Soil Hill

Its been a while since this was updated, but with shorter daylight hours and a huge increase in workload, it has been impossible to get out birding. Those few trips I have made have seen nothing new or out of the ordinary and so have not been posted.
 But now, with the Christmas holidays here, I was finally able to get out and about. Granted, this only happened when the weather was decent, and that has not been particularly often. I've been up to Soil Hill in the hope of landing a few nice things, but that has not been the case and right now any birds would do...

20.12.2015
Having arrived back on Friday I would have hoped to have got out a few times, but sadly not as a result of relentless rain. However there was a clear spell on the Sunday and I made my way up. It was nice to bump into Brian Sumner up there as well, although he had not seen much either. I did flush a Common Snipe which I was pretty pleased about, although to present its the only decent bird I've seen up there this time...
Species List
Soil Hill: Common Snipe, Meadow Pipit, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Goldfinch, Starling, Black-Headed Gull

24.12.2015
Whilst the rain might have let up, the wind never did and continued with impressive force
Species List
Soil Hill: Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Common Gull

27.12.2015
Another Sunday afternoon up. Saw Brian up there and there was a marked improvement in the numbers of birds, despite the wind still being incredbily strong. The highlight was an impressive number of Fieldfare flying over the hill, around 40 birds in total, which is the largest flock I have seen up there.
Species List
Soil Hill: Goldfinch, Lapwing, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Meadow Pipit, Fieldfare, Common Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Feral Pigeon,

29.12.2015
A last trip to Soil Hill before storm Frank hit. Sadly not a single bird on the top and a general shortage of birds within my recording area too.
Species List
Soil Hill: Magpie, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon, Common Gull,

Bolton Abbey

Today was actually sunny for once, and we decided to go for a family walk along the river at Bolton Abbey. I can't say I was expecting a great number of bird species, but there were a few nice things to be getting along with.

On the walk up there was a smart male Goosander fishing close to the shore. I got the camera ready but a couple walking on the beach spooked it and it swam to the far bank. On the walk back there were a number of nice things to be getting along with. A smart Male Mandarin was grazing with mallards along the riverbank. There was also a Common Buzzard soaring, presumably enjoying the fact that it was not hunkered down with the rain. And finally there was a smart Little Grebe fishing near the road bridge. This is the first time I have seen this species here, and a patch tick is always nice.

Species List

Bolton Abbey: House Sparrow, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Grey Wagtail, Goosander, Mallard, Jackdaw, Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Grey Heron, Common Buzzard, Mandarin, Little Grebe, Pied Wagtail, Nuthatch, Redwing,