Some days everything just works brilliantly!
More on that in a moment but first, here is a summary of today’s sightings from Old Moor…
It all started at Adwick Washland.
There Malcolm Gough and others picked up the spectacular silhouette of a crane flying overhead at 10:47. The bird was heading west, towards Old Moor. It was the watchers at Adwick who generously got the message out – and quickly. Within minutes of their sighting, staff and volunteers at Old Moor knew what was happening.
In the Wader Scrape hide, visitors arrived with the question – ‘Have you seen a crane?’ Some wondered if this was an elaborate joke – after all, work was being carried out on the Mere today though the heavy machinery was more of a digger than a crane!
However, after a quick check of phones, volunteers and Old Moor regulars began to scan the skies.
Meanwhile, in the Visitor Centre, staff there relayed the news to folk just arriving on the reserve. They even led a group of visitors into the courtyard and focused their attention on the skies above the Mere.
And there it was, distant at first but unmistakable. It was picked up flying high at first, above the power lines between the ‘Monitoring’ and ‘Bittern’ hides. Yet, rather than heading further west, this crane was circling.
Within seconds, volunteers, staff and regulars had put just about every visitor within hailing range, onto the bird.
Better still, the crane had descended now and was calling. The trumpeting, slightly melancholic tones drifted down to the watchers beneath, whose faces broke into smiles of delight as the crane came ever closer.
After circling the Mere, the bird headed out towards Broomhill, Wombwell and then east towards Adwick again, eventually being lost to view around 11:14.
For those of us lucky enough to be there, this was birding at its very best: unselfish; cooperative and joyous.
Until next time.