Soil Hill; Isolation week 14

As July begins the feeling of autumnal bird migration gets stronger and stronger, especially due to the weeks weather which has ranged from drizzle to gales and torrential downpours. At times its been a struggle to motive myself to get out and go birding such has been the unpleasantness of the conditions.

There have been days when the weather has put me off a Soil Hill visit all together, but overall the week has been fairly productive for the Hill. Not least because of a cracking patch tick on the 02^nd July when I finally got a taste of the recent Crossbill action that has been ongoing throughout the country. A noisy flock of roughly 20 individuals flew over Taylor Lane towards Ogden, presumably heading for the sites pine plantations. At the same time there were also two Siskins, heading in the same direction. But the real highlight of the week was on the 01^st July when I finally got to see the Sedge Warbler young, with three fully fledged chicks still being attended to by the adults. It was a very proud moment for me, having been following these birds since the first arrived in early May. These records aside, a fresh clutch of Moorhens is nice and hopefully they will fare better than those that have gone before. A few more Whitethroat fledglings have started to appear and the male Blackcap continues to sing in the North Slope Treeline.

Whiteholme Reservoir has also been a destination of choice this week, fuelled by optimism after a swathe of inland wader records across the north of England. On the 29^th there were four Dunlin present in truly awful conditions, as well as single Ringed Plover and the usual resident wader species. Sadly on subsequent visits only these resident species were present, but on the 01^st July there was a cracking Hobby hunting over the reservoir during an impressive Swift passage. Sadly my camera was fogged from the rain and the bird had moved on before I was able to get it clean. A couple of fresh juvenile wheatears was also nice.

Fly Flatts has also been on the agenda with a couple of short visits during the week. There was also a Hobby here on the 29^th blasting across the road and down the bank towards the reservoir. Windy conditions have made scoping from the road difficult but I still managed to pick out the resident pair of Ringed Plovers which is always nice.

And finally, I also made a stop at Ogden to see what was around. Both Little and Great Crested Grebes were on the reservoir and there were a few Siskins in the woods but overall it was fairly quiet, not helped by the large number of visitors to the site. 

-Dunlin

-Sedge Warbler

-Little Owl

-Red Crossbill

Species List:

Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard, Red-legged Partridge, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Western Barn Owl, Little Owl, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Barn Swallow, Willow Warbler, Eurasian Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, European Stonechat, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, Red Crossbill, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin, Common Reed Bunting, Western Roe Deer, European Rabbit, Common Shrew,

Whiteholme Reservoir: Canada Goose, Mallard, Feral Pigeon, Common Swift, Northern Lapwing, Common Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Eurasian Hobby, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, Sand Martin, Eurasian Wren, Northern Wheatear, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Siskin, Common Reed Bunting,

Fly Flatts: Canada Goose, Mallard, Common Swift, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Northern Lapwing, Common Ringed Plover, Common Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Eurasian Hobby, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Common Reed Bunting,

Ogden Water LNR: Canada Goose, Mallard, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Swift, Black-headed Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Eurasian Magpie, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Willow Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit, Eurasian Blackcap, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin,