Yeadon Dam

We had a brief walk around yesterday on the way to visit my parents. It was very cold and as we were early it was pretty quiet. We felt a little bad that we hadn't brought any food for the birds as they were obviously looking at it. We got surrounded by Canada Geese and Mallards at one point all quacking furiously!


There were plenty of Black Headed Gulls on the water too.



We spotted some Tufted Ducks (or fishing ducks as my little one called them) diving under the water and watched them a while trying to spot where they would pop up next. They can certainly cover a lot of ground under the water.

Everything looked very bare but the red branches on these added colour to the landscape - I don't know what they are?


This is at the top end of the water near the airport runway.

As we walked round we saw Coots, a lone Moorhen strutting up and down, even more Gulls, a pair of Mute Swans, Crows, Magpies, and Pochards.

The Moorhen is just about visible but I was too busy trying to stop the little one from getting in mud at the same time!



Then as we were about to leave I was finally able to see a pair of birds that had been part of a group in the middle of the water (I didn't have binoculars with me), they came close enough so I could make out they were Goosander's - my best sighting of these birds. You can just about see them on these photos.



A great visit and it's always nice to visit a place that has so many memories for me.

Snowdrops

Spotted these just peaking out under the hedge in our garden last week.

Today they are almost flowering but I think the snow over the past couple of days has put them off!

Lots of gardens around here already have flowering snowdrops even in the garden next door, I wonder why mine are taking their time!

RSPB Garden Watch

I took part in the RSPB Garden Watch on Saturday, my second time taking part. Despite the neighbours cats hanging about I managed quite a few birds.

1 Blackbird
2 Blue Tits
2 Collard Doves
1 Dunnock
3 Goldfinch
1 Great Tit
9 House Sparrows
1 Long Tailed Tit
2 Magpies
1 Robin
5 Starlings
3 Woodpigeons

I discovered that the Woodpigeon now has a mate, they flew in together but were soon followed by a third who followed them about the gardens. The Long Tailed Tit didn't last long at all as the Blue Tit soon chased it off, it only appeared near the end of the hour so it was nice to get.

It was good to be able to just sit and watch for an hour with no distractions (my husband took the little one out while I did my hour). I saw more birds and their behaviour than I normally would. I also got a couple of additional birds to last year too.

Of course about 20 minutes later the garden was full - 3 Blackbirds, 8 Goldfinch, 2 Great tits, 6 Starlings, 2 Dunnocks, Collared Dove, Robin and a couple of Sparrows all at once - typical!

My results are submitted now and i'll be looking out for the results later on in the year.