With Halloween fast approaching, it was strangely fitting that many of the stories from Old Moor today were of a dark and grisly nature. So, abandoning my usual sunny optimism (and with my tongue firmly in my cheek), I will begin tonight with a murderous tale to chill your very blood!
If you are of a nervous disposition, I suggest you skip the next six paragraphs and head straight to those all-important (and calming) lists. If not, prepare yourself to be terrified beyond reason.
Our story starts when a young, golden plover ignored the advice of all the other plovers and strayed into the dark and lonely lands known as Wath Ings. He knew better. It was a sunny day. What harm could come to him? And he settled down to roost alone.
A lone golden plover from Tom Hibbert. Thanks Tom!
Yet his arrival did not go without notice. Nearby, a dark shadow loosened itself from the trees. Like a phantom, a young peregrine falcon fixed herself on her prey. She swooped across the Ings armed with razor-like talons and a beak best suited to tearing flesh!
Almost too late, the plover saw her approach. Round and round she chased the terrified goldie until tiredness at last overcame her victim. He could continue no longer and was plucked from the water by eight cruel claws.
'Not the end of the tale' from Tom HIbbert. Thanks again Tom!
Yet this fledgling killer did not dispatch the goldie straightaway. Oh no. The peregrine fumbled and dropped her catch onto the apparent safety of the green barrier that divides willow pool from main marsh.
Those of us who witnessed this painful spectacle hoped at this point that all was not lost. The goldie began to recover his wits and tried in vain to stand. But just as we thought he might yet escape, two carrion crows descended. They too had watched the attack and knew that this was their chance!
The last thing the goldie knew was the sting of two blackened, dagger-like beaks as they ended his short and incautious life!
A grey heron fishing on the Reedbed Trail
Old Moor’s Early Birders were almost caught napping today when, at 08:20, fourteen whooper swan flew across the reserve and headed towards Adwick. As if this were not enough, they also recorded three bearded tit, three Cetti’s warbler, ten water rail and seven snipe. There were also three pintail, 325 teal, eighty-three shoveler, 220 wigeon, ten pochard and one peregrine.
Meanwhile, at Adwick around sixty pink-footed geese flew over and headed southwest. A very smart, juvenile green woodpecker was also reported here today.
At Bolton Ings today were forty-five tufted duck, fourteen pochard, seven shoveler, one Cetti’s warbler and one goldeneye.
Broomhill Flash today provided sightings of forty-seven shoveler, sixteen tufted duck, eleven pochard, thirty teal, four snipe and two little egret.
Finally, for the valley roundup, on Manvers Lake there were six mute swan, eight great crested grebe and forty-two more tufted duck.
A handsome drake pintail on the Mere today
Returning to Old Moor, the highlights in the Bird Garden included a willow tit (hooray!), a female great spotted woodpecker, five bullfinch, two wren and a magpie set on her own killing spree - though this time the victims were bank voles!
Excitingly, early this morning a siskin flew across the reserve’s gardens but did not settle. Three redwing and two fieldfare did settle however and the latter were bolstered by a further fourteen birds last seen heading west.
In the Tree Sparrow Farm today were bullfinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, chaffinch, robin, wren, dunnock, tree sparrow, blackbird and kestrel. The latter drew a crowd when she caught and ate a bank vole in full view of the left-hand side of the screen.
On the Reedbed Trail today were: teal, shoveler, little egret, grey heron, four snipe, three bearded tit and a stoat. With them were coot, gadwall, teal, shoveler, kingfisher and mallard.
A male bearded tit from the Reedbed Screen
A single snipe and another kingfisher were seen at Field Pool West whilst on the Mere were three pintail, eleven cormorant and a single great crested grebe along with common gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull and black-headed gull.
All of which takes us back to Wath Ings Hide. Here were: three green sandpiper, one redshank, seven snipe, one golden plover (briefly), one peregrine, a sparrowhawk, a kestrel and a buzzard.
So, all in all, it was a pretty amazing day one way or another. More than sixty-two species were seen today and some watchers might have even neared seventy if they got really lucky. It was also a day of great drama and one that might serve to remind us that in nature the race for survival is not without its casualties.
Sleep well.