Its worth a visit


Welcome to our website

The main aim of this website is to make local people aware of the Bird Life in and around my home town of Dewsbury

Nearly all my English birding activities centres around the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire but more specificly in the areas between Dewsbury Town and Horbury bridge with especial attention paid to an area now known as the Thornhill Wetlands were recently a new and very interesting Nature Reserve has been developed.

Also there is much information relating to my time spent Watching and photographing birds in the Gambia West Africa

My travels in the Gambia allways seem to be a great success with new species being added and photographed on each of my twelve visits so far.

Much of the praise for this success must go to my guide and friend PA JALLOW who is allways completely up to date with his observations and information regarding birding sites in the Gambia.

In recent years my Gambian trips have taken on a more scientific theme mainly due to my close friendship with the author Clive Barlow.Due to his influence i have managed to get photographs of birds published in many African Photographic Field Guides for which I am most grateful.

 

Visitor's notice

For anyone lucky enough to have visited the Gambia to either see the birds or indeed as I do indulge in photographing the birds and other wildlife one cannot fail to be ikmpressed by the sheer variety of not just the birds(which are more than worth devoting a holiday to themselves) but also the insects(particulary the butterflies and dragonflies and beetles) and indeed the mammals and reptiles all of which present a challenge of their own.

In building this website we hope to illustrate as wel as we can the great rewards for the photographer and birder alike that this small but very friendly country can offer.

Any serious photographers or birders wishing to bird alone or in very smallgroups could do worse than having a chat to our guide PA JALLOW who has gained much experience in the needs and requirements of travelling birders from several countries.

Going back to our more local activities I am lucky enough to have had as a friend for many years Russell Smithson who besides being an excellent birder was also a master joiner.His expertise in the construction of bird nesting boxes has added a great extension to our birding activities as we have embarked in the placingof nesting boxes in as many suitable locations along the Calder valley as we can manage.These include sites in Dewsbury,Mirfield ,Huddersfield and Ravensthorpe. 

 

Allready we have had great success with many species including Tawny and Little Owl as well as the usual Blue and great tits as well as such birds as Wren and Stock Dove.We look forward to Spring 2012 with great anticipationte to have 

More Recent Events

 

Covid has had a negative impact on much of my local birding with my local sewage works becoming out of bounds with this site previousely accounting for the majority of my records.

In more recent times I am spending more and more time in North Lincolnshire due to family reasons but have been fortunate to become familiar with some of the splendid Nature Reserves on Southern side of the River Humber particulary the Reserves Far Ings and especialy Alkborough Flats.

These two reserves are excellent for many Marsh and Wading birds with Alkborough being one of the best Bearded Tit sites iv ever encountered.

Another of my now favourite Reserves is Messingham Sand Quarry just around 15 minutes from my kids school an

d like other reserves in North Lincolnshire it is both Dog and Bycicle free making it ideal for Macro photography.

I look forwards to posting my sightings from this part of the country.


Photo Gallery: Homepage

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News

21/07/2015 18:42

Peregrine Falcon picked up on the road in Kirkburton this afternoon

A Peregrine Falcon was found injured in Cross Lane Kirkburton Huddersfield this afternoon.The bird was thought to be a young bird and the person who found it took it to the local RSPB office in Denby Dale for inspection.Apparently the bird had a damaged wing so it was despatched for medical...

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16/07/2015 16:42

Oystercatchers starting to re display in the valley( in preparation for a second breeding attempt ?)

2 Oystercatchers have begun displaying for a second time in our part of the Calder valley.The birds can be observed between Saville Town  and Earlsheaton calling loudly and gliding on upraised wings parachuting to the ground.The birds where foiled in their first attempt at breeding last month...

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12/07/2015 20:42

Cuckoo back in residence on local Sewage Works

A Cuckoo has now been present in and out of the reed beds on Dewsbury Sewage works for three days.Up to the end of June there had been 10 singing male Reed warblers on this site but recently there remained just 3 singing birds.Presumably this must mean that at least 7 birds had managed to find...

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02/07/2015 23:19

4 Green Sandpipers a good sign for the next few weeks

4 Green Sandpipers where flushed together from a central bed on Dewsbury Sewage works today.It is hoped the numbers will increase still further in the next few wekks as our seasonal wader migration gets under way. Also at the same site 18 Lapwings no doubt part of a larger group trafficing between...

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30/06/2015 20:59

Lapwings continue to increase

138 Lapwings are today present on Dewsbury Sewage works.This is a good threefold increase on records so far this year.Also there today single Green Sandpiper. Usualy when Green Sandpipers return after their travels to their breeding grounds they are accompanied by a youngster or juvenile bird but...

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25/06/2015 15:26

Lapwings increase in numbers in this part of the Calder Valley

A total of some 58 Lapwings where on Dewsbury Sewage Works this afternoon an increase of some 30+ on numbers a couple of days ago.The movement of Wading birds migrating down our part of the Calder Valley should should just about be starting and I am looking forwards to to recording more species...

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23/06/2015 20:29

Lapwings and Green Sandpiper return to local site

In these times when we are seeing seriouse declines in a number of our once common species it is good to see signs os some sort of revival in their fortunes.Lapwings used to be numerous in our part of the Calder Valley with parties of several hundred gathering in  late June  and...

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22/06/2015 19:09

Black Kite near Shaw Cross Dewsbury

My night off work and weather unsettled I thought why not forget about going birding for once and go for a couple of Pints at my local Pub. Would you believe only a few hundred yards from my home I spot a raptor flying at telegraph pole height directly in line with my car .A dark raptor with no...

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16/06/2015 12:30

Not all bad news.Reed Warblers increase their numbers at local sites

There are now at least 10 pairs of Reed Warblers breeding on my local sewage works in Dewsbury.This is an increase of about 4 pairs compaired with last years numbers.Sedge warblers on the other hand seem less prolific with only 2 pairs returning out of last years 5 pairs. Also on the same site .13...

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03/06/2015 11:48

Mink observed attacking Sand Martin colony is even more bad news for our local birds but Greenshank was a welcome relief

As if yesterdays high water levels werent doing enough damage to our local Sand Martin colonies the sight of a brown coloured Mink going inand out of the nesting burrows this morning was heartbreaking. I was only remarking to someone a couple of days ago that sightings of Mink on our patch where...

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News

22/11/2023 13:04

Messingham Sand Quarry

Although i rank Messingham Sand Quarry has been very much a Spring and Summer/Autumn Reserve it offers interesting walks in both Late Autumn and Winter On this occassion a quick early stop into the fierst of 2 hides was very worthwhile. A quick count of the wildfowl on offer produced some 340...

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12/05/2022 10:12

Getting back into the swing with a trip to Scotton Common North Lincolnshire.

Having become more and more frustrated with continualy trying to gain access to what in the past have been my local birding sites and being continualy turned away Im lucly to be spending half of my week visiting and staying with my family in North Lincolnshire. Its nice to be dealing with a local...

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10/01/2022 14:57

Alkboro Flats North Lincolnshire

I know Im in for an interesting morning when the first bird I see shutting my car door in the car park is a female Mash Harrier.The first field as I walked North towards the Humber River had around 500 Common Starlings feeding along with around 85 Goldfinch scattered amongst the Thistle...

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10/01/2022 14:49

Time to get back into the field again.

After a frustrating 18 months locked out of my usual local birding patch due to the pandemic and some of my favourit footpaths being blocked off by local farmers who are tired of furlowed dog walkers trampling over theie land disturbing cattle and littering their fields with discarded face masks...

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31/05/2021 21:26

Goosanders doing well but Kingfishers suffer a setback

2 pairs of Goosanders have bred succesfully in theOssett area on the River Calder.Each pair has hatched 10 youngsters and all are at present doing well. Its allways worrying when you come across so called wldlife photographers lurking in the vicinity of bird nesting sites and  a recent...

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14/05/2021 22:59

Hirrundines and Swifts gather again at local Sewage Works.

There was good numbers of House Martins and Swifts on Dewsbury Sewage Works this morning.Around 400 House Martins where concentrated over  the centre of the works along with some 200 Swifts.In lesser numbers where Swallows numbering around 120 and Sand Martins totaling around a hundred...

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11/05/2021 14:10

Alkington Flatts North Lincolnshires a brief visit.

While on my weekly foray in to Lincolnshire i found time to visit Alkington Flatts Nature Reserve this morning. It was very refreshing to get out of the car in the car park and hear a Cuckoo calling its head off from a large Oak tree bordering the reserve.The bird was calling non stop for about 30...

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07/05/2021 11:39

Back to cloudy and cold but House martins increase.

Noticeably colder than yesterday nevertherless still brought good numbers of Hirrundines to Dewsbury Sewage Works.There was at least 400 House Martins,around 55 Sand martins,140 Swallows and around 25 Common Swifts hawking around the filter beds of the works at 09:00 this morning. The cold weather...

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06/05/2021 12:10

What a difference a week makes.

How noticeable this morning that the local hedgerows are much more lively with birdsong.On leaving my car in Healy Road Ossett the first sound I hear is of a singing Common Whitethroat with its distinct scratchy song.In total there where singing Whitethroats around the Healy Road Healy Mills area...

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28/04/2021 11:47

Merlin pays brief visit to local sewage Works.

Few thing can be more exiting than having a Merlin flying at full speed over your shoulder before diving headlong into a a feeding party of Black Headed gulls and Carrion Crows. However that is precisely what happened this morning at 09:25 as I was patiently scanning the filter beds on Dewsbury...

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Photo Gallery: Homepage

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Some overseas trips

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