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!
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,
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