Two Of The Three ‘Legs’ – Sightings, 6 June

‘Shank’ is an old-fashioned word for ‘leg’ and links two birds found at Old Moor today. Most visitors reported just the one red 'shank' on the Wader Scrape but the other, a ‘greenshank, was a new arrival. [I can only think of three UK birds with ‘shank’ in their name - but I’ll leave you to ponder what that last one is!]

Here’s what else was seen today…

It can be hard to see it, but the long legs of the greenshank are indeed a sort of pale, yellow green. Here’s the bird in question, running across the Wader Scrape this afternoon.

It was also a day when Yorkshire Water supplied a work party of eight people who set about painting the outside of the hides. Green of course. They made a big difference in a very short time. Thanks all.

Other sightings on the Scrape today included a fine brood of shelduck-lings: nine at present.

(There's one out of shot)

In fact, new life is everywhere you look at the moment at Old Moor. Amazingly, there are eight broods of pochard on Wath Ings with a total (so far) of 64 chicks!

A very young cygnet, one of four on Wath Ings today

It is well worth watching the nest boxes around the reserve at this time. Here’s one that’s occupied by a family of blue tits where this afternoon the adult birds were arriving with food every few minutes.

But there was one chick that had eluded me on my last visit and one that I was keen to see – the young Mediterranean gull. On Island One of the Mere, look closely at the brooding adult and you may get a chance to see the next generation of Med. gulls raised at Old Moor.

Of course it’s not just the birds that are blooming at the moment. Today also saw the first appearance of those enigmatic (and sneaky) flowers, the bee orchids. Their blossoms mimic a female bee in an attempt to encourage a male to try to mate with it and therefore pollinate the flower.

So to finish tonight’s blog, here’s one of three plants in bloom right now, each only a short distance from the Visitor Centre.

Until next time.