The promise of autumnal gales and heavy rain hung heavily over the Dearne Valley today. Yet the optimists among us know that these things are often overblown and headed out anyway. A wild day is, after all, what autumn is all about and – well, you never know what surprises those winds will bring!
Sure enough, it turned out that the seasoned watchers were right: the rain never really reached the forecast proportions and there were some absolute gems to be enjoyed out there today.
A kestrel limbers up from John Sanderson. Thanks John!
At Wombwell Ings, Alan Whitehouse found: 151 lapwing, 133 golden plover, ten ruff, six dunlin, four ringed plover, thirty-eight teal, forty-six wigeon, twenty-eight shoveler and a peregrine. Thanks Alan!
Over at Edderthorpe, John Clarkson reported: eight wigeon, eight ruff, two golden plover, about 280 lapwing, seven little egret, 152 lesser black-backed gull and four common gull. Thanks John!
Curlew sandpiper and redshank from Ian Morris. Thanks Ian!
Back at Old Moor, the first of the day’s surprises came in the form of a tiny – and perhaps even overlooked – bird in the Bird Garden. Here among the familiar were a pair of coal tits. What’s so unusual is that Old Moor seldom has this species recorded. Yesterday a single bird was seen and today it looks like he brought a mate!
Also in the Bird Garden were: greenfinch, goldfinch, great tit, blue tit, chaffinch, blackbird, dunnock, stock dove, collared dove and magpie. Sadly, no one spotted a treecreeper today though that is another ‘unusual-for-Old-Moor species’ that is about at present.
For comparison, spotted redshank (left) and redshank (right)
Another surprise this morning was that a small flock of siskin that were recorded as being “in the trees and bushes where the path turns for the reedbed”. Sadly I have no more detail than that but they are certainly a bird to look out for at present.
Nearly all the remaining sightings in the Old Moor record book today come from Wath Ings where there was, as ever, plenty to see. Watchers recorded: five ringed plover, six dunlin, one redshank, four green sandpiper, one curlew sandpiper and seven ruff. There were also eighty-three lesser black-backed gull, three herring gull, one black-tailed godwit, four snipe, one kingfisher, a kestrel, two little egret and five grey heron. I should also make special mention of that immaculate spotted redshank – still present and usually not far from the willows to the left of Wath Ings.
A male sparrowhawk from yesterday in the Tree Sparrow Farm
At one point the winds drove twenty-seven golden plover over the marsh but, for reasons best known to themselves, they didn’t settle.
Two other small surprises turned up later in the afternoon. The first was an absolutely startling pied wagtail; bright white head and pure black mantle. Now I know we see these birds frequently but when you see a really smart one, it’s a whole other story.
The last small surprise was a grey wagtail near the exposed willow roots on the Willow Pool. Like many watchers, I can’t remember the last time I saw a grey wag here. We have had one or two near the visitor centre and last year in the Bird Garden if memory serves, but it’s been a while since they made an appearance at Wath Ings. Either way, it was very welcome.
Swimming like an oversized phalarope, the spotted redshank (again)
So, that is almost your lot for this evening. Today’s cormorant count on the Mere was ten birds and all over the reserve at present there are charms of juvenile goldfinch feasting on the various seed heads.
I’ll conclude with two reminders and another small surprise. This weekend is a Binocular and Telescope Event and details for this can be found here. The second is that, this Saturday, Old Moor plays host to ‘The Bug Lady’ – an event designed to show how important those creepy crawlies are! More details can be found here and booking is essential.
The final small surprise of the day was not a bird or animal at all. Thanks to the guidance of Old Hilmian, I was pointed towards a beautiful fly agaric mushroom. Not at all tasty to humans but clearly tasty to mice or slugs, this one had been nibbled a little but all around there were signs of more to follow. Watch this space.
Until next time.
Fly Agaric – Amanita muscaria