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,