For want of a better title... 

Today I do have the sightings from the book and have a new source! Thanks go to Gerald for sending me a pic of the book and a photo which shows that spring is definitely on the way.

From Gerald, blackthorn starting to flower. Blackthorn has flowers before leaves and hawthorn is the opposite.

Some new news today comes via Keith Saunders and Twitter - he told us of a brambling in the tree…

Hello again, I don't have the sightings book from Old Moor today but I do have quite a lot from Twitter.

However, I'll start with the news that the starling roost was greatly reduced last night via Jeff Wragg. Most likely due to the warmer weather and a want to go off to make a family of little starlings.  

Ian Morris was at Old Moor and kindly tweeted his sightings and told us that he'd had 59 species today.…

Hello there, it's all a bit late this eve re the blog but there is a very good reason! I stayed late to watch the starlings and what a lovely show they put on too. They started to gather a few pylons away either side of Old Moor before gathering as one, filling the sky and flying. They flew for about an hour before diving down into the reeds to the left of the reedbed screen, just as they did last year.

Here's a…

Hello again, last weekend was the time for the latest WEX meeting. The 'minibeast' from the East stopped play for Freddie and Evelyn as sadly,  they were unable to get to Old Moor.

That didn't stop them from following the theme for this month though and they had their own 'War on Waste' in the area in which they live.

Freddie told me that the best/yuckiest bit of waste that he found was a very long…

In the shadows, the vestiges of the recent snows could still be seen at Old Moor this morning. Yet in the sun – and there was plenty of it – life was responding to yesterday’s equinox. Yep, from now on the days are longer and the nights shorter.

For wildlife this means it’s time to get going and today at Old Moor there was ample evidence that birds, insects and plants were doing just that. In fact the…

Winter’s grip loosened again today and, with roads once again functional and buses running normally, it was business as usual at Old Moor today.

The morning began very well and the Early Birders reported that sixteen whooper swan, divided into two groups of seven and nine were on the Wader Scrape and Wath Ings respectively.

Five of the nine whooper swan on Wath Ings today

In fact there were sixty species of…

Hello there, a quickish blog today to let you know that we seem to have a rather large starling murmuration again at Old Moor. We've had a few hundred or maybe a couple of thousand birds on and off this winter, but nothing like the murms we had last year. 

Adam Hutt tweeted the news yesterday of a murmuration of between 15 - 20 thousand birds! So today I arrived at OM later on this aft with a plan to see if this would…

Hello again, the new news today is of 4 black necked grebes at Edderthorpe, 40 whooper swans at Wombwell early on, 7 avocet and a swallow at Adwick today! 

Martin Wells tweeted that this is the earliest ever record of a swallow in this area. The previous earliest were of singles at Orgreave Lakes on 17th March 2012 and at Adwick Washlands on 17th March 2017.

John Clarkson tweeted the following advice should you be wishing…

It’s not much of a song – to our ears at least – but the sound of a chiffchaff is another very welcome step in the direction of spring. Today, at Old Moor, Green Lane resounded with both its song and the song of a Cetti’s warbler near the small ‘reedbed’ there. It was almost as if they were trying to outdo each other.

Meanwhile, thanks to a bit of site-work on the gorse hedge that…

Hello there, there's lots to report today so with out further waffle, off I go. 

First today are the sightings from the book at Old Moor, thanks go to Danni for sending them my way today.

From the reedbed hide today there are reports of mallard, tufted duck, coots, mute swan, black headed gull, teal, Canada geese, oystercatcher on the banking and reed bunting. And from the screen, a water rail was heard.

Next to…

Hello there, there's lots to report today so with out further waffle, off I go. 

First today are the sightings from the book at Old Moor, thanks go to Danni for sending them my way today.

From the reedbed hide today there are reports of mallard, tufted duck, coots, mute swan, black headed gull, teal, Canada geese, oystercatcher on the banking and reed bunting. And from the screen, a water rail was heard.

Next to…

Finally, after a week or so of missing out, today I caught up with a sound that I have been waiting to hear. The sound? A blooming bittern of course!

The male bittern in question was calling from reedbed five (at the back and to the right of the Mere). And what a call! A resounding, earthy, deep, arresting, echoing, solid sort of sound.

More scientifically, it’s a penetrating series of extremely low tones that can carry…

If you were out and about today, you probably felt it. Something had changed. The first clue was that fewer people were wearing jackets. The second was the bird song. So many singers were broadcasting their intentions; that winter was finally vanquished; and that the season of new life had begun in earnest.

That super, yellow-browed warbler at Wombwell Ings

On Manvers Lake today were two mute swan, four great crested…

Hello there, as my title suggests, it was 14C today and beautifully mild. The first thing that struck me this aft was noise. Those black headed gulls are back! They seemed to have started to arrive last Monday and have been continuing to build up their numbers this week. 

I'll start today with Twitter news from various sites in the Dearne Valley and at Adwick in particular. Thanks go to all those who tweet the sightings…

I probably say this a lot - but then I’m an optimistic sort - it was another excellent day in the Dearne Valley. Not only were some truly outstanding birds out there, but the sun shone and, even though we may get sleet tomorrow, today it felt like spring.

The oystercatchers clearly agreed, and already had nesting on their minds

On Broomhill Flash today there was one hawfinch, one goldeneye drake and a solitary…

Hello there, today I have the sightings from the book and from Twitter.

I'll start with the news that both the firecrest and the yellow browned warbler were still at Wombwell Ings today.

The Barnsley Birders tweeted this new early on which enabled many more people to go and have a look at these two fabulous birds. Also at Wombwell today were 29 beautiful and gorgeous whooper swans - you know by now I love whoopers…

Honestly, I try not to start with a weather report but - finally, some warmth! Yes, after days of wintery weather, the sun finally came out and made for a very pleasant day’s watching indeed. Well, that and the fact that there were some really cracking birds out there!

It was great to see so many people enjoying Wombwell Ings today. And why not when there were: firecrest, yellow-browed warbler and chiffchaff along…

Very, very early this morning Old Moor’s redoubtable ‘Early Birders’ had already clocked up an impressive list to start the day. They found: five bearded tit, one Cetti’s warbler, three oystercatcher, seventy-five shoveler, forty pochard and a booming bittern.

It seemed that, although foggy and soggy, the day was off to a great start.

The first news from Wombwell Ings was that both firecrest…

Hello there, I'll start with the 'fabulous list' bit of my title and save the jellyfish on ice for a bit later....

Dave, our warden, was out and about early on as per usual and saw or heard the following before 9:30am! 

A booming bittern, Cetti’s warbler, bearded tit, water pipit, little egret (all Old Moor), hawfinch, barnacle goose, white fronted goose (Broomhill), firecrest, yellow browned warbler…

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…

Hello again, as you have no doubt guessed from my title, the yellow browned warbler, the Richard's pipit and the firecrest have again been seen at Wombwell Ings today.

David Bamforth tweeted the following from Wombwell Ings - I have seen Firecrest briefly this afternoon in same bushes as Yellow Browned, but it is elusive as people have spent hours looking and not seen it. Also at least 6+ Goldcrest in same area.

Day two of the Dearne’s notable double act began with snow flurries and biting cold. Not that this daunted the faithful who arrived at Wombwell Ings to see both Richard’s pipit and yellow-browed warbler.

In fact, a trip to the Dearne Valley today could have yielded the two birds above as well as a hawfinch (Broomhill), a white-fronted goose (Adwick), marsh and willow tits (Bolton) and a Med. gull (Edderthorpe…

I shall get on with all the other bird news in a moment, but really there was only one story in the Dearne valley today and only one place to be – Wombwell Ings. The reason? Well, in the first instance there were some truly exceptional views of the recent Richard’s Pipit.

If at this point you are scratching your head and saying, “Richard’s what?” then you can be forgiven because Anthus …

Hello again, I had a quickish visit to Old Moor this aft and just went down to the reedbeds. It was cold! That icy wind is back so wrap up warm if you are planning a visit soon, it doesn't look as though it's going to get warmer anytime soon.

News from Twitter today started with the sighting of 13 Whoopers by Jeff Wragg. They went west over Wombwell and a larger group (20+) were in the distance over Netherwood…

Hello again, what a treat I have for you from our young bloggers. Their latest WEX meeting was last Saturday and it was all about the beaks of birds. I most definitely learned a thing or two from Freddie & Evelyn!

They have once again written beautifully and their sketching is amazing, they just get better and better. Thanks very much Freddie & Evelyn and well done, we're very proud of your blog.

Evelyn…