Ladybower Reservoir and Orgreave Lakes

I bought myself a new camera during exam period and so these were my first outings with it. I had football on Wednesday afternoon so could not go on any extravagant trips. I invited my parents down and we headed off for a walk in the peaks around Ladybower. The light was awful so its not really a true test of the camera, but there were also no birds which did not help. The best of it was a very obliging robin around the cafe.

-Robin

The next day I had football again so could not travel far. I headed to Orgreave where the light continued to be poor but there was a marked increase in the number of birds. Highlights were a flock of Seven Redpoll, a Jay and the usual good numbers of wildfowl. A pair of Talon twisting Kestrels was also pretty special. I took plenty of photos but with the light being so poor none of them are really worth including.

-Graylag Geese

The results are promising though and I look forward to taking it out for a spin on longer trips in better conditions.

Species List:

Ladybower Reservoir: Goldcrest, Robin, Mallard, Pheasant, Common Buzzard, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Blue Tit, 

Orgreave Lakes: Robin, Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Starling, Black-headed Gull, Common Teal, Lesser Redpoll, Jay, Gadwall, Coot, Graylag Goose, Pied Wagtail, Canada Goose, Goosander, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Skylark, Kestrel, Wigeon, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Herring Gull, Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Mallard, 

Forge Dam

As part of a course competition my partner and I headed to the peaks to film robins for our documentary. As a result we spent a lovely morning in the peaks under a stunning sunrise. We were treated to some nice birds, including stunning views of a Jay, a Dipper flew through and Great-Spotted Woodpecker. 

we were also treated to great views of a Robin that we were able to get good film of singing, which we can use for our project. I reckoned we would be able to get it feeding out our hands but there were soon too many people and the bird moved off.

-Robin

Species List: Grey Wagtail, Jay, Pheasant, Coot, Mallard, Black-Headed Gull, Robin, Dipper, Great-Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Nuthatch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Magpie

Uni Week 11

All the talk these days seems to be about Christmas and our opinions on it, a sign that the first semester is slowing down and that soon we will all be going home.

Tuesday 
Its hard to believe but today I spotted a  Butterfly behind the school, my memory fails me as to which species it was, though more than likely small tortoiseshell. The weather was nice enough though it was bitterly cold. This is without doubt the latest I can ever recall seeing a butterfly

Thursday 
So wandering back from corp at 2.00 as standard for a Thursday morning, also standard is hearing midnight the robin singing behind the union. I still have not seen midnight, which is a bit of a disappointment since I have made him into a mini celeb around these parts but one can understand if he wants to stay out of the limelight

Friday 
Wandering down to the uni at 9.00 for lectures the lad I was with suddenly said 'Oh look, that's a nice bird'. I only spotted said bird when it came and landed on a pillar a matter of meters away. It was a Jay, and one of the finest views I can ever recall getting of one. It was much bolder than  any others I have encountered, sitting on the pillar next to a steady stream of students. It flew of after a few seconds, but flew up the road alongside the students, not away from them

Lake District

Since it was our last 'family wednesday' before I leave for university we decided to make it special and head up to the lake district. The weather was not as great as it could have been, a grey hazy day, but otherwise fair enough. We decided to start the day by walking up Aira force waterfall, a walk I can recall doing once. It was mainly woodland, and on the dead wood we found some pretty impressive fungal structures.

-Fungi

The rest of the walk passed without much wildlife in all honesty, with the exception of a nuthatch. I did however find a spider dangling about a meter below the branch it was attached it, which looked pretty special, but in the gloomy wood the light was too poor for photos and as such I had to use flash to really highlight the patterns on the spiders back.

-Spider (Garden?)

After that we moved on to Keswick to have lunch in the park/gardens there. During lunch we were accompanied by a number of garden birds. They were mainly sparrows, but there was also a curious, partially albino blackbird and a very aggressive juvenile robin that seemed to want a pick a fight with everything with wings. But it was quite bold so I was able to get some decent photos of it.

-Partially Albino Blackbird

-Juvenile Robin

After lunch we went out on the rowing boats as we always do. This time though we went straight over to the far side to see what was over there. There was nothing different in all honesty, a late family of ducklings and the usual groups of fishing mergansers. As we approached the mergansers they kept diving, but as came closer they dived again and when they reappeared they were right in front of us. It gave them something of start and they made off pretty quick.

-Red Breasted Mergansers

We also found one that was perched on a felled log, but it got up and swam away as we approached.

-Red Breasted Merganser

Yorkshire Dales Holiday Day 3

The Big Garden Birdwatch

Its that time of year again, and this year was a good year for the big garden birdwatch. Chilling from 10.07 to 11.07 with Andy Murry unfortunatly getting beat in the background, I was able to enjoy our birds. The only major downside was the weather; Cloudy, Too sunny, Rainy, Sleety, Dry, Calm, Windy, you name it we had it.

The Birds:
Blackbird: 3-we had four different individuals, two males, two females, one with a white patch on her wing, but sadly we only had three at a time in the garden
Blue Tit: 1
Coal Tit: 2-Something of a novalty, we don't get them often, and this week has been the first time ever we have had two at once
Dunnock: 2
Great Tit: 1
House Sparrow: 20
Robin: 1
Starling: 3
Woodpigeon: 2-This was unexpected to say the least, as we havent had one of these for some time, so to have two randomly pop in on the BGB day was a surprise, obviously after the limelight.

So we had a good representation of our garden birds, with the exception of collard doves, missing out on their chance of fame for the second year running. Our local sparrowhawk male flew overhead as well, but sadly your not allowed to count it.

Once more upon Soil Hill

Since I had to go over it anyway on the way back from Ogden, I intended to call in at soil hill, again, just for the fun of it. All things considered, I managed a grand total of 4 species, numbering maybe 9 individuals. As you can tell, it was another poor day upon t' hill.
The four species in question were;
Robin-Came across one on the way up, quite bold and got quite close to it
Carrion Crow-3 circling the hill upon arrival
Common Gull-One over the hill, south, and 3 flying up the Ogden valley, North
Meadow Pipit-Small speck, flying up and over the brow of the hill for a grand total of 1 second, before dipping down again

There were still some sheep on the hill though...

Ogden

Was at Ogden this morning to help with the Watch Group christmas party. As a result I spent very little time outside, but when I was I encountered one large tit flock, with blue and great tits, as well as one robin. On the reser there was also the usual assortment of Black headed, Common gulls and Mallards.

Other Garden Goings on

Besides the pond life and butterflies, there have been a number of other intresting things in the garden over the course of the hot spell. Most of them involve small insects that require some looking for, but one of the best is the juvenile robin that we have had around. On one occasion, it even came and landed on the window ledge for the feeders there, whilst I was sat next to the window, so I was less than 1 meter away from it.

-Juvenile Robin
Besides the robin, our annual snipe-fly appearance has begun, when hundreds of these flies can be found everywhere. That being said, before I have never taken a photo, so this time I decided that it should not remain that way any longer, so I snapped this one on the garage wall.

-Snipe Fly
Another insect I spotted whilst I was sat on the lawn was this click beetle. Not much to say about it really, but as i have said before, its one of my favourite beetles, so I have included these photos, inclding one showing it with its wings open.

-Click Beetle 
On the last night of sun, I saw a rather large zebra spider on the roof. By large I mean large for a Zebra spider, as it was still only about half a centimeter long. Either way, its something that i had wanted a photo of for a while, and only now had the oppertunity arisen. They are great to watch, as they hop around, and if you move they turn and stare right at you with their great big eyes. This one was no exception, only because it was a bit bigger, I was able to get some better photos.

-Zebra Spider