After two days of some pretty un-spring-like weather, Old Moor re-opened today. Roads are now cleared of snow; paths are perfectly usable; and - for the moment at least - it’s business as usual.
Some watchers, thankfully, didn’t miss a beat and have kept the reports coming. More power to ‘em I say! As such, I can tell you that the Richard’s pipit, the yellow-browed warbler and the firecrest can all still be found at (or near) Wombwell Ings. In fact, I managed to pick up two out of three myself this afternoon, though I was a bit late for the Richard’s pipit which was seen up to 11:30. After that it flew towards Broomhill Flash.
The tiny-but-tough, yellow-browed warbler was found throughout the day and, to the great joy of most watchers there, the firecrest showed well both on the near and far banks of the river. Best bet for that one is to watch the river banks between the reserve gate and the outflow.
- Still working on a firecrest pic. Until then, here's that fantastic little YBW!
At Bolton Ings, both marsh and willow tits could be found along with eighty-five shoveler and a white-fronted goose.
Back at Old Moor, in the Bird Garden there were: blackbird, song thrush, blue tit, great tit, long-tailed tit, great spotted woodpecker, chaffinch, bullfinch, greenfinch, dunnock, pheasant and magpie. There were also: goldfinch, reed bunting, robin, stock dove, woodpigeon, wren, tree sparrow, collared dove and fieldfare. The latter could also be found just outside the Visitor Centre courtyard along with mistle thrush.
A goldcrest at Wombwell Ings today
Other sightings at Old Moor included: one lesser black-backed gull, eleven pochard, twelve shelduck, one oystercatcher, a buzzard, one peregrine, five goosander, three herring gull, two common gull, forty-one cormorant, four snipe and a male merlin no less! The merlin was seen sitting on a post on the Reedbed Trail by several experienced watchers on their way to the Reedbed Hide.
It just goes to show that, with wintery weather, almost anything can turn up. And with that - until next time.