Plugging Away

Priors Hall was the extent of my ambitions today as I decided to keep things local. For much of my walk it remained grey with a stiff south westerly breeze and any sunshine was limited to a few brief spells. It was not one of my most exciting forays out into the field though it was interesting enough to justify my efforts.

Common Darter

On my walk past the steelworks a Peregrine caused some interest as it passed overhead and a Grey Wagtail also flew over. Willowbrook Industrial Estate hosted a pair of Stonechats and a Green Sandpiper was also recorded. Numbers of Redwings are on the increase and a small number were noted today. Moving on from Willowbrook and on to the North Gullet at Priors Hall I saw the long staying male Stonechat but not much else. The South Gullet was fairly dull too, a selection of commoner wildfowl were on the quarry lake with a female Pochard the highlight.

Red Kite

Around the ponds at Priors there were a number of Siskins and Redpolls as well as several small flocks of Redwings. With the weather being so poor I was delighted to find two Willow Emeralds and a couple of Common Darters, if the conditions remain mild I'm hoping they will stick around for a while yet. Nothing much else to mention as the only other wildlife of note was a Muntjac. I didn't take too many pictures today as the light quality was dire, hopefully my next walk will enjoy better weather.