May 2012 - Old Moor RSPB and Hatfield Moor YWT

Sunday 6th: A bright and sunny day, albeit a bit cool when out of the sun. A visit out to RSPB Old Moor NR near Barnsley and an early start to get there for 9am. Sandra joined me today and straight away she was spotting the Bullfinches, Greenfinches et al in the bird garden. A Wren was singing loudly as they always do, flying to and fro from it's nest in a shed. It looked as though it was carrying food and presumably there were chicks in the nest. A Great Tit was also busy gathering food from the feeders and returning to a nest box as can be seen in the photo below.

Above: Male Bulfinches always look resplendent in their peach, white, grey and black plumage.

Above: Canada Geese with some of the Goslings

Male Greenfinch

A female Mallard Duck with her chicks.

Male Reed Bunting singing loudly from a high perch.

Tree Sparrow.

Above: Twitch of the Day - this Lesser Whitethroat was in full song in the bracken. We followed it up and down the lane. The photo was taken from inside the hide.

A sure sign of Summer - Willow Warbler

Above: A male Blackcap was in full song from his perch with a male Greenfinch higher up.

Above: Coming a close second to the twitch of the day is this Common Sandpiper. This caused quite a stir in the hide as they tend not to be so common!

Later in the afternoon we took the short drive out to Wombwell Ings. A satellite reserve of Old Moor. Sandra saw a couple of Kingfishers which, of course I missed. Lapwings were there also with chick, Graylag Geese, Canada Geese and Tufted Ducks. A Grey Heron flew over and tucked in a quite spot was a single Avocet.

As time was getting late we drove back towards home and a quick visit to Hatfield Moor (south) and Boston Park lake. Here we encountered 5 Yellow Wagtails as seen below and plenty of low flying Swifts and Swallows. In fact the Swifts we flying so low that we almost had our hair parted several times!

This was a very good day out. Three different venues visited, sunny and three cracking bird species seen!

December 2011 - Whooper Swans & Fieldfares!

Friday 2nd: Woke to the first frost of Winter and the temperature at 8:30am was 0° centigrade! Driving round the corner to collect Sandra, I bagged my first sighting of the day. Darting-out in front of the car and alighting on the pavement to my right was a Yellow Wagtail! Wow, fantastic sighting, regaled in all its finery. Sadly no chance or time to grab the camera, but I did stop the car to revel in this splendid looking bird. With Melanie seeing the Grey Wagtail again, for the third sighting this week, in the garden at 10:20am, this has been a good week for Wagtails.

After the initial excitement (on my part), we headed for the Wroot and the countryside. The Sun was up but still it was freezing. We stopped by the river Torne and were greeted by a huge flock Fieldfares. So many that to try and count them was an impossible task, so we agreed that there was 500+. They were everywhere! Many perched on the telephone lines, in bushes and atop trees. Of course these were Hawthorn bushes and trees covered in berries. Two Kestrels were perched on the telephone wires, not taking much notice of the Fieldfares even though they were being crowded-out! The male Kestrel did change locations and even came near us to hunt. But the abiding image must be of the clouds of Fieldfares taking to the blue sky every now-and-then.

A couple of miles up the road, just outside Wroot and in one of the farm fields were what we were looking for. There, off to one side, 70-odd Swans. Wow! Whooper Swans, I counted 34, and 37 Mute Swans.

After chatting to a fellow Birder, he advised us to walk up to the banks of the Torne to get a better view with the scope. He wasn't wrong either, outstanding views! A flock of Lapwing, probably 250 swirled around the sky and descended onto the field. Behind us on the other side of the Torne, Sandra spotted another Kestrel and we watched as it hovered and dove and hovered.

Below is a photo of an adult Whooper and 1st year in the field at Alderfen. This image was captured by Sandra by placing her camera at the eye piece of the scope (digiscoped). Even though the weather was freezing cold and a bitter wind was howling around us, she managed to capture this remarkable image!

Another image from Sandra below is of a flock of Lapwings, 210 in this photo! They may be just specks but I can assure you that they are Lapwings and that there were even more!

Both feeling very cold now, it was time to make for home and a hot cuppa tea. A fantastic few hours of birding.

September 2009: Sea Swans & RSPB Marazion Marsh

Thursday 10th: While down in Cornwall visiting relatives, I took time-out and drove 30 minutes along the coast to Marazion, a small town lying in the shadow of Penzance. Marazion Marsh is a small reserve across the road from the beach. Getting there at 9:15am, the blue sky was bright with the Sun and contrasted wonderfully with the blue sea. Immediately I spied 2 Little Egrets, an adult Mute Swan with 2 juveniles close-by. The Reserve is mostly reed-beds surrounded by heath type ground. What is readily apparent is the great abundance of rabbits on this heath! I must've counted 20+ rabbits in one small area alone! Plenty of Jackdaws about and House Martins. I did also see a Buzzard through binoculars, but it was far off over farm land and was not circling my way. I had been told of a Hide deep within the reeds but time was limited and I wanted to get on the beach to check on the bird life there.

When I arrived at Marazion, the tide was in. Some waders were on the shore and small flocks of Wagtails, both Pied and Yellow dashed abouts. A local birder had mentioned to me that a Pectoral Sandpiper, Citrine Wagtail and a Corncrake were in the area. Well, I wouldn't know a Citrine from a Yellow Wagtail or a Pectoral from a Common Sandpiper and the Corncrake required some serious time amongst the reeds of the marsh! Time I didn't have!

Now the tide was moving out rapidly revealing the Causeway to St Michael's Mount. Intriguingly, a group of sea birds had gathered at a point where a fresh water stream trickled from the marsh, across the beach and into the sea. These sea birds - a mixture of various Gulls and Mute Swans - appeared to be drinking seawater! Swans on the sea! Yes...Sea Swans and really sailing on the sea. The pictures here are proof of that! It transpires that the Swans as with other birds (and Butterflies) swim, sail or fly from the island mount to the Marazion beach. Several Cormorants were also perched on the rocks and although I saw a group of Sandpipers, I need to examine the video footage of them to see if one or any was a Pectoral Sandpiper!

Visiting Truro, I stopped by Truro mud-flats as I had heard that many Bar-tailed Godwits descend on the flats. Unfortunately only Gulls were in residence at the time of my visit. Neil, apologies for not getting over to see you, time was very limited. Hopefully next year! Below are some images from Truro.