A fairly average year. The first of the year was noted on 26th April at Elland Gravel Pits. On 3rd May others were at both Stockbridge and Barden Bridge. These were followed by records from Dob Park Bridge between 7th May and 4th June, Knotford Nook 1st July and Lindley Green on 6th August. All records relate to singles.

The first record was of a singing male at Lindley Green on 26th April. Other records in the Washburn Valley were of singing males at Dob Park on 2nd May and Quarry Hill at Lindley Wood Reservoir five days later. All these sites are relatively close to one another, however, and it is not out of the question that only one bird was involved.

Elsewhere, two males were seen at Toad Holes Beck (Low Moor), on 23rd May. Overall, the continuing reduction in sightings gives cause for concern

The 2004 Report seems to have been prophetic in saying that the continuing reduction in sightings gave cause for concern.

This year there has been but a single record, though a remarkable one, of three juvenile birds feeding in a Low Moor garden on 1st August. What makes the record even more surprising, is that in 2005 the species didn’t breed at nearby Toad Holes Beck, from where previous records have emanated.