Holmfirth Reservoirs

Despite the on-going major overhaul of Brownhill, Ramsden & Riding Wood Reservoirs in the Holme Valley, the area remains one of the finest for local wildlife walks.

A glorious morning brought one or two surprises, most notably a decent sized flock of Common Crossbills. These birds could well be part of the on-going continental irruption that has seen some remarkable numbers of this capricious woodland bird everywhere from Shetland to Scilly.


Closer encounters today included this Spotted Flycatcher youngster. These birds seem increasingly rare and I no longer take them for granted. This individual was very confiding and provided my first images of the species for nearly twenty years, when a pair nested in a filing room where I worked.


Young Willow Warblers were in abundance this morning but were almost too quick for me whilst a fussy Meadow Pipit was a little more cooperative!

Whitewash the Crow

Dear Readers
The young Carrion Crow ‘Whitewash’ was at his usual patch of grass this morning, adjacent to the car park of not so notable chartered accountants Fcukworth Barsteward & Son in the lowlife parish of Loserbury.

This tragic creature, like so many of his human counterparts in this diocese, was the unfortunate product of closely related parents - in the case of Whitewash, a union of geriatric cripple and his own sister. The obvious outward deformities such as the lack of pigment and stunted growth will be just a fraction of the genetic defects little Whitewash has to cope with. Additionally, early signs of ‘problem’ behaviour have already manifested themselves in acts of stone throwing, milk stealing and picking cigarette butts from the gutter.

Like others before him that were supposed to be black and ended up white, there’s little hope of poorly Whitewash living a long and healthy life. But let’s not grieve. We know nature abhors perfection and out of this sorry existence may come triumph. For example the simple act of puncturing a plastic milk bottle on the doorstep of Fcukworth Barsteward & Son may just possibly lay low the employees of the not so notable chartered accountants in the lowlife parish of Loserbury – and surely that’s no bad thing!

THE END

Digley

A rare excursion away from Bretton this morning involved a very pleasant walk from Digley Reservoir (above) up to Wessenden Head. There was no birding agenda today as July isn't a particularly productive month - but the camera came along just in case.

Inadvertently straying near a brood of Lapwing chicks resulted in a bombardment from the adult birds. The chicks would have made a nice photo but were quickly chivied into the long grass by their anxiuos parents.


Curlew numbers appear particularly high on most upland areas we have walked this year and their delightful calls are still ringing round the high moorland above Huddersfield.