Soil Hill

   Something a bit different to post about. The morning on Soil Hill was good, with 1116 Woodpigeon flying south between first light and 10:30, along with 14 Swallows and 2 House Martins, my latest here. Otherwise, there was a single skein of Pink-footed Geese. A very enjoyable but cold morning!

  After dark, thanks to a tip-off from my brother, I returned to Soil Hill to get a better view of the apparent Aurora event that was taking place. Although for the most part, you could not see anything with the naked eye, it improved significantly through the camera with the sky appearing in shades of green and pink. It died down a little around 08:30 so I headed down but apparently, I should have persevered as it peaked again just after midnight and was more spectacular then. 

-Northern Lights

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

Rounday Park twitching Red-necked Grebe

   I was away from home for a week, and on the first day of my absence a Red-necked Grebe was found on Waterloo Lake in Roundhay Park, Leeds. This is a bird I have only seen in the UK on a seawatch, and so even though my twitching days are pretty much behind me, I knew that this bird would have tempted me had I been in the UK when it was found. Alas, I was not and so I forgot about it. But as my return date drew nearer, and the bird remained in situ, it began to garner more of my attention until I finally got back.

  Once I got home early afternoon I immediately grabbed my optics and headed over to see the bird. The bird had already been reported in the morning and I was certain it would still be present during the afternoon. It did not take long to locate, and spent the next hour showing very nicely close to the footpath around the lake. The light conditions were challenging with quite a lot of glare on the surface for photos, and at times even making it a challenge to pick out the bird when it emerged from diving.

  Given how poor my last views of this species were in the UK, this was at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. A fantastic bird to see!

  On my drive back, since I already had the car out, I decided to call in at Jay House Lane to pick up Tree Sparrow for my Halifax year list. Having already dipped them twice this year, I wanted to get them seen. So I was extremely relieved when I rocked up to see a bird on the feeders there. It only had one eye which was a bit off, but otherwise it was good to get them seen. 

-Red-necked Grebe

-Tree Pipit

Species List:
Roundhay Park: Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mandarin Duck, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Red-necked Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Eurasian Jay, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, European Robin,
Jay House Lane: Common Wood Pigeon, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Coal Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Common Blackbird, European Robin, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow,