Hello again! 

The good news from today is that we have news of bearded tits. Karen told me that there has been some bearded tit activity in reedbed one today but not conclusive enough to say if we have juvenile beardies as yet. Watch this space!

She also told me that we have 2 med gull chicks. These are best seen from the Family Hide.

Bittern activity continues and everything is still progressing as we expect. Bittern flights can pretty much be seen from anywhere on the reserve providing that you are looking in the right place at the right time!

Moths... Karen kindly put the trap on last night and as I knew rain was forecast, I arrived at Old Moor earlier than it said the rain would arrive. Guess what? It was raining when I arrived at 7:15am... hey ho. I quickly took lots of photos to ID in a bit, but here are the highlights.

A lovely peach blossom moth.

  

A vibrantly pink elephant hawk moth. 

A cheery yellow brimstone moth. 

And a fab ghost moth. 

Sightings today come via Lauren as I was on bittern watch duty.

Wader Scrape was the place to be today with a female goosander, little egret and oystercatcher being recorded alongside adorable shelduck chicks accompanying their parents.
 
Wath Ings turned up common tern and little grebe while Field Pool East had a redshank.
 
I also saw common blue butterflies. 
 
Our wild flowers are looking amazing - especially the cow parsley and the yellow rattle. Last year I got into moths, this year I'm going to learn more about grasses...in an upcoming blog, more about 'Yorkshire Fog.' Yes, that is the name of a grass! 
 
Finally for today, more news from Karen and what she has been up to today - This morning I rotovated some of the area behind the oak tree on Green Lane. This area has done better for wild flowers this year and they are very visible from the path. This patch will be sown with crops for winter bird food. 
 

OK, finally, finally... BBC Springwatch will be at Old Moor this week!  Make sure that you tune in!