Adel Churchyard

As of last week I hadn't managed to capture any shots this year of Green Veined Whites at rest. Our trip to Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits provided the first pics and a visit to Adel Churchyard offered a few more opportunities to catch them feeding from the same flower Lady's Smock or Cuckoo Flower. The black tip on the forewing suggests that the first two are male Green Veined Whites.

A now familiar Small Copper, I watched it settle repeatedly on patches of earth where the vegetation was dried or worn away.

As we sat to admire the view this Mistle Thrush landed on a gravestone, other churchyard birds included, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Wren.

Friday wander around St Chad's

Today's lunchtime wander to St Chad's churchyard was accompanied by a chillsome wind and the occasional burst of sunshine. On the way, on campus two Mistle Thrush collected food from the ground under the emerging canopies of beech and cherry. The pair are presumably nesting nearby as they're are a familiar sight, boldly holding their own against the local Jackdaws.

In the churchyard a Song Thrush surveyed the grounds from above. (At least I think this ones a Song Thrush, it appeared smaller and rounder).

After a couple of lazy circuits of the churchyard I decided it was probably too breezy for butterflies, and smiled to myself as almost immediately I spotted a Peacock butterfly on the ground no more than half a metre away. Other than an occasional adjustment, angling itself to make the most of the sun, and a brief moment on the wing it remained there for the rest of my stay. I imagine the surrounding vegetation provided welcome shelter from the breeze.

On the way home I couldn't resist a pic of a nearby Lilac bush coming into blossom.

Kirkstall Abbey squabble

Down by the riverbank at Kirkstall Abbey three Mistle Thrush were engaged in a lively tussle around a weather damaged Willow. Well... two birds got stuck in whilst the third assumed the role of onlooker throughout & I presume two males were fighting over the female. The squabble went on for a couple of minutes until they were disturbed by oncoming walkers oblivious to the noisy duel overhead.

I have to admit that I had to ask my Dad for help in making sure these were Mistle Thrush & not Song Thrush. Here you can see the white underwings of a Mistle Thrush as opposed to the Song Thrush that has orange buff underwings.

The commotion seemed to attract the attention of other birds in the neighbourhood & quickly on the scene was a nosy Magpie, Long Tailed Tits, Chafinch, Wren, Robin and a Treecreeper.

Gertcha!

On returning to the spot 20 minutes later one bird remained, I wonder which one of the three it was.

By the Abbey a couple of Mute Swan flew directly overhead, heading NW providing a great view of the underside of the bird in flight.

Redwing & Mistle Thrush on Queenswood Rugby Pitch

On the way into work, on the Queenswood rugby pitch there was a mixed flock of approximately 30 Redwing & Mistle Thrush. Overcast with fog & light drizzle meant that the light was poor & I struggled to get any pics of the flock on the grass. I identified a couple of Mistle Thrush at the near posts but the majority in the middle and far end of the field appeared rounder & more compact. Occasionally they'd fly up into the trees bordering the pitch & allotments where I was able to get a better view & identify them as Redwing, Ive included a few pics just to confirm my sightings.

Sunny Saturday in Kirkstall

After popping along to the preview of Park Life, an exhibition on the Victorian origins of Leeds's parks and green spaces at Abbey House Museum, we enjoyed a sun soaked stroll down by the riverbank and along the Kirkstall Valley Park walk. Here's the view of the River Aire with the weir on the left. Unlike our recent visits there were no wintering Goosanders on this stretch of the river today, mainly Mallards, Moor Hens and Black Headed Gull, oh and a Grey Heron flew overhead to settle in a treetop overlooking the weir.

This Mistle Thrush was in the grounds of the Abbey.

Following the Kirkstall Valley Park walk, here are a few views along the way.

Its a lovely little woodland walk, mainly deciduous trees, brambles & ivy covered undergrowth with plenty of woodland birds, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Wren, Blackbird, Long Tailed Tit. Here we look downstream from the weir near the entrance to the Abbey Light Railway that runs on a Sunday.

Another view downstream.

At this point the walk rejoins the main road at Bridge Road, here's the view looking upstream back towards the Abbey. It was here that we were lucky enough to see the Kingfisher on Christmas day, it flew directly underneath us & off downstream.

Fieldfare and Redwing in Park Square

Earlier in the week I mentioned that there was a flock of Fieldfare in Park Square, Leeds City Centre. The birds were feeding on berries in the park and in the trees nearby. On Friday we popped into town to see if they were still there & to hopefully get a better look. Although there were much fewer birds approximately 6 Fieldfare remained, they were accompanied by a couple of Redwing and what we think was a juvenile Mistle Thrush (I'd appreciate feedback on this). A lovely clear sky made for some good pics, it was a delight to spend some time watching these beautiful winter visitors.

Fieldfare and Redwing feed alongside each other.

This is what we thought might be a juvenile Mistle Thrush, attracted by fruit & seed that we scattered on cleared ground to help them along.

Mistle Thrush at Civic

Here's one of the Mistle Thrush that I saw last week at Civic Quarter, Leeds Met. It was sat in the same Rowan Tree which is now completely stripped of berries. Good job well done Mistle Thrush...

Leeds Met nature

Up at Headingley Campus on a chilly Wednesday afternoon, I spotted a Red Kite circling the treetops of Beckett Park, the nearest sighting to home so far. On the Acre two pair of Mistle Thrush busied themselves, still there an hour later, they're reasonably undisturbed due to the fact that a substancial part of the Acre is cordoned off. Around by Queenswood I took a couple of snaps of bracket fungi on roadside logs.

On my way into work at Civic Quarter on Thursday, another pair of Mistle Thrush fed on the last remaining Rowan berries. In the afternoon, from our window, we noticed a large bird swooping around the vicinity of the Town Hall. Too far away to id', we soon lost sight of it but I wonder whether its another Red Kite, it certainly moved like one, with very little flapping of wings. I know that there's a Buzzard that feeds in Park Square, so maybe that was it. We'll continue our eyes in the sky operation & report back at a later date.

Mistle Thrush on the Acre, Headingley Campus

Turkeytail, bracket fungus on deciduous logs

Jelly Ear fungus