Sand
Martin |
Swallow |
House
Martin |
SAND
MARTIN
Riparia riparia.
Common migrant breeder/passage visitor.
Most of the spring migration sightings came from Wharfedale, and the first bird was located at Otley Wetland on the unexceptional date of 25th March. Most other counts at the end of the month and in early April struggled to get above 20, but 50 birds were seen at Otley Wetland on 9th April, and by the end of the month 120 were there and 150 at Knotford Nook, building up to the seasonal highest count of 200 birds on the 26th. In the same period, up to 40 birds were on the river at Strid Wood.
Breeding colonies are probably under-reported, and apart from reference to the well-established colonies at Strid Wood, Barden Bridge, Ben Rhydding and Pool Paper Mills, there was just one other record, but an interesting one, of birds using drainage pipes in the overflow of Ponden Reservoir, a location brought into the Group’s area in 2006. At Ben Rhydding, 375 young were ringed (well-up on last year), and there were probably about 80 nests at Pool, with 130 birds seen on 30th April.
Autumn migration, never a big feature for the species, produced a reasonable total of 74 birds, with a good day count of 30 at Stockbridge on 3rd August, and birds being seen at two locations not usual for Sand Martin: St. Ives and Tong Park Reservoir. The final date was, like the first, unremarkable: 25th September, at Denholme Clough.
BARN
SWALLOW
Hirundo rustica
Common migrant breeder and passage visitor.
Swallows seem to be getting earlier, so the first arrivals on 29th March were about average these days. Two birds were seen at Bolton Abbey and Cononley, and one at Knotford Nook. There then followed what was really no more than a trickle of birds through April and May. There were no three-figure gatherings, and 40 birds in the Barden/Strid Wood area on 1st May was easily the highest of the few double-figure counts.
The next sizeable numbers weren’t recorded until post-breeding parties started to gather in July, and even then counts of 30 at Paul Clough and 41 at Thornton Moor Reservoir were well ahead of any others. Migration, or at least relocation, seems to have started in August, and, as usual, the biggest numbers were seen mainly at the watchpoints in the south of the area. Thornton Moor led the way, and had the following significant monthly totals:
August : 1050 in all. Maxima of between 177 and 295 on four days
September : 1393 in all. Maxima of between 124 and 539 on four days.
Elsewhere, Denholme Clough recorded 579 birds, with a day’s maximum of 292, the seasonal totals for Paul Clough and Caldene Fields were 163 and 158, and there were three-figure day counts in September at Fewston and Leeshaw, having 100 and 200 respectively. Collectively, around 4500 birds were recorded on autumn migration. Whilst not competing with other recent records, the final bird at Thornton Moor on 29th October was still relatively late.
A bird was back at its usual breeding site within about two weeks of the the first arrival, and by May several pairs had set up nests at Glovershaw, Queensbury and Oakworth. Clear evidence of breeding then came from Soil Hill, St. Ives, Glovershaw, Clifton, Low Snowden, Norwood Bottom, Timble Ings, and, in particular, Knotford Nook, where 128 young were raised from 43 nests. Interestingly, even as some birds were preparing to leave the area, others, at Whetstone Gate and Gallows Hill, were still building or refurbishing nests.
HOUSE
MARTIN
Delichon urbica
Common migrant and passage visitor.
Following the initial arrival of a bird at Baildon Green on the fairly typical date of 3rd April, the floodgates failed to open, and birds moved in inconspicuously and in small numbers, with ten seen at Marley Hall Farm on 2nd May being the only double-figure count. However, within three days of this, nest-building had started at a regular site in Queensbury, and a few days later in Eldwick. The interest a bird appeared to be taking in a Baildon house around this time eventually resulted in the occupancy of a nest at this previously unused site, and breeding also took place in Wilsden, Queensbury, Cononley and Timble. Three broods totalling nine birds were raised at the Queensbury location, but the numbers fledged at the traditional site of Timble Library were down due to inadvertent disturbance. At Cononley, the birds had to delay operations until squatters in the form of House Sparrows had vacated the nest.
Post-breeding flocks appeared to start building up by mid-June, when 30 birds were seen over Strid Wood, and dispersal got underway by the middle of August, and continued through September, with a few birds being seen in October. Totals were well down on 2005, and in all about 1050 birds were seen, mainly in the south of the area, but with a notable passage of 130 birds at Barden Scale on 27th August. Other significant numbers consisted of 90 birds at Cononley on 6th September, and the year’s highest count, 200 at Marley Hall Farm on the same date. Twenty other double-figure counts were made in this period, the highest of which was 60 at Leeshaw Reservoir on the 23rd of the month.
After a lengthy gap, the final two birds passed Denholme Clough on 24th October, one of the latest dates in recent years.