West Yorkshire
Direct Organiser(s) / Sponsor(s):
Caring For Life
Caring For Life Dawn Chorus Day
Bird List:
- Tawny Owl
- Blackbird
- Robin
- Wood Pigeon
- Magpie
- Coot
- Moorhen
- Crow
- Feral Pigeon
- Chaffinch
- Canada Goose
- Reed Bunting
- Great Tit
- Pheasant
- Willow Warbler
- Bullfinch
- Blackcap
- Sparrowhawk
- Long Tailed Tit
- Blue Tit
- Mallard
- Wren
- Chiffchaff
- Swallow
Event Information
| Date | 2-May-2011 |
|---|---|
| Start Time | 4:30am -8:30 |
| Location | Crag House Farm Leeds West Yorkshire |
| Admission | £10.00 including breakfast |
| Breakfast | Coffee and brownies in bird hides! Full English Breakfast included in entry price. Cereals, Orange juice, Bacon, home produced pork sausage, black pudding, hash browns, fried eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and beans, Toast + home made marmalade. |
| Suitable for children | Yes |
| Contact | Esther Smith |
| esther.smith@caringforlife.co.uk | |
| Telephone | 077 933 07236 |
| Additional Information | Coffee and brownies in bird hides! Full English Breakfast included in entry price. Cereals, Orange juice, Bacon, home produced pork sausage, black pudding, hash browns, fried eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and beans, Toast + home made marmalade. |
| Stories | |
| This was our first Dawn Chorus Event at Caring For Life, Crag House Farm. Twenty four people attended, with many arriving by 4am for "early bird" coffee and donuts! One participant had heard a Tawny Owl as he arrived on site, and the first blackbirds began singing well before 4:30am. Our walk lasted two hours, taking in the sensory garden area and Top Hide, where more coffee and some brownies helped to keep us awake. The dawn chorus was in full swing by 5am, with robins and chaffinches having joined in, occasionally accompanied by sounds from the coots and moorhens n the top pond and the distant cawing of crows or calling of a pheasant in the valley. Walking on down into the valley area we were thrilled to hear a Willow Warbler, literally singing from the willows by the path. We were greatly helped by one keen birdwatcher, who enabled us to identify the different songs of the Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap. All three were singing in the valley area, which was covered in frost, with mist still rising from the ponds. Some stayed in the Lower Hide for a while, whilst others walked round the two ponds and down by Moseley Beck, where other keen birdwatchers spotted a mallard with four ducklings and also saw a female sparrowhawk overhead. The group walked along the edge of a section of ancient woodland, listening to the warblers and enjoying the sight of the bluebells, early flowering this year and the hawthorn also coming into blossom. The banks of the beck were lined with bluebells, stitchwort and wild garlic, adding to a cold but absolutely beautiful morning. Everyone was glad to get back to the Centre for a Big Breakfast, to get warmed up, chat and swap notes. All agreed that this first event had been a success and should be repeated. Despite the cold catching some of us out, we all felt it had been a magical start to the day,and an opportunity to enjoy something of the beauty of creation. | |
