The second new bird of the year came in the shape of two flyover Sand Martins on 18/3.
This is quite a scarce summer visitor in the Huddersfield area mainly due to the lack of sandy banks needed to breed in. A couple of Tree Sparrows were seen again this spring and autumn and it would be interesting to know if they are from an unknown local colony nearby?
One of the highlights of the year was a male Lesser-Spotted Woodpecker, which spent 5 minutes on the Whins feeding in an Oak tree on 9/4.
This sparrow sized woodpecker is the smallest and rarest in the UK and another rapidly declining species and one of the most difficult species to see well in the UK.
It made several visits over the following week and called on several occasions but did not undertake its spring drumming unfortunately.
