Found in larger numbers than the last species and at more sites. Like the previous species there is no apparent change in status. Breeding was noted at many sites including Cringles Lane at Silsden and the highest counts were a little disappointing with 52 at Esholt in October and 100 at Marley in January.

The nominate race m.a.alba was recorded at Fewston Reservoir from 27th-30th April with a maximum of three on 28th. A single bird was seen in Queensbury on 3rd of May.

Spring passage was light, with no more than 12 birds on any one day. Breeding was well reported, and adults were seen feeding young at many sites.

Autumn passage was distinctly better. At the principal watchpoint, Thornton Moor Reservoir, over 170 birds were seen, with a daily maximum of 40 birds. This level of daily movement was also recorded at Denholme Clough, but a gathering of 100 birds on flooded fields at Silsden on 25th September was exceptional. The highest total reported from Marley Sewage Works was 40 birds, but this probably represented under-recording.

Roost counts came in the form of 50 at Ilkley Bus Station in November, 60 at Bingley Library in January, a minimum of 75 at King Cross in December, and at least 350 in Leeds Road, Bradford, in February.

As in 2004, the majority of the records and virtually all the high counts related to birds moving during the spring and autumn passage periods. Without these, there would have been no more than about twenty records of some fifty birds.

In contrast, many reports of visible migration came from the watch-points in the south of the area, the results of which can be summarised as follows:

Days recorded Total birds Max. daily count

As usual, birds wintered at Marley Sewage Works, from where there were counts of 40 and 30 at the beginning and end of the year, and in Halifax town centre, which had a roost of 60 birds on 30th November. Apart from these, the only other double-figure counts were recorded from Leeshaw, St. Ives and Baildon, which had the best of these, seventeen in late April.

Breeding was proved or strongly suspected at Queensbury, Denholme, Soil Hill, St. Ives and Fewston Reservoir, but, like the other data for the summer months, was probably under-recorded.

In 2006, this bird was considerably better-reported outside the migration periods than it had been in the preceding two years, although there was still a relative scarcity of information for the summer months. There was also more breeding information, and, overall, a much better-balanced picture has emerged.

Records of wintering birds came almost entirely from the south of the area, principally from the sewage works at Dowley Gap and Marley. Up to 15 birds were seen between January and March at the first site, which held a maximum of 30 in late December. Marley recorded the year’s highest count of 125 birds on 21st January, and there were still 55 there at the end of February. Unfortunately, access restrictions prevented any counts in the second winter period. In the same general area, 15 birds were found on Silsden Floods.

The remaining double-figure counts of between 11 and 60 almost certainly referred to dispersing birds or those on migration, though the latter figure merits particular mention, as it relates to a roost in Keighley town centre, the first such record of this since 1999. Similarly, garden records rarely figure for this species; this year there were four in Baildon, Oxenhope and Oakworth. The main migration watchpoints in the south don’t seem to have been covered in spring, but good numbers of birds were seen in autumn as indicated:

A rather mixed year, with some good counts (several of them somewhat fortuitous), but rather less breeding information than in 2006, and a distinctly poor return from the autumn migration watches.

The increased observations at Dowley Gap Sewage Works produced several good counts and a particularly good one of 100 on 19th January. Two months later, high water levels at Silsden Ings attracted at least 50 birds, and, also in March, a visit by the observer to Airedale Hospital, at Steeton, uncovered a previously unreported roost of 70 birds. Silsden Ings again flooded in early August, and counts of between 35 and 75 were made on several days.

Spring migration was, as usual, quiet for the species, but the usually productive autumn passage was also unaccountably sparse this year. Thornton Moor and Denholme Clough scarcely figured in the seasonal total of 316, and the only significant aggregates were 77 at Warley Moor, and 191 at Caldene Fields.

Breeding was reported from Menston, Otley, Warley Moor and Scargill Reservoirs, and Bolton Abbey, with about 26 juveniles being seen.

Particularly evident in the winter months, and a roost of around 200 in central Keighley in February was the highest for several years. In the same period, Dowley Gap Sewage Works held about 100 birds.