Home

Raw Nook NR hits the WORLD stage…

I thought it was a joke when a good friend of mine Shaun the chairman of the Bradford Ornithological Group telephone to say Raw Nook Nature reserve is featured in a book that has just come out called Tales From Concrete Jungles (Urban birding around the World )by David Lindo.

Yes OK Shaun ‘Pull the other one’..But it was true.  It appears the author came up and looked around some of the birding sites in Bradford whilst researching his book and must have recognised the importance of our site, my sightings and website and featured Raw Nook NR in his book.

So sure enough Santa Claus brought me the book and it give me and I’m sure the rest of our group a real sense of pride and joy that our little site that is only 4 miles from the town hall clock in the centre of Bradford should be included in a book featuring urban wildlife sites from around the WORLD…

Shaun also added that he has emailed David Lindo to offer, sometime in the future a more in depth visit to Bradford, Raw Nook NR, Toad Holes beck and Caldene Fields…then I could really show him the excellent diverse wildlife that frequents our green oasis which surround our Concrete Jungle!

 

 

 

 

 

warbler26 homepage No Comments

Local Patch survives the floods…

With nearby areas like Elland under flood water following the Boxing day floods as the river Calder burst it’s banks I wondered what effect the deluge of water would have on our local patch?

Elland under water…

Thankfully very little flooding has occurred as the sluice gate and water courses at Raw Nook Nr and Toad Holes Beck held.  Only the ‘ Fisherman’s pond at the latter site has burst it’s banks but the excess water has drained into the beck.

IMG_0660

Water seeping out at Toad Holes Beck

IMG_0658

The Beck at Toad Holes still holding on…

 

 

 

 

warbler26 homepage No Comments

Mild winter bird watch…

I have been thinking has this mild winter period had any effects on the bird species in our recording area.  So today with the weather sunny with a fairly strong S/W wind and a temperature of 10c I decided to conduct a bird species count as well as to look for signs of how plant species were adapting. It wasn’t long before I saw at Caldene Fields a Meadow Buttercup still in flower on the 20th od December!!! when really the species should be dormant by October/November.

Then just inside Raw Nook NR I found a Red Campion in flower which like the Buttercup should have finished by October/November.  Further in the site the Honeysuckle I found to be bursting with new shoots..

IMG_0649  IMG_0650

Red Campion still in flower                                New shoots bursting through on Honeysuckle

A total 29 species bird species were recorded of which the Coot was the most interesting in that there are 4 at Toad Holes Beck at the moment but during a normal winter the birds leave the site and I believe over winter at nearby Harold Park lake. No Redwings, Fieldfares, Coal Tits or Greenfinches were noted but because the fields are so wet the site as attracted 9+ Pied wagtails.

IMG_0655

 

warbler26 Birds, homepage, Plant Species No Comments

Conservation work …

Our group the Low Moor and Oakenshaw Conservation group had a work day today in the sub zero temperatures of mid winter…well that what the weather should have been but as we know this winter has been VERY mild and the temperature today was actually 15c…..

20151219_101912_001-2

Pruning trees on the path to Toad holes Beck.

Whilst I do my share of the hard work I am also on wildlife duty…and I saw a flock of 27 Siskin and 2 Lesser redpoll feeding at Toad Holes Beck.  Also at the site were 2 male Song Thrushes both singing their hearts out in the warm S/W wind believing Spring was just around the corner…

warbler26 homepage No Comments

Visible migration comes to an end…

Visible migration from the watch point at Caldene Fields is over for this year. This morning’s watch with excellent visibility showed very little moving apart from Goldfinches and a few Starlings which came in from the N/E.  However, there was a bonus for the last day…

IMG_0629

A STUNNING PRE-DAWN…..

IMG_0640

The last few Starlings moving S/W over the watch point.

warbler26 Birds, homepage No Comments

Thrushes come out of the fog…

The weather was very bizarre this morning at the watch point at Caldene Fields, it had everything…dense fog, sunshine, mist and rain.

IMG_0618

Early morning fog and breaking sunshine…

But out of the fog came a small influx of thrushes coming in from the N/E and moving straight though to the S/W.  Some flew very low presumably because of the fog.  A total of 834 Fieldfare, 88 Redwing and 3 Song Thrushes were noted.

IMG_0625

Fieldfares moving S/W

 

warbler26 Birds, homepage No Comments

Fog proving to be a problem…

The dense fog and unseasonable high temperature for this time of the year are not conducive with watching visible migration. The last few days have been impossible with total blanket fog. However today I managed a 1 hour watch with visibility reducing due to fog from around 3 miles to half a mile and there was no need for gloves with a temperature of 9c ! .  The only birds of interest were a single party of 14 Siskin that came from the N and moved S.

warbler26 homepage No Comments
error: Content is protected !!