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

15/06/2018 15:09

Good increase in breeding Swallows on the Windsor Estate

5 year ago it was nice to find a pair of Swallows choosing to nest in a connecting passsage at my next door neighbours house.Considering their is a well established farm at the top of our road traditionaly housing around 3 pairs of swallows it seems unusual that Swallows are choosing a fairly old...

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15/06/2018 14:33

Local Little Owl chicks on the verge

A local brood of Little Owl chicks are now on the verge of leaving their nesting box.The Chicks are more and more standing on the outside of the box calling anxousely for their parents to return with food then after feeding returning inside the box. The Ossett Barn Owls will be pleased to see their...

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03/06/2018 20:16

A Breeding first as Shellduck decides to have family in the Dewsbury part of the valley.

A pair of Shellducks have hatched 8 chicks in the Earlsheaton part of the Calder Valley.Even though the chicks are still very small they are able to dive under the water either individualy or as a group together(see photo gallery).The female bird is very protective and never leaves the chicks to...

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16/05/2018 20:48

Most of local Summer visitors in now but some omissions and numbers are down.

Now that it can be assumed that all the Summer visiting birds are back at their breeding sites one can asses how numbers and species can compare to previouse years. Certainly there are some species which have just not turned up.Amongst these in my part of the Calder valley are the Cuckoo which is...

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30/04/2018 19:12

Local Swifts back at their breeding sites and good numbers of Hirrundines gather for a feast.

There was several Swifts feeding above the site of the Ossett Brewery  complex this afternoon.Also small numbers of Swifts where soaring high above the railway marshalling yards at Horbury Bridge. Nearby on the compost heaps located just below the lowermost fields of Pidacre,Chickenley around...

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25/04/2018 11:49

First Reed Warblers arrive on local sites

The first of the local breeding Reed Warblers arrived back on their breeding site on Dewsbury Sewage Works yesterday with 3 singing males at different sites on the works. The unusual showey conditions this morning brought good numbers of House Martins down to feed over the compost heaps below...

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18/04/2018 18:57

Summer Visitors arrive on time.

A Common Whitethroat was singing in a hedge on the lower Pildacre fields at 08:00 this morning.Also there are now 6 singiing WillowWarblers in this part of the Calder Valley most of them by the Calder just West of the Earlsheaton area.There are also 2 birds singing around the Kerries Food factory...

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11/04/2018 10:26

Peregrine Falcons mating on Dewsbury Town Hall

2 Peregrine Falcons are displaying and going through a mating procceedure this morning on Dewsbury Town Hall.This is excellent news as providing they can find a suitable ledge or similar this would be an ideal nesting place for the species. There is an ever ending supply of pigeons in the town at...

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09/04/2018 17:17

Summer visiting Birds arrive at last on local sites

We allways seem to do well with early Swallows returnng in this part of the Calder Valley.A riverside walk produced first of all 4 Male Swallows fliying around the sprinklers on Dewsbury Sewage Works.This had increased to 10 birds (6 males and 4 females ) a couple of hours later. 22 Sand Martins...

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14/03/2018 22:14

At last spring is on its way.

It was nice to see 2 pairs of Oyster Catcher in full display flight below Mill Bank Thornhill this morning.One of the birds wears aa ring placed upon it as a chick in Southampton Water 6 years ago. 2 singing Chiff Chaff are in full song in the hedgerow below Pildacre Chickenley. Nearby on Dewskbury...

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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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