Sometimes we all get carried away with how rare the birds we see are, to the point where the more common but still amazing sights are overlooked. Our new blogger, Phil - took one of his first trips around Fairburn Ings and shares his experience.
He'll be writing frequent blogs, and teaching his young daughter Poppy all about wildlife and why we should protect it along the way.
'There is honestly nothing better than a Sunday walk around Fairburn Ings. This is a something have been saying to everyone I meet over the past week, having had my first taste of this beautiful reserve. Utilising and transforming an old mining site in such a way is incredibly resourceful and got me thinking how nature can be given a home anywhere.
Fairburn Ings - Big Hole - Year, anyone?
My walk took me around the flashes to the Lin Dike hide. It was quiet as I entered the hide, with an amazing view of the Spoonbill Flash. In the centre of the water had gathered a bevy of swans, who’s reflections stretched out in the water beneath them. Joining the swans were coots, which were peppered across the water and banks of the flash.
Upon leaving Lin Dike hide, I backtracked but this time took the high road on to the Coal Tips trail, where I was treated to a fantastic display from a skein of geese overhead flying around the Coal Tips. Once the geese had finally landed they joined the vast variety of birds up there including swans, coots and moorhens. A real surprise upon the coal tips was a sighting of a red-legged partridge flying from tree to tree, which sadly made it impossible to get a good photograph of it.
But here's what one looks like! Image: Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
After descending the Coal Tips I headed back to the visitor centre, stopping at the kingfisher screen. Hoping to catch sight of one diving for its prey, I waited there silently for 30 minutes as I had never seen one. Unfortunately this was not the day I was going to spot one.
I may not have spotted a kingfisher then but whilst swinging by Pick Up Hide, I was lucky enough to get a shot of a pheasant sharing some feed with some blue tits, showing how wildlife co-exists perfectly.
A balancing act!
Having had such an exhilarating walk and seeing so much wildlife I can’t wait to bring my family back in the coming weeks. But in the meantime I’ll be introducing my daughter to wildlife in wherever possible.
Interestingly enough, having missed the kingfisher during my visit, I was amazed that today whilst walking in my local park I saw a kingfisher perched above a flowing stream waiting and ready to hunt. This shows you really do not have control about what you spot, it’s about keeping an eye on nature and ensuring we work hard to keep giving nature a home.'
Fairburn Ings is open 9am-4pm every day other than Christmas Day - we hope to see you here!