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

/album/photo-gallery-homepage/white-throated-bee-eaters-jpg/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage/dark-chanting-goshawk-2-jpg1/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage/adjutant-stork-jpg/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage/butterfly-sp-jpg/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage/dead-turtle-at-tanji-jpg/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage/piak-piak-jpg/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage/plantain-eater-in-flight-jpg/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage/swamp-flycatcher-jpg/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage/white-fronted-black-chat-jpg/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage/piak-piak-2-jpg/

—————


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...

—————

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...

—————

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...

—————

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...

—————

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...

—————

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...

—————

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...

—————

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...

—————

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...

—————

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...

—————


News

29/09/2011 16:02

Monday 12th of September trips to Virgen de La Sierra and Lugana De Tiscar.(Cordoba Province the latter.

Once again the area around Verga De La Sierra proved well worth a visit with at least 70 Chough circling over the Granite quarry on our arrival. 2 Spectacled Warblers were again in the quarry and at least 100 House Martins were wheeling around in the company of 3 Alpine Swifts and 4 Pallid...

—————

29/09/2011 15:38

Sunday 11th of September a walk up Rute Alte the mountain overlooking Rute

With the company of local birder Antonio as a guide we set off mid afternoon on a slow but purposeful walk up the steep hillside overlooking Rute maily in the hope of seeing any raptor movement that may be happening.The wind was coming from the East so we were optomistic. As we found on...

—————

28/09/2011 19:20

Saturday 10th of September (cont) afternoon session at Virgen de la Sierra

We arrived at the base of the site at 14:30 hours. A single Woodchat Shrike was on the wires behind the restraunt on the main road near the entrance.8 Crested Larks were in the first field at the first stop over layby along with 2 Northern Wheatear 4 Stonechat and 2 Winchat.2 Common Kestrels...

—————

28/09/2011 13:40

Saturday 10th of September a trip to CIZNEHA a more lush and greener habitat

Cizneha dam presents a much more wooded and riverside lind of habitat than we have birded so far and we hoped to ad many new species on this trip. As we had experienced so far on this trip species were again difficult to come across with much of the woodland beig silent. A White rumped Swift...

—————

27/09/2011 17:15

Friday 9th of September Rio Guasdalhorce (the bird reserve at Malaga

We arrived in Malaga with great anticipationas my partner on this trip had enjoyed some good birding experiences at this site.The site of 3 Purple Herons near the entrance of the site promised much. There was 3 Great White Heron,1 Greenshank and 12 Goldfinches on the first small pool. The...

—————

27/09/2011 16:57

Thursday 8th of September cont Rute sewage ponds and Alto Rute a walk up the hill overlooking Rute

After returning from Laguna De Fuenta De Pedro we made a quick check on the sewage ponds at Rute to see if anything new had arrived on the site. There was 3 Green Sandpipers,1 Common Sandpipers,1 Little Ringed Plover,2 Black Winged Stilts and 2 White Wagtails.Otherwise the site was very...

—————

24/09/2011 15:13

Thursday 8th of September Laguna De Fuente De Piedra

As we arrived in the car park to the reserve at Fuenta De Piedra we were lucky enough to see a Black Shouldered Kite flying through the car park. Ziittng Cisticolata could be heard singing all over the area around the visitors centre(which was closed throughout our stay at the reserve.2 Spectacled...

—————

24/09/2011 14:45

Laguna de Zonar (afternoon trip on Wednesday 7th of September.

As with most of the visitor centres we visited during this trip the visitor centre at Laguna de Zonar was in the process of closing just as we arrived though we were just allowed in for the quick purchase ofa car sticker. This is the largest of the Cordoba lagoons and is quite picturesque the...

—————

22/09/2011 17:23

Day 3 after visiting El Torcal

We decided to head back towards Rute in the early hours of the afternoon as we had not visited the Sewage Ponds that morning. As we embarked from our cars a superb female Goshawk left the copse containing the Bee Hives and glided away slowly over the low scrub towards Rute centre. 12...

—————

22/09/2011 16:56

Day 3 an early morning trip to El Torcal

The journey to El Torca( Malaga Province) is one of the most beautifull and spectacular one is ever likely to experience.The town of Antequera itself is a very beatifull,picturesque and photogenic place with its castle and other historic buildings. The road leading up to El Torcal is surrounded...

—————


Photo Gallery: Homepage

/album/photo-gallery-homepage1/clamerous-reed-warbler-emirates-2005-jpg1/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage1/house-crow-emirates-dec-2005-jpg1/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage1/indian-roller-emirates-dec-2005-jpg1/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage1/isabelline-shrike-dubai-2005-jpg/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage1/crab-plovers-2-emirates-dec-2005-jpg1/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage1/crab-plovers-emirates-dec-2005-jpg1/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage1/isabelline-shrike-4-emirates-dec-2005-jpg1/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage1/kentish-plover-2-emirates-dec-2005-jpg1/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage1/kentish-plover-3-emirates-dec-2005-jpg1/
/album/photo-gallery-homepage1/kentish-plover-emirates-dec-2005-jpg2/

—————


Some overseas trips

/album/some-overseas-trips/ringing-team-at-kibbutz-lotan-spring-2007-jpg/
/album/some-overseas-trips/trainee-ringers-at-work-kibbutz-lotan-israel-jpg/
/album/some-overseas-trips/birds-being-ringed-at-kibbutz-lotan-israel-jpg/
/album/some-overseas-trips/blackstart-kibbutz-lotan-spring-2007-jpg/
/album/some-overseas-trips/booted-eagle-eilat-spring-2007-jpg/
/album/some-overseas-trips/caspian-stonechat-kibbutz-lotan-israel-spring-2007-jpg/
/album/some-overseas-trips/crag-martin-eilat-spring-2007-jpg/
/album/some-overseas-trips/desert-finch-nr-eilat-spring-2007-finch-jpg/
/album/some-overseas-trips/dunns-lark-israel-spring-2007-jpg/
/album/some-overseas-trips/dunns-lark-near-eilat-jpg/

—————