Go! – Sightings, 11 Apr

It was as if somebody out there fired a starting pistol today – and everything happened all at once! You’ll see what I mean when you scan today’s summary of sightings…

Bolton Ings news is provided by non-other than John Seeviour and includes a lesser whitethroat, three goldeneye, six chiffchaff and four blackcap. A full listing can be found here. Thanks John.

Adwick Washland’s sightings from Gary Stones can be found here and include: a male wheatear, a yellow wagtail, eighteen avocet, four ringed plover and four little ringed plover. Thanks Gary.

Little ringed plover from Gary Stones.

Karen Williams kicked off the morning at Old Moor with a frame from the remote camera in Reedbed 5. Always a treat to see. Thanks Karen.

Then a very single-minded Dave Waddington was seen trying to locate a mandarin drake that had flown from the Field Pools towards the Mere. Another sighting new to the reserve.

Not long after, Peter Walsh tweeted of an adult whooper swan and two little ringed plover on the Wader Scrape. Thanks Pete.

With a willow warbler singing near the Bittern Hide and a bittern flyby in front of the Family Hide, the day already looked like a cracker!

But it only got better!

The first young little grebe; a pair of great crested grebe ‘dancing’; and - perhaps best of all – a cuckoo calling! There’s no doubt about it, the reedbeds are hotting up nicely!

One more surprise topped the day, for only the second time this year, an avocet was seen by visitors to Old Moor. The record in the sightings book lists it as seen from the Reedbed Hide.  As there are avocet nearby at Adwick, we hope that it won’t be long before another joins it.

Sadly, that’s about it for this evening and, from me at least, for a week or so. I’ll be back somewhere around St. George’s Day.

Until then.