Photographs of some of the birds at our two feeding stations

                                       Blue tits: Doing what they do well. Even with one leg.

                                                  Long Tailed Tits. Great small birds.

 I do like Dunnock's. I know they are just a small brown job but good light brings out great detail in the subtle colour of their feathers.

                       Chaffinches are looking quite colourful at the moment, even the females

 Jays are not coming down as regular as they were. Look out for one with a possible broken leg.

                                                          Everyone loves Goldfinches.

 These Nutatches have been the stars of the show since September. Let's hope they have a good breeding season.

                                               Robins are always photogenic.

 It's only a Black bird but I still love to see the male Blackbird. That yellow eye-ring is special.

                   Bullfinches. Declining in some areas but still going strong on the reserve.

THANK YOU!

A big thank you to Calderdale Small Grants for funding our banners and our business cards - along with a whole lot of other things to help everyone enjoy visiting Cromwell Bottom Nature Reserve.

I had to check one out for size on our garden shed..... Do you think its big enough? [the banner, not the shed!]

Spring is here!

Please pick up some cards from the cabin and help to spread the word about Cromwell Bottom around your family and friends.

Love this place

A Different View of One of the Regulars

Last weekend one of our Twitter followers and regular visitors set up a remote camera in the feeding station to try and get some different angles on the Jays. Here's one of Andy Swindens shots he kindly let me borrow for the blog. You don't usually see them from this perspective. Thanks Andy

Cromwell Bottom Wildlife Group

We will be holding our 5th Annual General Meeting

On Wednesday the 13th of APRIL 2016 Full details here ...

National Wildlife Crime Unit

National Wildlife Crime Unit saved at the last minute.
For more see HERE

One from the past

Image taken this time last year. I hope that is allowed (?)  -but I thought it quite amusing.

Birds at Cromwell

            Birds seen at Cromwell Bottom today, didn't
            manage to spot the Mink that was hanging about
            which was seen by Nigel up by the weir just before
            we put the world to rights, no Willow/Marsh Tit to
            be seen though the wife & me had a good scout for it.

                                          Why did I do it

Jays

A piece about jays on a BTO blog that might be of interest:

http://btoringing.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/what-happened-to-all-jays.html

A quiet afternoon

It was a quiet afternoon today at the bird feeding area.  Nothing beyond the usual suspects: blue tits, great tits, chaffinch, robin, bullfinch, dunnock and magpie.  As I was leaving about 5 pm, a couple told me they had just seen a deer head from the Tag Cut area towards the river up over the meadow.  I didn't get to see it, but they were quite excited with their sighting.  Is it usual to see a deer in this area of the reserve?

A few images from last Thursday 11th February

Work Day Saturday 13th of February

Our work day on the 13th was very successful. Almost 30 volunteers arrived to plant saplings on a recently cleared area of the site. Several hundred of several species of bushes and small trees were planted over a large area.
The Elland Round Table came along as did young members of the 17th Linthwaite Explorers. They all did a sterling job. Thank you all. Hot drinks were supplied in the Cabin.

Volunteers arrive

Some of the 100's of saplings 

Hot drinks and lunch 







Members of the 17th Linthwaite Explorers

 

Cromwell Birds Today

         Cromwell birds that I've seen today in a 2 hour spell
         and a big applause for the members who were hard
         at work near the cabin today.

         Bullfinch, Chaffinch,
         Blue, Coal, Great and Long Tailed Tits,
         Sparrowhawk fly through,
         2 Goldcrest by the ponds,
         1 Pied Wagtail between canal and river near bridge,
         1 Jay in same place,
         6 Comorant on ski lake and lots of Gulls,
         1 Goosander on river near the weir,
         2 Dunnock, 2 Blackbirds, 2 Wren,
         what looked like a Raven but not 100%,
         Crows and Magpies.

                                          Claremount  Ravens for Steve

Few from Sunday

Returning Birds

Water Rail, Siskins & Redpolls seen down at CBNR today
great to see these birds turning up on the site again.

National Nest Box Week

NNBW takes place each year from 14-21 February, and after more than 15 years it is now an established part of the ornithological calendar.

For further information please look at this link: 

 http://www.bto.org/about-birds/nnbw

Thanks to Margaret for alerting me to this.