Every parent should provide a mixed and varied diet for their children - near the weir Saturday

Afternoon Stroll

          Had a nice stroll around the reserve today on a nice but windy
          afternoon, plenty of bird song about which was nice to hear.
          First birds seen were Blue Tits, Great Tits, Nuthatch & Robin
          on the car park feeders, then over the weir bridge was an unknown
          bedraggled and soaked bird and then a Long Tailed Tit by the
          kissing gate, on to the viewing area and a Jay was just flying off,
          it was seen twice again later in the day, 4 Bullfinch, 2 Coal Tit,
          3 Blue Tits, 3 Great Tits, 1 Dunnock, 2 Wood Pigeon, 2 Robin.
          Over the bridge on the river were 2 Goosanders and 2 Grey Wagtail
          one was a young un, then down by the river 2 Blackcap, 1 Wren,
          2 Chiff Chaff, and a couple of Damsel fly's, down at the reed bed
          Sedge & Reed Warblers were singing like mad but stayed hidden,
          Mistle Thrush was seen down there and a Reed Warbler showed
          itself over the canal and then a Whitethroat and a Willow Warbler',
          on the way back to the car on the canal path seen a Heron flyover
          and then a Kingfisher flew along the river.
                   
          Bumped into a lady with a basket full of Mallard ducklings and there
          mother that had been hit by a car nr Brighouse she let them out on the
          canal and crossed her fingers for their future, then was talking to a
          Gentleman who was disgusted at Cormorants being shot and Otter
          traps been set down at the fishing lake.
         

'New Plan for Cromwell Bottom'

Hi all has any body got a plan/ map of what the Council are proposing to do with CB.?? I find it hard to comment when we don't know what they are proposing.??

Last day Today

Lets have a last minute surge and vote for us at AVIVA. This is the last day we have to boost our chances of obtaining a Grant.
Please vote here: https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/1826/

Many thanks to those who have already voted.

Hi all

The Open Day scheduled for the 20th of June 2015 is now postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. These hopefully will be resolved by mid/late August so we intend to have our Open Day then.This will be advertised fully later so keep your eyes peeled. The meeting below is still scheduled on the 20th of June as advertised.

Saturday 20 June
Bumblebee Hunt around Cromwell Bottom

Join Steve from Halifax Scientific Society and Robin Dalton on an easy ramble around Cromwell Bottom nature reserve to hunt for some of our busiest insects – bumblebees. 

Meet in the car park (behind Cromwell House, off the A6025 Elland-Brighouse road HD6 2RG – look out for the brown road sign) at 2pm.

Bruce (Treasurer)

Sand Martin Walls

         Couple of idea's for Sand Martin Walls used at the Wildlife Trusts
         Nature Reserve at Staveley.

Watched a grey wagtail fly catching and feeding a fledgling last night.

only 7 more days to go...

Voting closes on 30th May for the Aviva Community Fund. We've had lots of support so far - 859 votes as of this evening. Can we make it to 1000? Maybe we can find just 15 more people out there willing to give us their 10 votes each? If you have already voted please encourage someone else to add their support - many thanks! Margaret

One of our twitter followers was on the reserve very early today and caught this fella on the lagoon. Thanks to Ade for the photo.

Mink on the warpath

           No pic of it coz camera played up but I seen it up by the weir
           on the North Loop side so birdies and animals beware.

Bee Killing Pesticides

       LINK - KeEP THE BAN ON BEE-KILLING PESTICIDES

Toxic chemical companies are trying to get their banned pesticides back on UK fields. Sign the petition to keep the ban on bee-killing pesticides.

An Evening With The Brownies. 20/5/2015

David and myself met 14 Brownies on site along with Gail and other helpers.

They were doing one of their badges, recording birds, insects, trees and other plants. A couple of very well behaved dogs came along too. The session lasted around 90 minutes. This is part of their Seasons Badge Syllabus.

We all assemble in the car park.

I think the count was 14. This is the only time they were still.

High Vis on and Gail tells them the rules.

                    The river and weir were inspected

A quick rest by the Bird feeding Area

Writing Prize 2015

Halifax Scientific Society is offering a new field guide of your choice as a prize in a competition for a piece of writing about Wildlife and the Natural environment.

See their blog on Calderdale-wildlife.blogspot.com.

AVIVA Voting

Thank you to everyone who has voted for us - so far we have 793 votes. If you want to help there's still time. Voting is open until 30th May and we really appreciate your support. It would be great to have this grant - follow the link at the top of the page to find out why.

Today's Visit

                     Today's visit was fairly quiet bird wise but there was a strong
                     wind blowing, bumped in to GH, AW, DL who made me jealous
                     about there upcoming trip to Mull and then had a good natter to
                     Roy in the bird viewing area and he'll be gutted that I spotted the
                     Kingfisher flying down the river just after he had left.
                     Buzzard was flying high overhead or was it the Marsh Harrier
                     thats been seen locally as it had same cutting in its wing as was
                     seen in a photo of the Marsh Harrier thats going around and when
                     I first seen it circling it had the look of a Red Kite, I also got to see
                     my first Cromwell Bottom Sedge Warbler and 2 first time this spring
                     Swift and the vole popped out for a nosey.
                   
                      1 Buzzard ?
                      1 Grey Wagtail
                      1 Kingfisher
                      4 Blackcap
                      3 Chiff Chaff
                      4 Willow Warbler
                      1 Long Tailed Tit
                      3 Wren 1 Reed Bunting
                      1 Sedge Warbler
                      2 Coot, 6 Mallard, 10 Canada's
                      and the regular Tit's & Finches
                      2 Swift.

                 

From The Undergrowth

Just a quick reminder that this months piece will be in the Brighouse Echo from the 21st of May.  gwh

Love this place

I think someone's going to need to feed Basil and his wife tomorrow

Goosanders

 All these images of Goosanders were taken early on the 1st of May. It was great to see them relaxed and resting in the early morning sunlight. How long before we begin to see female goosanders with young? Like many others, I hope they have a good breeding season.