Thursday 30th Nov

Overcast, Strong & Blustery S
WOMBWELL GARDEN - Nothing of interest on the bird front from here, which was probably down to the very strong winds. Nevertheless i did manage a few pics of some other stuff ;


Agonopterix alstromeriana


Lesser Celandine


Cherry Galls


Leaves ( self explanatory really )

CORTONWOOD - Cormorant 1 N, Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 2, Tufted Duck 20, Pochard 7, Goosander 7, Sparrowhawk 1, Kestrel 1, Grey Wagtail 1, Song Thrush 1 singing, Tree Sparrow 16, Yellowhammer 6.
Not a lot from my garden apart from : Cormorant 3 W, Starling circa 200, Greenfinch 4.

Wednesday 29th Nov

Sunny, Blustery S/SW
WOMBWELL GARDEN - Lapwing 18 E, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Nuthatch 1+, Jay 1, also good numbers of Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit & Goldcrest.
Mottled Umber 1, Scarce Umber 1 ;


Scarce Umber


Holly

Going back to yesterdays subject of unseasonal flowering plants, i was very surprised to find this Sedum species still in flower ;





NETHER HAUGH GARDEN - Mute Swan 2 NW, Common Buzzard 3, Sparrowhawk 2, Kestrel 1 ;


Kestrel ( digi-scoped at distance )


Looking S prior to dusk

Copyright Dean Stables
Olympus C5000Z

Tuesday 28th Nov

Overcast, Rain, Sunny, Light S/SW
WOMBWELL GARDEN GALLERY :


Woodpigeon ( dark & distant )


Winter Moth

Feeling inspired by an article on the local news broadcast this morning regards the mild autumn & garden plants that are still flowering, i thought i`d photograph a couple ( you would`nt believe it was December at the end of this week ) ;


Honeysuckle


Hydrangea ( painted )


Garden Marigold

According to the officials, it`s been the mildest Yorkshire autumn for 300 years :)

Monday 27th Nov

Cloudy, Rain ( am ), Sunny Spells, Blustery S
WOMBWELL GARDEN - Great Spotted Woodpecker 2, Nuthatch 1, Jay 1

Candlesnuff Fungi


TRANS-PENNINE TRAIL ( Hemingfield > Brampton Bierlow ) - Willow Tit 1, Long-tailed Tit 2 small flocks. Also a couple of fungi sp ;

Coriolus versicolor




Jews Ear




MY GARDEN - Sparrowhawk 1 hunting Starlings, Starling circa 300

Copyright Dean Stables
Olympus C5000Z

Sunday 26th Nov

Sunny, Light S
Sorry folks, but another day of nothing different.
CORTONWOOD - Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 2, Tufted Duck 17, Pochard 7, Goosander 15
MY GARDEN - Cormorant 1 S, Goosander 3 S

Saturday 25th Nov

Overcast, Persistant Rain ( am, clearing pm ), Light SW
Wentworth Estate :


Mill Pond

I must have been bonkers going out during this mornings downpour, even more so to visit this site. About 10x more water area than my local patch at Cortonwood, and pound for pound not half as many sightings as the latter. The highlights were ;
Great Crested Grebe 19, Cormorant 1, Grey Heron 5, Sparrowhawk 1, Red-legged Partridge 5, Redwing 50+, Fieldfare 30+, Redpoll - a flock of circa 40 birds.
Due to both the dark skies and the constant rain, photography was`nt an option, but i did take this pic demonstrating how much rain had actually fallen overnight & this morning. This weir is usually dry, but today it was like a waterfall ;



Prior to this mornings outing, my garden produced 2 Goosander S & at least 10 Blackbirds left their roost along the back hedge.

Friday 24th Nov

Overcast, Rain, Light S
What an absolutely crappy day, with only the first 2 hours of daylight being dry and nothing at all of interest being seen, the usual suspects at the Wombwell garden did`nt even put in an appearance. However, i did evict a Grey Squirrel from the owl box there. My apologies to any squirrel lovers out there, but the Tawny`s have priority over these any day of the week.
I put the aforementioned ( home made ) nest box up in November 2002, and out of the 4 years it`s been up, the owls have only failed once and that was this year. Apparently, i`ve been told that it was a bad year for Tawny`s this year, due to the lack of rodent activity during the run up to the owls breeding season and therefore many birds did`nt reach full breeding condition. To be honest, i was glad to hear this, as i thought something awful had happened to my owls. I know they`re not exactly my owls, but i did put the nest box up in the first place, which as resulted in 9 successful fledglings, one of which can be seen below. This pic was taken in my pre-digital days of 2003 ;



I really hope there`s plenty of rodents about early 2007, as i`ve missed the presence of the nesting owls this year.

Thursday 23rd Nov

Sunny, ( Showers - pm ), Strong Blustery SW
WOMBWELL GARDEN - A single Red Admiral was my latest ever sighting of this species, but unfortunately i did`nt manage to get a shot, but i did get a few pics of some other stuff ;

Unidentified ( moth ) Caterpillars




7-spot Ladybird


Fungi sp


Winter Jasmine


CORTONWOOD - Cormorant 1 W, Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 2, Tufted Duck 20, Pochard 8, Goosander 21, Black-headed Gull 99.

MY GARDEN - Cormorant - a flock of 15 birds SW at 07.05, Mistle Thrush 1 singing, Wren 2.

Copyright Dean Stables
Olympus C5000Z

Wednesday 22nd Nov

Overcast, ( Rain pm ), Light SW
Not a lot from the Wombwell garden, other than the usual Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch & Jays were a flock of circa 100 Fieldfare S.
Also quite a few Large Yellow Underwing caterpillars were found overwintering amongst the fallen leaves ;



This weather is really confusing the flora, this Camellia should`nt be in flower till spring. Is it late or is it early :)





With nothing else on offer at this garden, i decided to make my way home along the canal from Hemingfield ;



Not a lot on offer here either, with the following counts made - Mallard 47, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Grey Wagtail 1, Wren 5, Robin 8, Song Thrush 1, Treecreeper 1, Bullfinch 2.
The most interesting sightings from my garden were Goosander 3 W & Lapwing 14 E.
Think i`ll try Cortonwood again tomorrow.

Copyright Dean Stables
Olympus C5000Z

Tuesday 21st Nov

Sunshine & Showers, Blustery W
Again, pretty much the same all round :
WOMBWELL GARDEN - Great Spotted Woodpecker 2, Nuthatch 1, Jay 2 ;





CORTONWOOD - Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 2, Tufted Duck 17, Pochard 8, Goosander 13, Willow Tit 3 ;





MY GARDEN - Cormorant 4 E, Goosander 3 W, Sparrowhawk 1, Starling circa 200

Copyright Dean Stables
Olympus C5000Z

Monday 20th Nov

Sunny, Showers, Blustery W/SW
Out of the 3 gardens ( including my own ) i`ve been in today, only one produced some decent sightings. And that was the Nether Haugh garden, and my timing could`nt have been better. I was walking up the driveway when i heard a calling falcon and heading low towards me was an adult Peregrine, it was that low you could clearly see the dark moustachial stripes with the naked eye. It then gained height and sped off SW towards the Wentworth Estate. A fantastic addition to my local area bird year list, which now stands at 110. The other sightings from this garden were - Sparrowhawk 1, Kestrel 1 & 2+ Goldcrest.

Regards yesterdays colour-ringed Mute Swan at Manvers Lake, it was rung as a 1 year old female on 18th February 2002 at Fairburn Ings, West Yorkshire.

Sunday 19th Nov

Frost, Sunny, Light S/SW
I decided against Cortonwood in favour of Manvers Lake this morning and i`m really glad i did. On my way to Manvers, i bumped into the lady who looks after the wildlife garden at my eldest daughters school and she told me that she had seen a drake Mandarin on one of the dykes at nearby West Melton. As this was only about 10 minutes away i thought i`d go and see for myself, and once there it did`nt take me long to locate it. Although it showed really well, it appeared very wary, always swimming away from me. This wariness combined with it being unringed suggested to me that it was a wandering feral bird and not an escaped one. Good enough to make it onto my local area bird year list ( 109 ).
After watching the bird for a good 10 minutes, i decided to head for my intended destination of Manvers Lake. Not a great deal here, but after the seeing the Mandarin, i was`nt all that disappointed. The highlights were ;
Great Crested Grebe 4, Mute Swan 6 ( including a colour-ringed bird - Red SOJ ), Teal 1, Tufted Duck 8, Pochard 13, Goldeneye 1 drk, Ruddy Duck 2.





On the way home i found a late flowering Feverfew, of the double variety ;



With nothing happening at home this afternoon, i grabbed my video camera and set off back to West Melton to see if the Mandarin was still around, it sure was and i got some decent footage of it. The problem with video is that on the computer the image is nowhere as good as it is when it`s played back on the television. So here`s my apologies for a crappy video grab ( still ) of the bird ;

Cleethorpes 18th Nov

Sunny, Moderate SW



It`s been donkey`s years since i last visited this part of the coast, and to be honest it`s one of those places that never did anything for me, that is until today.
I only wish i`d taken my scope along as there were quite a few decent birds about and they were`nt at all distant. I`m not saying i was guaranteed to get some great shots but it would`nt have cost anything to try. I really am kicking myself, because the majority of the birds were within 50 metres of the Leisure Centre car park, which included ;

Brent Geese, Shelduck, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwits & Turnstones.
The only bird picture i managed to get was of this Carrion Crow ;



Now being aware of this, i think that when my 2 daughters take their ponies for a ride on the beach, i will tag along and definately take the scope with me.

Friday 17th Nov

Cloudy, Heavy Showers, Light S/SW
I did`nt leave the area of the house/garden today ( well, apart from doing the weekly shopping that is ). And what have i got to offer, not a lot really apart from :
Cormorant 11 W ( inc a group of 10 birds ), Grey Heron 1 E, Goosander 1 W, Sparrowhawk 2 over, Redwing/Fieldfare - a mixed flock of around 100 birds S.

Busy day tomorrow ( Sat ), firstly, we`re off to Cleethorpes in search of a beach that we`ve been told about, that allows access for horses/ponies. My 2 daughters want to ride their ponies on the beach and we`ve promised them that we`ll try and find it for future use.
Secondly, tomorrow evening is the Pony Club Presentation. Not sure what my 2 are due to be awarded with, but i hope it`ll be something.
Hoping to squeeze a visit to Cortonwood in between these two excursions, which will probably be around mid/late afternoon. Hope something decent is to be found :)

Thursday 16th Nov

Cloudy, Light S/SW
The first port of call today was to the Wombwell garden, where the highlights were ;
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Woodpigeon circa 1000 N, Siskin 1
No moths were found today, so here`s more fungi ;


?


?


Fly Agaric ( will these ever stop popping up )

I finished the morning off at Cortonwood. I hope my perseverance will pay off one day and that i will find something decent/special here. Till that day arrives i`ll have to put up with the following ;
Cormorant 1 N, Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 2, Tufted Duck 14, Pochard 8, Goosander 24, Snipe 1, Meadow Pipit 4, Bullfinch 1, Reed Bunting 1.
Some of the ( ornamental ) trees on the North side of the pit-top look resplendant in their autumnal finery ( by heck!!, that`s a bit descriptive for me ) ;





Finally, the afternoon at home produced not too many highlights : Cormorant 2 N, Goosander 1 SW, Kestrel 1 S, Wren 2.

Copyright Dean Stables
Olympus C5000Z

Wednesday 15th Nov

Cloudy, ( early rain ), Light S
9 Cormorant west at 07.20 was the only notable sighting from my garden today.
The Wombwell garden produced the usual Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch & Jay + my 2nd Mottled Umber of the year ;


Mottled Umber

I then decided to pay a visit to nearby Elsecar Reservoir, where there was nothing of interest other than 4 Great Crested Grebe & 4 Pochard.
Then a stroll round the small wood at the Western end of the resr produced 1 Willow Tit, 2 Nuthatch, 1 Treecreeper & a couple more fungi species ;




Fomes fomentarius ?


Coprinus sp

Copyright Dean Stables
Olympus C5000Z

Tuesday 14th Nov

Cloudy, Sunny Spells, Light SW
The day got off to a decent start when 8 Goosander flew W over my garden at 07.05, shortly followed by a group of 9 Cormorant also heading W at 07.10. A flock of circa 700 Golden Plover over to the N at 07.25 were obviously birds from the Old Moor RSPB. The morning`s watch finished off with a Sparrowhawk heading NE at 07.30.
A visit to the Wombwell garden produced pretty much the same as usual, with the highlights being ;
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Fieldfare 11 S, Jay 1+
A check of the security lights produced just 1 moth, Angle Shades ( below ) ;





Then onto Cortonwood where the birds were again much the same as on Sunday ;
Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 2, Tufted Duck 17, Pochard 8, Goosander 24, Kingfisher 1, Skylark 1, Meadow Pipit 2, Willow Tit 1, Tree Sparrow - several heard, Bullfinch 1.
While i was there i had a look around the Southern side of the pit-top, where i found several Fungi species including at least a dozen Fly Agarics ( never seen these so late in the year ) ;

?


Agaric sp


Fly agarics






Copyright Dean Stables
Olympus C5000Z + Virtual Painter

Wombwell Garden 13th Nov

Cloudy, Sunny Spells, Strong Gusty W
Not a lot from here this morning, with a Great Spotted Woodpecker & 2 Treecreeper being the only highlights.
And the only pic taken was of this small clump of Honey Fungus ;



I put some seed out on a tree stump and made a make shift bird-bath out of an old dustbin lid in the hope of attracting some of the woodland birds close enough to be able to get some digi-scoped pics ( why did`nt i think of doing this before ). Nothing came down, but it`s early days yet. Just have to give it time, once the birds know there`s food about they should turn up regularly ( in theory ).

Sunday 12th Nov

Cloudy, Light NW
The first couple of hours of daylight around my garden produced my 70th Garden Bird of the year when a Bullfinch flew over calling, heading W at 08.30. The only other notable species was a single Redwing that landed briefly on the back hedge.
An hour around my local patch at Cortonwood produced the following highlights ;
Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 2, Tufted Duck 17, Pochard 5, Goosander 21, Tree Sparrow 10, Bullfinch 3.
Decided to take my scope along today, and managed a couple of digi-scoped shots ;


Grey Heron


Pochard - female ( quite pleased with this one )

Then got back home just in time to see a group of 8 Goosander over, heading E. This afternoon something spooked the local Starlings into gathering together and i estimated the flock to be around 400 birds.

Copyright Dean Stables

Friday 10th Nov

Cloudy, Light>Moderate S
Pretty much the same all round really. The day started off with 9 Cormorant W & a single Fieldfare NW over my garden. Then onto the Wombwell garden where the usual Great Spotted Woodpecker & Nuthatch were seen, along with my biggest Fieldfare flock of the autumn so far with circa 200 W at 10.15.
Cortonwood was the next stop, with the following of note recorded ;
Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 2, Tufted Duck 17, Pochard 4, Goosander 13, Kingfisher 1, Fieldfare circa 60 W, Willow Tit 1, Tree Sparrow 10+, Bullfinch.
Also a Dog Rose still in Flower ;



Back home for the afternoon where i recorded another 2 Cormorant heading W.

Thursday 9th Nov

Cold, Sunny, Light NW
The birding started before light this morning, when a small passage of Blackbirds could be heard ( contact calls ) overhead at 06.00. Nothing else to report other than a Sparrowhawk NE and 2 Fieldfare NW.
A visit to the Wombwell garden produced the usual ; Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Nuthatch 2, Jay 1 and despite the cold overnight temp a Winter Moth was found next to the security lights. Unfortunately not a year tick as i saw this species back in January ;


Winter Moth

Wednesday 8th Nov

Cloudy, Heavy Showers, Light W/SW



Again not a lot observed from the garden this morning, the highlights being ;
Cormorant 16 S including a group of 13 birds at 07.10, Redwing 27 SW.
The rain cleared up just before midday, so i paid a visit to the Cortonwood area. Not much different to my last visit here on Sunday, with the following noted ;
Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 2, Tufted Duck 12, Pochard 5, Goosander 8, Kingfisher 1 & several Tree Sparrow.
Sightings back at home during the afternoon were - Cormorant 1 NE & circa 300 Starling.

Tuesday 7th Nov

Frost, Sunny, Light SW

My garden did`nt produce anything interesting other than a group of 6 Cormorant NE at 08.50.
An hour at the Nether Haugh garden this morning produced slightly more sightings with the highlights being ;
Sparrowhawk 1, Kestrel 1, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Coal Tit 1+, Willow Tit 1, Tree Sparrow 3.
Red Admiral 1
Took my scope along on the off chance of a few digiscoped pics, but only 1 bird would pose long enough to get some sort of shot ;


Mistle Thrush

Monday 6th Nov

Sunny, Light Variable Wind ;

The best of the birds from my garden were 7 Goosander that flew over SW at 06.55.
An hour at the Wombwell garden saw just the usual suspects with at least 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Grey Wagtail landed briefly on the house roof and at least 1 calling Nuthatch.
No moths or butterflies to report, so here`s a couple of pics of some other stuff ;


Fungi sp


Autumn colour ( Japanese Maple )

I then had a walk along the Trans-Pennine Trail from Hemingfield > Brampton Bierlow where the only highlights were 3 Bullfinch and 4 late Common Darters around Morrisons Pond at Cortonwood.

Update - just like to say thanks to Tim from Andover for identifying the Pyralid moth from 16th Aug 06 as Calamotropha paludella and the caterpillar from 8th Aug 06 as being Bright-line Brown-eye. Cheers Tim :)

Sunday 5th Nov

Cloudy, Blustery W

It started off promising around my garden but it quickly went downhill after a couple of hours. A Grey Heron was seen flying low over both mine & the neighbouring gardens, obviously checking out the garden ponds before heading off E. A male Sparrowhawk spent around 10 minutes perched in one of the back tree`s but was too obscured by leaves to get a pic. A male Kestrel shot through low, panicking the local Collared Doves.
Had a walk to my local patch at Cortonwood where it was nice to see the first returning Pochard ( 4 ) and Goosander ( 10 ) to the site. Other highlights were ;
Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 2, Tufted Duck 26, Meadow Pipit 2, Willow Tit 1
Feathered Thorn - 1 found in the bus shelter by the Pit Lane was successfully potted up and photographed back at home, before being turned into a painting ;

New Toy

Purchased a great bit of kit ( software ) the other day called Virtual Painter that enables you to convert your photo`s to any one of 16 painting styles. I already have 2 programmes on some of my other software but neither give you the same results as Virtual Painter. One of my favourite mediums is Gouache, judge for yourselves ;









Will have to get out tomorrow and see what other subjects look like using this style :)

PS - The version i bought is called " classic " at a cost of £18 and is only available as a download.

The Garden 3rd Nov

Hard Frost, Sunny, Light Variable Wind



A bit of a shock to the system this morning, with the garden being white over, not surprising with the temp at -2 degrees C.
Again, not a lot to report with the highlights being ;
Cormorant 1 NE, Redwing circa 100 NW & at least 4 Long-tailed Tits foraging around the back hedge.


Misty Moon at 16.30

If it carry`s on being this cold, i`ll have to stock up on fat balls, seed, raisins & apples :)

Thursday 2nd Nov

Sunny, Light N
At last, got Fieldfare onto my garden bird year list ( now at 69 ) this morning with 42 birds over, heading W. Not a lot else other than circa 150 Starling & a Peacock butterfly this afternoon.
Had a short walk along the Trans-Pennine Trail at mid-day, where the highlight was 2 late Common Darters.

Wednesday 1st Nov

Sunny, Light ( but very cold ) N
Not a great deal to report today. The best from my garden were 3 Cormorant E & 24 Lapwing W, and the best from the Wombwell garden were 2 Red Admiral.

Still no Fieldfare`s :)