January 2011 - Hatfield Moor

Saturday 15th: An overcast and very blustery day started with a stop on the road to Hatfield Moor, on the banks of the river Torne to join other Birders in looking for a Rough-legged Buzzard. Set up the scope and spent maybe 50 minutes scoping the farm fields and tree-line. In the scope saw got a good view of a Common Buzzard. Decided to come back later in the afternoon for another look.


Parking up at Boston car park, a first year Mute Swan stood forlornly at the fence and when Sandra went to feed it some bread, it was quickly joined by two Canada Geese and a Lesser Scaup (Aythya Duck). I say Lesser Scaup for want of another name. It seems that there is some discussion as to what the duck actually is, on the Hatfield Moor blog. But in the final analysis, it is likely to be an immature female Lesser Scaup.

The duck (whatever it is), seemed unconcerned with us and was more interested in the bread that Sandra was feeding the Swan. It was constantly on the move and it seemed that we were treated to the "Little 'n Large" show as the little duck ran around the much larger Swan!

Sandra wanted to visit the hide where we would be guaranteed to get a good sighting of various birds and we weren't to be disappointed! I have never seen so many Great Tits and Blue Tits gathered together in one group before! On and around the feeders, (note: when feeding birds fatballs, please remove the green plastic netting as they can easily get their feet tangled in this) there were at least 10 Great Tits with at least 9 Blue Tits! I suspect that nearby there were more! We even had a surprise visit by two Long-tailed Tits to the feeders. Reed Buntings, Chaffinches, a Robin and female Blackbird along with 2 Dunnocks picked at scraps that had fallen to the ground. Some good photos were captured from here as can be seen above and below.

We moved on towards what is named as The Prison Lakes. A short trek up a muddy trail to a couple of very large lakes. No waterfowl on these except for a solitary pair of Mallards. But we did get a good close view of a Kestrel as it glided at low-level above us. Three Bulfinches whistled overhead and perched for a few minutes in the bare branches of Alders, long enough for us to get stunning views of the rose-breasted male and the female. Wandering back to the car we came across a birder who was watching some Lesser Redpolls amongst the Silver Birch. We too studied them before they took to flight.

Back at Boston Park lake we made a check on the waterfowl. Plenty of Canada Geese, of which I counted 125 using my "counter-device",Coot; 140, Black-headed Gulls with some Tufted Duck, one male Wigeon (above) and some Pochard. A Good day out though very blustery at times but mildish!

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.