Hello there, after what seems an age, the sun came out around lunchtime today and you could almost hear the cheering from the visitors, the birds and the bees, insects, flowers and butterflies...and me!
It was a bit grey this morning as I wandered down to the reedbeds but I needn't have doubted the forecast. The sun, and warmth, definitely arrived today. The sightings today are just from Old Moor. For further info about what's been on our satellite sites today please look at the Twitter feed of @BarnsleyBSG.
Early doors via Karen we had sightings/hearings of two male bearded tits, 2 singing Cetti's, a cc marsh harrier and 3 med gull. She also told me she'd had the moth trap on last night and had 45 moths in the trap today. I'm planning on arriving early enough for the moth trap next weekend.
I'll start in the reedbeds where the bittern was booming and insects were flying. From the reedbed hide I saw little grebes,tufted duck, shovelor, a great crested grebe, greylag geese, pochard, black headed gulls and a kestrel.
Little grebe in the gloom this morning.
Great crested grebe with a meal.
Along the path to the reedbeds I heard chiffchaff, long tailed tits and goldfinches.
As I got back to the VC, the sun came out. I can't tell you how good that felt or how many people commented on this. In the bit of garden near the VC I spotted a 6 spot ladybird.
The pond near here had many tadpoles today along with pond skaters and what I think is a backswimmer.
The blackthorn blossom was looking amazing today and there were even a few bees, a comma butterfly and hoverflies feeding on it.
Comma butterfly.
A hungry bee...
On Green Lane today I also saw a male and female brimstone, chiffchaff and dunnocks. A peacock butterfly was also seen in the reedbeds.
Let's go next to Wath Ings. Here today we had little grebes, black headed gulls, mute swans, a little egret, pochard, gadwall, 2 common tern, 2 goldeneye and a little gull.
Male pochard today.
From the Wader Scrape hide we had sightings of a little egret, black headed gulls, a common sandpiper, 3 sand martins and 2 oystercatchers. Then we had 2 med gulls on the Mere and willow warbler, chiffchaff and blackcap on the field pools.
The Tree Sparrow Farm continues to be closed, the floor is drying and will soon be ready to re-open.
The Bird Garden was quite busy today with all the usual current suspects.
This male yellowhammer was a definite highlight as it fed near the hide.
We also have many plants coming into flower. One of my favs is the snakes head fritillary. You can find it on the path from the car park and in the little garden near the VC.
That's it for today. Please look at the Twitter feed from the Barnsley Birders - @BarnsleyBSG for sightings from our satellite sites today.
Andrew tomorrow.