To the delight of St Aidan's staff and visitors we’ve had sightings of a male hen harrier at the beginning of this week. Spotted early Monday morning at the North of Ridge and Furrow and up onto The Hillside. Deciding to stay for a little B&B in the area he was seen late on towards Western Reed beds and again the following morning over Ridge and Furrow and Hillside.Hen harriers, currently on the RSPB red list, hold a high priority for conservation efforts as mating pairs have declined in England.
Mick Noble (Swillington Ings Bird Group sibg1.wordpress.com)
The great white egret that visited us last week spent some time around Bowers at the beginning of the week before heading off to the Fairburn reserve down the road. Easily recognisable by a few missing feathers in its plumage.
After missing the excitement of hen harriers and great white egrets, I dragged myself out of bed early in order to have a head start on sightings at St Aidan’s in the morning. Deciding on a different route from which I took on my last visit in order to see and hear the most of the reserve. I headed up The Hillside for a view. There was a thick fog rolling over the reserve and blanketing the lakes. Looking back as I made my way up the hill, the long-retired mining machinery Oddball was draped from view in grey.
Mysterious and misty start to the day at top of The Hillside
I was filled with a sense of accomplishment as I finally reached the top and took in the view. I stood for a moment to take in the panorama and atmosphere. Faraway calls from gulls and geese broke the silence and as I turned to walk on through the trees, two roe deer crossed my path and disappeared into the mist covered trees.
Looping back down the Hillside to join onto the edge of The Ridge and Furrow, the fog hadn't cleared but dropped lower and created a cloud of chilled moisture to walk through. Along here, Canadian geese swooped noisily across the reedbeds and a wisp of meadow pipits glided quietly to my left.
Along the reed beds this week there have also been sightings of redshank, stonechats and gadwall. The Ridge and Furrow has played host to a huge amount of curlew and lapwing this week.
A very atmospheric pair of Canadian geese over Ridge and Furrow
Pointed out by fellow walkers to the left I saw again the roe deer, four now, chasing each other over Pastures. They’ll be taking advantage of the morning fog to hide and graze with an overview of the reserve.
Can you spot the roe deer in my very foggy photo?
It was time for a refill on the coffee, and after having a few minutes to warm up and chat to Gavin at the visitor centre, I headed round Bowers Lake and towards The Slip way where there have been some exciting kingfisher sightings this week.
Around Bowers Lake, I could hear (but not see) curlews amongst the crowd of coots and moorhens. There has also this week been a great crested grebe and great white egret on bowers.
I didn't end up seeing a kingfisher, perhaps they’d moved on to the Ridge and Furrow- where one is often spotted sat on the old canal wall fishing.
If you’d like to get involved with the RSPB at St Aidan’s our next community litter pick is on the 11th February
And for those with mini bird spotters that want to learn a bit about the our feathered residents we now have a bird and Beak trail at St Aidan’s that goes around the Lowther Loop. See a staff member in the visitor centre for a quiz whilst you walk.
And don’t forget in the run up to Big Garden Birdwatch we are holding a number of events on bird feeder making please go to our page more info
https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/st-aidans
To know about our work for Hen Harriers and other bird of prey species visit http://ww2.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/henharrierlife/