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

19/07/2017 08:36

Barn Owl chicks leave the nest

A recent visit to the site of our local breeding Barn Owls revealed that the family had left their nesting box and have taken up residence in tall thicly leaved trees not too far away from the nest site.I expect sightings to increase now as the parent birds work hard to provide food for their...

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08/07/2017 17:00

Red Kites over Shaw Cross Dewsbury.

2 Red Kites where circling over the playing fields at Shaw Cross today at 15:15 hours.The Kites where visible for about 20 minutes as the slowly drifted away to the North.

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06/07/2017 06:30

Barn Owl chicks make their first appearence and first Green Sandpipers returns from theirbreeding grounds.

A well grown Barn Owl chick made its first venture on to its nesting box ledge on Tuesday of this week.The Nest boxnear to dewsbury town centre was obviousely holding more chicks as the 2 parent birds where constantly sticking their heads into the box and uttering communication calls which where...

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28/06/2017 20:58

Swallows and Bats together in late night feeding at local farm.

Tuesday evening (27th June) was a dark /overcast evening with steady but not heavy rainfall.As I walked along Chidswell Lane at 22:00 hours I was startled to see8 Swallows  swooping around the farm buildings of Chidswell Farm where still visible clouds of insects where attracted by the...

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15/06/2017 06:36

Still no Cuckoos but generally local breeding birds doing ok

Overcast conditions in the Dewsbury part of the Calder valley on Monday(12th) bought decent numbers of Swifts and House Martins down from the heights to feed. Around 450 Swifts and around 280 House Martins where feeding around the sprinkler beds on Dewsbury Sewage Works for around 2hours in the...

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23/05/2017 10:54

Anyone seen or heard our Cuckoos

For the first time in the last 10 years i have not managed to record any Cuckoos on my local sites.Last year 2 birds where stalking around my part of the Calder Valley with 1 bird calling for several days from Mill Bank Thornhill and another bird spending several days in one of the local Reed...

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10/05/2017 21:10

2nd Brood of Goosanders spotted on Calder near Dewsbury centre

A female Goosander with a brood of 12 small ducklings is on the River Calder around the Saville Town area of Dewsbury.2 Shellduck are still hanging around the Hotworks Mill area of Earlsheaton and do occassionaly show signs of courtship. Around 270 Black Headed Gulls are on Dewsbury Sewage Works at...

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02/05/2017 19:43

Goosanders breed again yards from the Town Centre

A female Goosander with 8 youngsters is frequenting the River Calder below Earlsheaton just a few hundred yards from the Dewsbury Town Centre.This is the 4th succesive year this species has reared young on this part of the river Calder  There are also 2 Shellduck and 3 pairs of Gadwall in the...

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26/04/2017 11:58

House Martins make a welcome return

House Martins seem to have suffered a decline(as with so many other species)over the last few years.Hopefully this year will see an upturn in their fortunes and it was nice to come across a feedng flock of about 250 birds over the compost heaps at the bottom of Pidacre fields Ossett yesterdat...

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16/04/2017 11:17

Jack Snipe an unusual record this morning

A Jack Snipe was flushed at the Westernmost end of Dewsbury Sewage Works this morning.This is an unusual record for this site at this time of year.It is good to hear that 2 Barn Owls where hunting just below Earlsheaton the previouse evening hopefully they will breed in the area this year.2...

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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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