Nightjar |
Swift |
Kingfisher |
Ring-necked
Parakeet |
NIGHTJAR
Caprimulgus europaeus
Rare summer visitor.
Birds were back in the usual breeding area by 4th June, but, sadly, for the second successive year, the nest was predated (this time prior to hatching), and no second attempt was made.
At least three birds were present, two males and a female, and one of the males was caught and ringed. There were no reports after 6th July (PRo, AJ et al).
COMMON
SWIFT Apus apus
Migrant breeder and passage migrant.
In general, apart from a good aggregate return from Thornton Moor Reservoir, numbers were well down, with few three-figure counts, and scarcely any even exceeding 30 birds.
The first arrival, at Otley Wetland, was on the early date of 15th April, but, unlike last year, numbers were disappointing in the rest of the month, and an otherwise poor May was enlivened only by some 300 birds there on the 2nd. Similarly, the figures for June were rescued almost entirely by a considerable movement at Thornton Moor Reservoir on the 11th, when 2060 birds went south following a dry front. At the same location, 300 birds were seen a week later, and 50 were over Strid Wood around the same time.
Thornton Moor was again to the forefront in July, with 1200 birds being seen there on the 1st, but saw little activity after that, and the year’s total for the site was 3600, a good aggregate, but made up mainly by the three days indicated. Elsewhere in the same month, 200 was a good site total at Soil Hill on the 22nd, and there were 70 birds at Stockbridge the next day. Numbers in August were unexceptional, with 30 over Otley on the 4th easily the best, and by the end of the month passage was reduced to a trickle, until the last record, a bird at Barden on 19th September.
Evidence of breeding, always difficult to establish, continues to elude observers, though, self-evidently, the numbers of summering birds mean it is taking place somewhere.
COMMON
KINGFISHER Alcedo
atthis
Fairly common resident breeder.
The 100 records submitted represents a marked increase over other recent years, though it seems unlikely to indicate an increase in the local population, given that many of the reports came from the small area between Saltaire and Bingley.
In fact the Aire Valley contributed around 70% of all the sightings with birds being seen as far up as Skipton Sewage Works and Cononley Ings, both locations recently included in the Group’s revised recording area. The Wharfedale records came largely from the expected areas around Bolton Abbey, Otley and Ikley, and, after a blank year in 2005, it was good to note reports from three sites in the Washburn Valley.
Last year’s Report mentioned the number of birds seen in urban and suburban areas, and this trend continued, with many sightings from Bingley, Shipley, Keighley and Otley. The most remarkable such sighting, however, has got to be the five birds reported from a garden pond at Frizinghall (Bradford) on 10th September. This probably represented a family party, and points to successful breeding in the general area. Proven breeding was established at Ben Rhydding, Denton (with two broods being raised at both these sites), Pool Paper Mills, and near Stockbridge.
The last location produced, on 25th September, the unusual sight of two Kingfishers joining in the enthusiastic communal mobbing of a bemused Sparrowhawk, which had foolishly chosen to perch in willows on the reserve.
RING-NECKED
PARAKEET Psittacula krameri
Uncommon visitor/possible escapee
There were two records of this well-established British breeding bird. On 2nd January, one was seen in Shipley, and two birds flew over a Silsden garden on 2nd and 4th May (JLT).