Mixenden Reservoir twitching Whooper Swan

 Today was Whooper Swan day in Calderdale, and across the entire north of England it seemed. I had already done a round on Soil Hill mid-morning and found nothing of particular note, with no apparent migration on display. Having just returned to the house, I got ACs message about a flock of Whoopers coming north from Shibden. From the bedroom window I managed to pick them up, before jumping in the car, without my phone, and racing up to Ned Hill Track to try and intercept them.

Once at Ned Hill Track I failed to locate the birds, and after a 10-minute scan I assumed they had gone up the other side of the hill and returned home. No sooner had I arrived home than the phone went off again. Once again it was AC reporting another flock of Whoopers coming north. Once again I picked them up from the window, before racing down to the car and back up to the Ned Hill Track. Once again they failed to arrive, but a follow-up message from AC suggested they may have landed on Mixenden. I had a quick look down, and yep, there did indeed appear to be some swans, although hugging the near shore and so primarily out of sight.

Once at the reservoir it was clear why I hadn’t picked up any swans from Ned Hill Track, as both flocks had clearly dropped off here. In total I counted 111 in the field, but checking photos it does appear to be 112. After a short while watching them I returned to the car, ready for setting off back, when another message from AC came through, warning of a third flock. Expecting them to drop in, I headed back to the reservoir, only to see them through the houses, passing the hill on the other side. Fortunately, this latest flock then looped back round, past Soil Hill before dropping down onto Ogden. An excellent Whooper Swan day 2023!

And there was another nice bonus on Mixenden Reservoir, with a smart drake Common Scoter. It kept mostly to the far end, nearly always facing away in strong wind, but certainly an unexpected addition to the visit. And then, just as I was wrapping up, a Red Kite drifted over heading south. A brilliant day birding in Halifax! 

-Whooper Swans

-Common Scoter

-Red Kite

Species List:
Mixenden Reservoir: Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Whooper Swan, Mallard, Common Scoter, Common Wood Pigeon, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Red Kite, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Common Chiffchaff, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Common Chaffinch, European Goldfinch, 

Fly Flatts twitching Pale-bellied Brent Goose

  I had just reached the bottom of the North Slope on my walk around Soil Hill in the morning when the message came through that Brian Sumner had found three Brent Geese on Fly Flatts. Having never seen one in West Yorkshire, and being only the second ever for Halifax, I cut short my walk and made tracks back home to collect the car.

  On the drive over Andy Cockcroft messaged through that the birds were still present and were Pale-bellied, the subspecies which I have seen least of. Fortunately, we arrived not long after, to find the birds still present. They were on the far side of the reservoir from the road, grazing on the bank. After a short while they entered the water and started swimming around, before returning to the bank for some more grazing and a nap.

  Was good to see a few local birders present, also twitching the geese. There was not a great deal else around on the reservoirs but was good to have my first visit up to the moors with singing Skylark and Curlew both abundant, similar to Soil Hill.

  Great birds to see in Halifax, and a cracking find by BS.

-Pale-bellied Brent Goose

Species List:
Fly Flatts: Greylag Goose, Pale-bellied Brent Goose, Canada Goose, Mallard, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Skylark, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit,