IT

Green Sandpipers, Newton Lake

Sparrowhawk, Risley Moss

Buzzard, Rixton landfill site

Buzzard

Main pool off Moat Lane, Rixton

Second Moat Lane pool

View from hillside above Earby, West Yorkshire

Earby, looking towards Skipton

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IT - IRRITATING TECHNOLOGY! I've spent quite a bit of time recently buggering about with the blog, trying to get the images to show larger. I figured out how to change the HTML code to make the columns wider but found that the only way to make the photographs fit the new column width was to stretch them with unpleasant results (not that the photos were award winning anyway!). I decided to try PhotoBucket, and immediately got an annoying piece of malware called Personal Antivirus on my computer. Doubly annoying - it was the company laptop!

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I ran the McAfee anti-virus software and it found nothing. I then realised the software was 18 months old! Lovely. Upon getting into work yesterday I found that the company had migrated to a different anti-virus software about 18 months ago, however I was on the road at the time and knew nothing about this. I finally got some new software and got rid of Personal AV and around 13 other viruses/spyware etc which had embedded on the machine.

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Anyway back to birding. Or lack of. To be honest I am in completely can't be arsed mode at the moment - I wander around with Bill for the sake of being outside but don't take birding seriously. So consequently not much in the way of excitement to report.

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At HGF the Coot flock is now up to 80+ with the other species more or less the same. We have been down to a single juvenile Black-necked Grebe for several days - this one went walk about for a day or so at the weekend but is now back. Friday and Saturday a couple of juvenile Ruddy Ducks made a change and this morning around 85 Swallows were feeding over the newly dropped barley field nr Midhops.

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In the garden the sole interesting sighting was a male Sparrowhawk who visited a couple of times on Saturday. When we first moved down here, a female Sparrowhawk was a regular visitor. I reckon I saw her in the garden around 10 times each month on average and in the first year that we lived here she took 13 Collared Doves that I know of plus a few other birds. While she visited the garden regularly, I never saw a male. Unfortunately she disappeared during winter 2007/08 and while a new female occasionally visits, the male is now the regular visitor. I suspect while the old female was around he kept well out of her way!

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On Saturday evening I had a wander over to Newton Lake, primarily to see if any Teal had arrived back. None had, however the first thing I noticed when I got there was a calling Green Sandpiper. I enetually spotted the bird on the mud flat at the back of the pool - as I watched a second bird walked out of the undergrowth. Five minutes later I heard a third bird calling behind me and one flew in from the direction of town! They looked like two worn adults and a very smart fresh looking juvenile. They also settled down quite happily and were still there half an hour later when I got back from walking Bill. I have always wondered why I never see waders on this mud flat. Although it could be said there are too many people around, there were plenty on Saturday and even when Common Sandpipers pass through here they spend more time at the front of the pool and are rarely seen on the mud flat. Curious! Not seen them since though this evening the first female Teal is back and the Little Grebe family from the pool in the back wood is now present.

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On Sunday I had a walk up to Risley Moss, more because I couldn't think of anywhere to go than any interest in seeing a Hobby. As soon as I arrived the locals announced that no Hobbies had been seen for several days. I wasn't that fussed. A couple of Sparrowhawks circled over together but that was about it. I didn't stay long - although a couple of the locals were chatty, at least two were regarding me as though I was a new species of cockroach! One of them was shocked when I attempted to talk to him so I gave up and left.

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At Rixton Moss a bit more life. A couple of Buzzards and two Kestrels were floating around with at least 55 Goldfinches along the lanes. On the tip pool was a large flock of Canada Geese and around 90 Swifts passed through heading west. First sign of migration? On the Moat Lane pools the juvenile Great Crested Grebe has now been abandoned by mum and dad and an adult Little Grebe was at the back. On pool two, two female Tufted Ducks were swimming around, one with two young juveniles and one with a single slightly older juvenile. A Great Spotted Woodpecker called nearby.

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This evening while travelling along Parkside Road I spotted large flock of finches on the wires. When I stopped I counted 57 Linnets, yet another sign that summer for the birds is over. By the large house further along the lane two Kestrels were hunting and in the distance a Sparrowhawk was being mobbed by a large flock of hirundines. A few days ago a Buzzard was wandering around in this field with a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls - no sign tonight!

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Yesterday afternoon was a visit to the dentist - our dentist is in Earby (W Yorks) near where we used to live. Lovely to be back in the land of hills - I wandered up the lane at the back of town and took a few snaps of the landscape looking towards Malham and Skipton - views don't get much better than this!