Soil Hill

Well today my greatest birding dream came to pass; a Soil Hill Yellow-browed Warbler!

From first light I found myself doing VizMig from my usual vantage point near the bottom of the North Slope. It was quite slow but the conditions were bright with a gentle SSE breeze, and there was a slow trickle of birds to keep the interest, despite the lack of serious numbers in what seemed like promising conditions.

At 08:05 I caught a couple of calls in the North Slope Tree-Line which I thought sounded like Yellow-browed Warbler. So certain was I of what I heard that I felt my hands shaking at the prospect of finding this species on my patch. I tried looking for the source of the call I had heard but my search found nothing except the species I had noticed earlier in the morning; Chiffchaffs, Blue Tit & a flock of Goldfinch of various ages, so I dismissed the calls I thought I had heard as an odd variation from one of the species above.

Then, at 08:20 I heard the call again and from my location I could see a Chiffchaff emerge from the bushes in pursuit of a smaller bird. The smaller bird was chased into an area of nettles and scrub away from the main Tree-Line, and I set off in pursuit. I was now confident that I had a Yellow-browed Warbler on my hands but as I walked down towards the vegetation where the bird had landed, it flew out and returned to the Tree-Line. On its flight back I managed to rattle off a few quick photos, which, although poor, showed the two wing bars and bright supercilium confirming the identification as Yellow-browed Warbler.

Once it had returned to the North Slope Tree-Line the bird became elusive and was difficult to track. For the first time I was able to locate it, the bird was feeding on the near edge of the Tree-Line and showing reasonably well, but was always mobile and once lost it could take some time to relocate. As the morning wore on, it spent more time on the far side of the North Slope Tree-Line where viewing was far more difficult. Despite occasionally disappearing for up to half an hour at a time, it would still show nicely at times, feeding in the mid-story and at the top of the bushes.

Strangely the bird was very quiet, only calling on its own accord once, otherwise calling only when receiving harassment from one of the three Chiffchaffs in the same area. It kept its own company, and despite the presence of a small tit-flock that would circulate the bottom of the North Slope area, it did not join them. Despite trying, I was not able to get an audio recording due to this infrequency of calls.

In total, I spent about two hours with the bird, although it was missing for at least half of this time. No other birders came to view the bird while I was with it, although I know of a few others who visited during the afternoon, finding it still in the same area.

This was the species I had most wanted to find on Soil Hill, but no matter how I imagined it, I still could not quite believe that it actually happened.

-Yellow-browed Warbler

Species List:

Soil Hill: Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mallard, Goosander, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Yellow-browed Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting,

Soil Hill

   With the weather having been east for the best part of a week, it has been tough going in often murky and foggy conditions where motivation for birding has been hard to come by. But todays switch to northwesterly brought some much-needed optimism that some reasonable VizMig might be on the agenda for the day. Alas not, as when daylight broke it was with the same murk and gloom that I had become accustomed to over the last week.

  Still at 07:30 it had cleared enough for me to make my move up to Soil Hill, in the hope that at least some birds would be migrating. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no movement to speak of, the only species seemingly on the move in any real capacity being Common Snipe, an impressive 24 passing through or dropping in over the morning, including a flock of 16. A stomp around the JS Marsh corner also booted out my first Jack Snipe of the autumn, although I was too sluggish on the draw to get any photos.

  The morning continued to brighten up and at 09:10 I had my first notable bird of the morning with an immature Marsh Harrier heading southeast. From where I was it did not look like it entered Calderdale airspace but it was frustratingly close to the border if not. Still, from a Soil Hill perspective, it was a much-wanted yeartick for the site, and from a Halifax perspective hopefully not the last of the year!

  But the morning really peaked when at 09:40 I noticed a Soil Hill patch tick of Great Egret flying north up the Ogden valley. It continued on its way north the whole time I was watching it, until it was a white speck somewhere towards Keighley. This is a species I have long hoped to have on Soil Hill. Even though their numbers have increased so dramatically, it is still a rare bird in Halifax and my memory goes back to when I was a child and they were rare nationally. A great addition to my Soil Hill list, number 127. 

-Great Egret

-Marsh Harrier

-Common Snipe

Species List:

Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard, Goosander, Common Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, European Golden Plover, Jack Snipe, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Egret, Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, Common Chiffchaff, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, European Robin, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting, 

Soil Hill

   An enjoyable few hours on Soil Hill this morning, with what was forecast to be the only good passage morning of the week, with easterlies until the weekend. Not masses of movement, but a few skeins of Pink-footed Geese kept things entertaining with five flocks heading SE between 07:50 and 08:30, and then two more flocks going back NW for some reason between 09:30 and 10:00. In total counted from photos 413 birds SE and 185 birds NW. In tandem with one of these flocks was a group of three Wigeon which is a full patch tick for me, putting me now on 126 for the Hill. This is a species I have been after for some time, but more expected a rouge individual on the pond rather than a flyby, I was thrilled with these!

  Other movement was more limited, with 195 Meadow Pipits and 55 Swallows making up the bulk of numbers. It was a Soil Hill record morning for me way Jays today, with eight heading NE, two heading SW and three heading SE, this latter group also dropping into the North Slope Tree-Line for a short while. Pretty steady with grounded birds. A Wheatear was the only migrant of note, with four Chiffchaff and a Whitethroat also present. Two Bullfinch were only my second here this year. 

-Wigeon

-Wigeon & Pink-footed Geese

-Jay

Species List:
Soil Hill: Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Canada Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Goosander, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Jay, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, Western House Martin, Common Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Northern Wheatear, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting, 

Soil Hill

  A delightful day up on Soil Hill. Although I had a few hours bush-bashing this morning, the highlight of the day came during an afternoon visit when at 14:35 an Osprey flew over high southwest, my second here this year, always a brilliant bird to see.

  During the morning there was very little in the way of VizMig but a Yellow Wagtail flew south calling which is my second of the autumn here, and a Tree Pipit went south, which given the forecast could be my last of the autumn after a fantastic August for this species. Two Snipe also flew west, a species I always enjoy seeing on VizMig and is a highlight of early to mid-September when their migration picks up.

  The bushes this morning were quite productive with a few grounded migrants. The highlight were two Sedge Warblers, which were also joined by a Grasshopper Warbler, three Chiffchaff and three Whitethroat. In the reservoir field there were two Wheatears this morning, and during the afternoon three Wheatears flew high southwest, which may have been the same birds

-Osprey

-Sedge Warbler

Species List:
Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Grey Partridge, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Northern Lapwing, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Osprey, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Barn Swallow, Western House Martin, Common Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Northern Wheatear, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Western Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Tree Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting,