Halifax birding; updates from the week 26th - 31st July

Our time in Ecuador ended prematurely and with a more significant financial cost than we had anticipated thanks to all our equipment being stolen on a coach journey between cities. Consequently, we decided to return home to the UK and as such have spent the past week birding around local sites using older optics and the scope.

Whiteholme provided some birds this week, which was nice. A dapper adult Turnstone appeared on the 26^th July, and on the 28^th another flew over calling but unseen. Frustratingly, or perhaps not given my lack of camera, the bird on the 26^th July stayed probably only a minute in total before it left, the same as the bird the previous year.

Due to my optics not being up to scratch I avoided Soil Hill, as I did not want to be left frustrated by the birding. Once new bins arrived we started visiting again and found a juvenile Sedge Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler still lurking at the bottom of the North Slope on the 31^st July. There were also a few Willow Warbler around and 3 Grey Partridge on the same date.

We also visited a few other birds in the local area as they were new for Lia. A Black Redstart found near the Withens Head by DJS was a nice treat, and it showed well on the walls there on the 28^th July. And then on the 29^th BS had a Greenshank on Fly Flatts, which was a Halifax tick for me, long overdue but still nice to see, despite being very distant. 

-Turnstone

-Black Redstart

-Greenshank

Whiteholme Reservoir: Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Eurasian Teal, Common Swift, Common Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlin, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, European Stonechat, Northern Wheatear, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Linnet,
Fly Flatts: Barnacle Goose, Canada Goose, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Common Ringed Plover, Common Greenshank, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Kestrel, Northern Wheatear, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Reed Bunting,
Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard, Grey Partridge, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Barn Swallow, Willow Warbler, Eurasian Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting,