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

02/06/2015 18:12

Swifts out in strength but high water levels on the River Calder have tragic consequences for new Sand Martin colonies

Around 1000+ Swifts together with around 450 House Martins and 250 Sand Martins plus around 140 Swallows where hawking over the compost heaps below Pildacre Chickenley this morning.The numbers if anything increased with the approaching heavy cloud which built up around 10:45 as birds began hawking...

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28/05/2015 19:51

Oh for a good spell of typical May weather

Another week of predominately Westerly,South Weaterly and North Westerly winds gives the constant impression that Summer hasnt realy arrived this year so far. Iv never known it take so long forSummer Birds to arrive at our local sites and some even now dont appear to have arrived at all. The cool...

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20/05/2015 13:37

Lesser Whitethroat,Cuckoo and Common Tern on my patch this morning.

  A Lesser Whitethroat was in full song on the riverbank just a few yards from the Kerries Foods security box Healy Road Ossett this morning.The bird with its distinctive song moved from small bush to small bush at around 11:35 this morning. Also this morning a Cuckoo was hanging around the...

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20/05/2015 07:04

Yellow Wagtail makes another appearence

A male Yellow Wagtail was on the filter beds of Dewsbury Sewage Works yesterday afternoon at 14:30.When approached the bird took flight and flew over the office block of Yorkshire Water and went down into the fields behind. Also there the Hirrundine numbers over the compost heaps looking very...

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19/05/2015 07:58

House Martins again on local site in impressive numbers

There are still around 700 House Martins feeding over the new compost heaps at the bottom of Pildacre fields.These are made even more impressive by some 350 Swallows,250 Sand Martins and around some 150 Swifts..Strangely enough many of the House Martins can be seen landing on the nearby seweage...

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12/05/2015 06:13

House Martins out in force this morning

A flock of about 650 House Martins together with around 300 Sand martins and some 120 Swallows where hawking around the compost heaps at the bottom of Pildacre fields Chickenley this morning.Also mixed amongst these birds some 45 Swifts.This coincides with a marked increase in production in the...

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07/05/2015 20:41

Cuckoo returns to local area

A Cuckoo flew from Mill Bank Thornhill at 14:20 this afternoon being pursued by a party of 7 Black Headed Gulls as it made its way into the small quarry below Pildascre Chickenley. Cuckoos have been turning up around this date in our part of the Calder Valley for the last 6 years. Nearby on Kerries...

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02/05/2015 16:07

Little Ringed Plovers return to former breeding grounds

It was nice to see a pair of Little Ringed Plovers displaying in the Calder Valley this morning.The 2 birds where in continual arial display over one of their former breeding sites for around 2 hours this morning. Elsawhere there is now 9 Gadwall on Dewsbury Sewage Works along with 24 Teal,4 Little...

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29/04/2015 16:25

3 Yellow Wagtails (including a stunning male) arrive on local Sewage works.

3 Yellow Wagtails are on the filter beds at the Eastern end of Dewsbury Sewage Works this afternoon including 1 male and 2 females. The birds are following a moving sprinkler rail on the second filter bed below the entrance gate adjacent to the compost heaps below Pildacre Fields Chickenley. Also...

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23/04/2015 16:57

Reed Warblers return to their local breeding site

2 Reed Warblers where singing from the largest Phragmitese beds on Dewsbury Sewage works this lunchtime.There xarealso 3 pairs of Whitethroat on the works allready in old territory along with 5 singing Willow Warblers and 3 male Blackcaps and 4 singing Chiff Chaffs. Gadwall on the works now number...

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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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