WHEATEAR
Oenanthe oenanthe
Very common passage visitor and occasional breeder.
2015
- Two very early males at Leeshaw Reservoir on 14th March set the scene for an influx that continued throughout the next two months. In that period reports indicated that 365 were seen, with the biggest concentration from 15th April to 8th May, when two-thirds of the birds passed through.
A female on Pennythorn Hill (Baildon) on 4th June and two males and a female at Ogden Reservoir a week later, may have suggested local breeding. A much stronger case was in the form of 11 adults and juveniles at Warley Moor Reservoir on 12th July.
The return migration figures showed that 345 birds were reported from a wide area of moorland. Double-figure counts were seen at Hazlewood Moor and Warley Moor Reservoir, where 100 were recorded during a 10 day period in August, 30 of them on the 20th. The final record was a bird on Keighley Moor on 19th October.
2016
- There were interesting and pleasing statistics on this passage visitor with 536 birds reported moving through our area in the spring and 248 birds reported on the return journey in the autumn. The first spring arrival was seen at Glovershaw on 25th March closely followed by birds at Slippery Foord, Leeshaw Reservoir and Lower Laithe Reservoir. The final record was a single on Soil Hill on 16th October preceded by two on the 14th at Warley Moor Reservoir one of which was said to show the characteristics of Greenland Wheatear (O.o.leucorhoa). The spring total included double-figure counts at Glovershaw, Whetstone Gate and Warley Moor which location also had an excellent 19 birds in the autumn.
Over the years Wheatear has essentially been a passage migrant and there have been very few breeding records. It is therefore pleasing that eight pairs raised young in the Barden area part of some 26 birds which apparently summered.
2017
- Spring arrivals of Wheatear are enthusiastically sought, and this year’s first, near Draughton on 9th March, was the earliest on record (WNS). At 418 birds, the spring total was rather down on 2016, but was offset by an increase in autumn passage, which produced some 300 birds. These included day-counts of about 25 at Warley Moor and Trough Lane (Denholme) in April, and 23 at Leeshaw in September. Birds showing characteristics of Greenland Wheatear (O.o.leucorhoa) were seen in May at Alcomden Stones (10th), Thornton Moor Reservoir (11th, and two on 14th), Trough Lane (14th) (KM), and one was near Warley Moor Reservoir on 8th August (BS). Birds apparently bred again on Barden Moor, raising three young.
2018
- A dramatic fall in the numbers seen on migration saw only 207 birds in spring and 151 in autumn, and the only double-figure counts were of four between 10 and 14 birds at Warley Moor Reservoir in August and September. Four fledged young seen near Storiths in June may have indicated local breeding.