful river in a nice stone built village
lots of pretty bridges and the water was crystle clear
some very tame grey wagtails
very tame
some big fish too

the birding today was the best ever:
king penguin-the only colony in england, wales ands ireland
victoria crowned pigeon x2
golden phesant
nicobar pigeon
pink-backed pelican
humbolt pengiun
carmine bee-eater
cassowary
3 types of flamingo-and a crazed gull who seemed to want their extinction by attacking them and stealing their food
2 rheas
various macaws
hammerkops
azure-winged magpies-lots of them too
some bird that wouldnt stop saying "hi"
another of the smae speices that lived in a berr barrel
black and comb-billed swans
chestnut teals
black billed blue pie-mmmmmmmmm pie
some toucan
egyptian plover
blacksmith plover

and so the list goes on
oh and by the way-this was in a zoo

day 2-oxford

what joy, we finnaly get ot go to the oxford unversity museaum
it would have been cool-but we spent the morning in the car being lost
why, why, why
anyway i had a fossil on me which i was desperate to get identified because i was told it might be a dinosaur claw.
finally got there only to realise i forgot the fossil :(
go back to get it
get it identified
its a fish tooth
so much for dinosaur claw

birds:
pigeons (feral)
sparrowhawk-quite high too
buzzard-sat in a tree
buzzards must live a very red kite like exsistance;
it something dies then eat it and if its still alive wait for it to die

another exciting day

oxford holiday-day 1

look hard and you may see

the most boring journey in history :(
we finaly stopped at some natonal trust place somewhere out in the middle of nowhere
the birds were few and sparse:
great creasted grebe
mallard
tufted duck
however, underwater it was a different story:
1 perch-very impressive
1 native crayfish-amazing it was so big, about 20cm long
then to finish the journey
what little joys life provides

weasle

had a weasle in my garden today
it was so cool
it ran about like it was on caffine
we lost it eventually
i didnt really know what it was doing
it kept going back and forth.

i think i'll call him herbert

ogden

ogden this morning;
goldecrests-so close you could toch them if you had very long arms
gc grebe-so far away you would struggle to see it through bins
plus usual sp.
barnacle goose not there

herons

2 herons flying up bradshaw lane
flying together when i saw them but parted
they are so big
one flew over my head
the other went of in the direction of the newly built pond.

soil hill and last sunday

if only it didnt move so fast

soil hill this morning:
mass mipit movement
20ish skylarks
1 male sparrowhawk

last sunday:
2 nuthatches
1 shrew so close i could take some photos-if only it wasnt so fast
i did get some photos but guess what-the cameras still broken
it was the most amazing mammal encounter i have ever had

ogden and ogden moor

went to ogden today with alex and decided to go up on the moors instead of on the giants tooth where there was a crossbill

1 wheatear on the moor and several mipits

insects were a bit more plentiful:
1 southern hawker
1 small copper
1 small heath

and amphibians:
1 baby toad

yesterday

saw 1 peregrine over halifax

also seen 5 herring gulls today

still wednesday

bakewell:
6 red breasted mergansers
saw them less than 1m away
i didnt know they ate bread
caught it before it even hit the water
wow

also were:
the usual arangemant of oversized rainbow trout
tufted ducks
mallards-obviosly
mute swans
a coot fighting the wier in a desperate attempt to get up-why did god give them wings?
canada geese