November 2010 - Old Moor RSPB in the snow

Sunday 28th: It was bitterly cold today! With overnight temperatures dropping to -7, the snow from last Friday night, froze. Still, undeterred, a trip out to Lakeside and Old Moor RSPB was the plan. But first a visit over to the town centre Tesco where there was a faint chance of seeing Waxwings. Unfortunately, no sign at all of the elusive bird that has spread across the country this autumn. It seems that the Doncaster area is a no-go zone for these brightly coloured Scandinavian birds! We did see a Song Thrush perched on top of the clock tower spire above the store and a few Blackbirds, Robin and various members of the Tit family.

So onto Donny Lakeside in search of a Black Redstart that had been seen there yesterday. Well... you guessed, no sign at all. What we did catch sight of, though purely by accident and if we had been paying attention, we would have got a good close view, was a Kingfisher! It had been perched close to us and we watched as it flew at low-level across the surface of the lake to the other shore. A Cormorant perched on a buoy in the middle of the lake, with its beak raised to the sky with indifference! Plenty of other waterfowl; Canada Geese, Mute Swans, Tufted Ducks, Mallards and Pochards.... and of course, the ever-present Black-headed Gulls standing on the frozen lake along with 2 Herring Gulls... oh, and... the Coots.

A twenty minute drive over to Old Moor RSPB through the snowy countryside. It was perishingly cold! At the garden hide were many song birds namely Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Bulfinch, Blue Tits, Great Tits and Long-tailed Tits.

A couple of Pheasants were also in attendance. Over at the Tree Sparrow farm Sandra and myself saw at least two Yellowhammers, with several Tree Sparrows, Chaffinches and several Magpies.

The lakes were frozen and what water fowl were there, were massed together over where the water was still ice-free. Quite a few Wigeon could be seen together with Mallards, 8 Goosanders. a small flock of Golden Plover stood on the ice in a long line facing into the bitting wind.

Interspersed were with the Golden Plover were Lapwings. A fellow birder pointed-out a Peregrine Falcon perched high on a pylon. Well even through the scope I couldn't identify it as it was so far away as the photo shows. But he assured us that it was indeed a Peregrine Falcon.
Walking back to get a cuppa, someone shouted, "Waxwings!" We all looked up but again we couldn't be sure. Now for that hot cuppa tea and home! Though my toes and fingers were frozen... it was a good day out.

September 2010 - Old Moor RSPB

Wednesday 22nd: Today I went over to my local RSPB nature reserve near Rotherham. A warm late September day meant that it was shirt-sleeve weather -no need of a jacket! I called for Sandra and we got there just before lunch time. almost immediately we were treated to some sights: a male and female Bullfinch, Sandra's first since 2006! Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits and even a Willow Tit (we think), was seen from the hide attached to the Visitor Centre. Luckily everything is very close at this hide as my binoculars are just too powerful... must remember to bring the 10x25's as well! Being a warm day, there were plenty of Dragonflies about and one of the Red Darters even landed on Sandra's hand, obliging long enough for me to grab some photos! The Tree Sparrow Farm area was strangely quiet with a couple of birds about, a Tree Sparrow (Sandra's FIRST) and a chiffchaff.

On the Main lake there were the usual suspects: Canada Geese (37), Mallards, Coots, Gadwalls, a couple of Mute Swans, 5 Great Crested Grebes, 5 Little Grebes with 2 Cormorants and 10 Wigeon. Across the lake wheeled 8 Swallows or were they House Martins?

The highlight of the day was over at Wath Ings hide. Here there were flocks of various types of bird, all congregated over the grassy banks and mudflats. Unusual to say the least was the sight of 11 Grey Herons all equally spaced along the bank or fishing in the shallows. A large flock of Lapwings was on the mudflats, could have been 200+. Amongst them were smaller numbers of Golden Plover. As always I take my scope and that just added to the enjoyment of seeing the details of the birds. Amongst all this were... well at least 20 maybe 30 Linnets! Again Widgeon with some Pochard and quite a few Shovelers! A Kestrel disturbed the flock and all Lapwings, Plovers and Linnets took to the air. A mass flock swirled around the sky as the Kestrel tried to pick one from the swirl! Fantastic... but the sight of a lovely plumaged Black-tailed Godwit on the far bank was the bonus!

After a quick bite to eat we toured the outlying areas of the NR where we came across what I took to be a Scaup. Now female Tufted Ducks are often mistaken for Scaups but this duck was bigger than your average female Tufted Duck. The jury is still out on that and I will need to consult some more pictures and compare with mine.

The late afternoon had brought the cool air and the sky became overcast. It was time to depart for home and reflect on a marvelous day out. I have some video footage that when transferred from tape, I will attach to this entry... soon.