Fairburn Ings

On Tuesday a much needed walk was had at Fairburn, It was a frosty morning but sunny and quite lovely.

We spent a quite a bit of time watching the birds on the feeders around the reserve. The water itself from the Pickup hide was quiet, we could see Herons and Cormorants in the distance in the trees though.

Reed Bunting

 Chaffinch

 Blue Tit

 Great Spotted Woodpecker

 Robin

 Greenfinch

 Long-tailed Tit

 Dunnock

Willow Tit

The highlight of the morning was watching a Water Rail fishing right in front of the Kingfisher screen (I believe it's still there now), all the fish have piled up in the water in front of the screen for some reason and it's perfect for the Rail.

There was a moment when a Kingfisher landed further down in the trees but it was straight off again, too quick for anything other than a very blurry photo with a blue dot in the middle!

A stop for tea and flapjack and onto Lin Dyke. A Heron was hiding in the reeds across the road from the car park.The cattle were very noisy this morning, I don't think i've ever heard so much noise from them.

We saw a several birds including Teal, Moorhens, Little Egret, Shelduck, Canada Geese and quite a few Blackbirds in the hedgerows.

We only went as far as the hide, which looked like it had been used for a party, cans of beer and vodka bottles had been thrown into the water :( who does that?! It was quiet out on the water here too.

Rodley Nature Reserve

I took a walk around Rodley just before Christmas, nice and flat and just far enough for me to walk without too much trouble. Plus I can now carry my camera and binoculars the same time.......progress!

It was cold and windy and raining by the time we left but as usual the rain isn't an issue.

Robins were everywhere and never seem to be too bothered by people.

On the water we saw Wigeon, Tufted Ducks, Black Headed Gulls, Herons, Mute Swans and Moorhen.Overhead were Cormorant and Canada Geese.

A Magpie tried to hide in the field..........nice try but not quite.......

In the managers garden the  Bullfinch were out in force, 4 males and a female, along with Chaffinch. Reed Bunting, Wren, Great and Blue Tits.

A nice cup of tea to warm up and I was done with walking for the day! It was so good to get out properly though.

Round and about

Progress is a little slow after a minor setback when I slipped and pulled some of the scar tissue, plus I somehow picked up a stinking cold, sneezing is not fun!

Still I am getting out some and took a short walk around the nearby park this morning. I've still not ventured out with the camera yet but took a few photos on the phone, which are not so great but the sun and mist was too beautiful to miss.

There were plenty of birds about, Black Headed Gulls and Mistle Thrushes on the pitch. The trees were full of Blackbirds, Blue & Great Tits, Collared Doves, Wood Pigeons, Starlings and House Sparrows. It's not my favourite park but it is good for the birds and I can see the boundary from my house so there's always something to spot.

Here are a couple of other photos from my phone of the frost we've had recently, coupled with the fog it's made for some lovely school runs!

And produced some stunning sunsets!

Luckily one of the 'perks' of this time off is that I get to garden watch quite often. In fact i'm pretty much on first name terms with the Squirrel and the Robin, they are around nearly all day every day. I've been able to take a few shots with my camera from the window and out in the garden.

Apart from when the rain has been heavy the garden activity is constant, the Goldcrest is still around along with Blue, Great, Coal and LT Tits, Starlings, Sparrows, Blackbirds, Dunnock, Wren, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Magpie, The skies are filled with Gulls, Crows, Thrush and number of Starling and Goldfinch that fly over has increased a great deal.

On Sunday morning I got the best views yet of the Red Kite that has been around the area for a while, right at the end of my road too. It was flying about pretty low with a flock of gulls. Of course I only had the cameraphone to hand but I just caught it as it was flying off. You can make out the shape if nothing else!

I've signed up this week for next years Patchwork Challenge so we'll see how that goes, motivation for getting out walking even if it doesn't produce a huge range of species, i'm going to enjoy it I think!