Oakwell Hall

I don't visit here enough despite it being fairly close by. This visit is early April, Easter Monday. Of course in April the trees are still mostly bare with a little growth just starting to show.

It's a haven for birds, we saw a Buzzard overhead and in the trees Greenfinch, Magpies, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins, Long Tailed Tits.....

The pondlife was fantastic and we spent quite a while watching the toads

Spotted the first Small Tortoiseshell butterfly of the year too.

Out & About

Here are a few photos from Yeadon Tarn, Oakwell Hall and a field!

At the tarn there were between 40-50 House Martins in the skies and flying over the water along with a few Swallows. These are the best shots I could get of them.

There were also huge flocks of Starlings flying about - most of them landing in some bushes at the top end of the tarn, which was already full of noise from the Starling already there. I've not seen so many here before.

Of course the usual Mallards, Coots, Moorhens and Canada Geese were there too. Most of the youngsters now where almost as big as the adults, it was only the plumage that set them apart. One of the Moorhens still had three tiny chicks that they were feeding. I noticed that a lot of Gulls are coming back inland now and there were Black Headed Gulls everywhere.

At Oakwell Hall it was pretty busy which scared off any birds apart from some Moorhens. We did see plenty of butterflies and dragonflies. They were mostly red and this is the best shot I got of them, I'm not sure on the id but maybe a Common Darter?

The ever present Speckled Wood

The field is locally known as Parkinsons field in Guiseley where I (and hoards of others) used to play and sledge as kids. It has now been left to go wild and I hadn't been in about twenty years.

A little work has been done recently on tidying it up - Parkinsons Field - I must admit I was quite shocked at just how wild it has become!

It's a nice little walk to get there.

It was full of flowers and butterflies, the only one that stayed still long enough was this Gatekeeper.

I'm not sure what will happen to this space now, but hopefully with a little looking after it will become a little haven amongst all the new houses that are being built around it.