Second Great Northern Diver at Blackmoorfoot

Better weather and a second diver at the reservoir were excuse enough to make another trip up the hill this morning. One bird (the newer one I think), was keen to see what the Mallards were up to at the feeding area and was certainly quite approachable for a while.


The sunshine had also bought the dog walkers, joggers, equestrian types and god-knows what else to Blackmoorfoot, so getting these shots was not as straightforward as I'd hoped it would be. The reservoir has a habit of hanging on to it's rarer visitors though and I have a feeling even better opportunities may yet present themselves.

Ferruginous Duck in Wakefield

Determined not to be at the mercy of another piss-poor weekend of crappy wet weather, I was guilty of a little twagging this morning in order to bring you conclusive(ish) proof that the incumbent Ferruginous at Pugneys Country Park is a kosher, legitimate, bona fide ....... duck!

After a minor altercation involving the park's retarded male Sparrowhawk (he thinks trying to scare stuff twice his size is really the way to go - a Wakey thing no doubt), Mr. Fudge obligingly settled on the nearest island for a kip - but not without first displaying his credentials.

Ring-free, wary and aggresive towards the encroaching male Pochards should be enough to clinch his place in the record books, and surely one or two amorous approaches towards females of another species can be excused - it is Wakefield after all.

Birds Behaving Badly

No. 1 The Fabulous Flatulent Fudge Duck

Pheasant Demise

Stately homes throughout the UK have been endeavouring to enliven their parks and gardens for hundreds of years with imported flora and fauna, not always successfully but at least providing a legacy that fascinated future generations. Indeed my first childhood visit to Harewood House undoubtedly sparked an interest that is still very much with me today.


Although only introduced to be shot at or gawped at, pheasants are so much a part of the British countryside now that it's hard to imagine it without them. For over 900 years we've been releasing them, with the Common (or Ring-necked) variety still going strong due to continued breeding for the gun. But what about the more exotic - those that really take the breath away? Well unfortunately it's not all been good news.


Sadly this Golden Pheasant was the last I saw at Bretton Park. As part of an ongoing but now abandoned release scheme (for one of the few breeds capable of maintaining a self-sustaining population), I believe this was the sole remaining individual surviving in the park in 2006 and, perhaps surprisingly, I still feel the loss. Not just because however often I glimpsed a bird like this it never failed to quicken the pulse, but more importantly, without my first Golden Pheasant over forty years ago - a larger, continually inspiring and forever fascinating world may never have opened up to me.

Pugneys Pair

I scored a 'double duck' at rain lashed Pugneys Country Park near Wakefield this morning, which included my first Ferruginous Duck in the county for nearly twenty years! Also in the company of the recently arrived 300+ Northern Pochard was a striking drake Red-crested Pochard.

Both were happy to sleep through the atrocious conditions, waking only when the wintering Bittern put in a brief appearance. Other birds on site included a singing Cetti's Warbler, now present for over a month, but proving typically difficult to see of course.

Great Northern Diver in Huddersfield

We experienced the first snows of winter this morning and with them a displaced Great Northern Diver at Blackmoorfoot. After a week of continual westerly gales it was odds-on the local reservoirs would produce something unusual, though unfortunately nothing quite as extraordinary as the Magnificent Frigatebird reported over Huddersfield last Tuesday!

The diver was certainly getting about the large reservoir but never got frame-fillingly close during an hour's visit - though anyone with a little more staying power than me in sub-zero temperatures could well be rewarded. A further GND was newly arrived at nearby Anglers Country Park today so the remnants of the storm may yet have a sting in their tail.