It was a sight to make a heart glad – despite the grey and chilly weather, Old Moor’s car parks were full to overflowing! Donned in winter woollies and (wisely) wellies, visitors of all ages took time out from their Easter Sundays to enjoy nature in the Dearne Valley.
And it was a good day to do it too. Today is the first day the reserve stays open until 8pm – though the Visitor Centre does close at 5 o’clock. Why is that important? Apart from more watching time (always a good thing), sunset is currently around ten to eight. This means that, for a while at least, visitors can appreciate the various bird roosts, any starling action and all those crepuscular critters that we don’t normally get to see.
Add all that to an impressive day’s list of sixty-one species of bird seen and it’s no wonder that the place was busy!
Almost the first sound to meet my ears at Old Moor today – one of many singing dunnock
But before I provide the picture at Old Moor, it is well worth turning our attention to the remarkable Adwick Washland. Here today, Messrs Smith and Stones provided us with the sightings. They recorded: four little egret, six avocet, twenty-four redshank, two black-tailed godwit, two ringed plover, nine snipe, three pink-footed geese, one shelduck, nine grey partridge, three buzzard and four chiffchaff.
Add to that, one grey heron, three mute swan, eleven Canada geese, twenty-five greylag geese, twenty-eight mallard, forty-seven teal, fifty-three wigeon, eight shoveler, 114 gadwall, eight tufted duck, seventy coot, forty-seven moorhen, 178 black-headed gull and nine common gull.
And then there were: around thirty herring gull, ninety-five lapwing, two snipe, two little grebe, one oystercatcher, one white wagtail and one cream-crowned marsh harrier that flew up-river towards Old Moor at 12:30! Impressive work as ever! Thanks.
The bird that carries its own exclamation mark – the curlew!
Back at Old Moor, in the Bird Garden and Tree Sparrow Farm today there were: blue tit, blackbird, bullfinch, crow, chaffinch, collared dove, dunnock, goldfinch, great tit, greenfinch, long-tailed tit, magpie, mallard, moorhen, pheasant, reed bunting, robin, stock dove, tree sparrow, woodpigeon and yellowhammer.
On the Reedbed Trail were: bittern (booming throughout the day near the Monitoring Hide), two bearded tit (one male), two Cetti’s warblers, a buzzard, a curlew, eight tufted duck, three little grebe, a cream-crowned marsh harrier (see above), black-headed gull, one kestrel, two great crested grebe, two calling water rail, four calling reed bunting and a wren.
That wandering marsh harrier, ex of Adwick and seen here over Old Moor
The Mere today provided sightings of: black-headed gull, Canada geese, nine cormorant, gadwall, greylag geese, six herring gull, six lesser black-backed gull, two Mediterranean gull, six oystercatcher, five pochard, two redshank, two shelduck, teal, shoveler and starling.
The Field Pool was where lucky folk saw the curlew before it flew across the reedbeds and off the reserve. With it were: two snipe, wigeon, teal, jackdaw, twenty-six lapwing, two lesser black-backed gull and three little grebe. Nearby, on Green Lane, both Cetti’s warbler and chiffchaff could be heard singing.
Ta da! A Med. gull shows off… BHG unimpressed
On the Wader Scrape were: two goosander, two herring gull, two oystercatcher and both pied wagtail and starling.
Finally to Wath Ings where watchers saw: two little egret, five mute swan, one kestrel, two oystercatcher, three grey heron, one green woodpecker, five goldeneye (three females), one herring gull and two snipe along with shoveler, teal, tufted duck and wigeon.
And that about wraps it up for today. Mind you, with Old Moor open for another two hours, I shouldn’t be surprised if we could add a few owls to that list!
- Oh, and to the wag who put 'pelican' in the sightings book today, I'm not falling for that one...
again!
Until next time.