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Dearne Valley - Old Moor |
Recent sightingsFriday, 6 November 2009Edderthorpe still has the little stint, along with healthy numbers of pochards, shovelers, wigeons, gadwalls, golden plovers and lapwings. Wombwell Ings had 7 goosanders today. Old Moor also had a goosander along with ruffs, redshanks, dunlins, green sandpipers, snipe, black tailed godwits, water rails, a grey wagtail, sparrowhawks and 2 barn owls hunting over Wath Ings. Thursday, 5 November 2009Today's report showed that Edderthorpe Flash still had the little stint present. Old Moor had 7 whooper swans on the Wader Scrape and a peregrine was reported to be up to its usual tricks over Wath Ings much to the dismay of the large flocks of both lapwings and golden plovers !
Wednesday, 4 November 2009Not much happening yesterday but today has had a bit more to offer.... Edderthorpe Flash had a little stint and 4 whooper swans. Wombwell Ings had a short eared owl. Wath Ings on Old Moor had a barn owl hunting around the perimeter, green sandpipers, redshanks, snipe and a healthy flock of linnets kept dropping in to feed on the mud. The little owl could be seen in its usual place behind the garden feeder area and now that the leaves are dropping from the trees the views are obviously improving. The rest of the reserve had the usual healthy numbers of wildfowl as per previous reports.
Monday, 2 November 2009Much the same list as previous reports but we did have 2 new visitors in the shape of 2 handsome adult whooper swans on wath Ings.
Sunday, 1 November 2009A good week as usual on Old Moor, The Mere had mallards, gadwalls, shovelers, teals, wigeons, coots, moorhens, cormorants, black headed gulls, lesser black backed gulls, a common gull, great crested grebes, little grebes, a female goldeneye, grey herons, snipe, redshanks, mute swans and 4 goosanders. Wath Ings had a water rail, green sandpipers, snipe, redshanks, dunlins, ruffs, lapwings, golden plovers, a kingfisher, shovelers, teals, mallards, coots, moorhens, wigeons, grey herons, black tailed godwits, pied wagtails, a grey wagtail, a peregrine falcon, sparrowhawks, kestrels, a barn owl, linnets, reed buntings, pied wagtails, a grey wagtail and stonechats. Also seen on site were stock doves, a green woodpecker, a great spotted woodpecker and jays. A Tuesday morning 'high speed raid' from the peregrine resulted in the flock of golden plovers being reduced by one but the highlight of the week has to be the American golden plover which was spotted among the golden plover flock on Wath Ings on Tuesday morning. It stayed until very early Wednesday morning but has not been seen since. Saturday, 31 October 2009Today on Old Moor; The usual healthy flocks of lapwings and golden plovers were on Wath Ings. Also present were, water rail, greenshank, redshanks, black tailed godwits, green sandpipers, snipe, ruffs, dunlins, mallards, gadwalls, shovelers, teals, great crested grebes, little grebes, cormorants, goldeneye, sparrowhawk, kestrel. The garden feeder had bullfinches, chaffinches, great tits, a willow tit, blue tits, pheasants and the odd squirrel can also be seen here. Friday, 30 October 2009Old Moor today; As usual the healthy sized flocks of lapwings and golden plovers were present, also here were green sandpipers, black tailed godwits, snipe, redshanks, a single dunlin, ruffs, mallards, gadwalls, teals, shovelers, tufted ducks, wigeons, great crested grebes, little grebes, cormorants, kingfisher, jay, green woodpecker, stonechat, kestrel, sparrowhawk. There was a common gull on the Mere and 4 Goosander settled on the Mere at 4:30pm. Edderthorpe; A quick trip here produced good sized flocks of golden plovers and lapwings. Snipe, shovelers, wigeons, pochards, mallards, cormorants, good numbers of black headed gulls, a few lesser black backed gulls and a common gull.
Thursday, 29 October 2009Old Moor; 3 Black tailed godwits, 6 green sandpipers, 6 redshanks, 12 snipe, 2 ruffs, good sized flocks of both lapwings and golden plovers, kingfisher, green woodpecker, jay, kestrel, sparrowhawk, stonechats. The usual wildfowl were present on the Mere including mallards, wigeons, gadwalls, teals, great crested grebes, little grebes, tufted ducks. Cormorants and black headed gulls were also present and a single lesser black backed gull was seen. A late report came in of 3 goosander on the Mere. A barn owl was hunting at the far side of Wath Ings and the little owl could be seen in its usual place behind the garden feeder area. Wombwell Ings; 7 snipe, 10 dunlins, 2 greenshanks, 1 green sandpiper.
Wednesday, 28 October 2009Today at Old Moor the following species were present ; Snipe, redshanks, green sandpipers, dunlins, ruffs, lapwings, golden plovers, gadwalls, wigeons, shovelers, little grebes, great crested grebes, cormorants, grey herons, stonechats, reed bunting, linnets, kestrel, sparrowhawk. Redpolls, fieldfares and redwings were seen passing over. A tawny owl was reported near the car park and also a barn owl was seen over by the childrens play area. We are also pleased to say that the American golden plover is still with us and can be found with the flock of golden plovers on wath Ings. Tuesday, 27 October 2009Today on the reserve; Snipe, green sandpipers, redshanks, ruffs, dunlins, wigeons, shovelers, gadwalls, little grebe, great crested grebe, lapwings, golden plovers, reed bunting, linnets, kingfisher, grey wagtail, pied wagtail. A peregrine falcon spooked the lapwings and golden plovers mid-morning on Wath Ings. Wath Ings also turned up a rarity in the shape of an American golden plover, a scarce visitor to our country !
Monday, 26 October 2009Todays sightings include... 14 dunlins, 2 ruffs, 2 stonechat, 6 or more redpoll, 1 grey wagtail and a pair of bullfinches in the garden. Monday, 26 October 2009A brief view from the weekend ... Saturday - dunlins x 11, ruffs x 2, redshanks x 5, golden plovers x c.355, wigeons x 269, gadwalls x 66, goosanders x 3, teals x c.100, tufted ducks x 8, great crested grebes x 2, black-tailed godwits x 5, redpoll x 1, barn owl x 1, stonechat x 1, snipe x 10. Sunday - snipe x 5, green sandpipers x 7, ruffs x 2, redshanks x 5, dunlins x 11, black tailed godwits x 5, jay x 1, green woodpecker x 1, grey wagtail x 1, kingfisher x 1, kestrels x 2, sparrowhawk x 1.
Thursday, 22 October 2009In the bird garden: willow tits showing well, grey wagtail coming really close to hide, great tits, green finches, blue tits and tree sparrows.
Friday, 11 September 2009Today's star visitor was a pectoral sandpiper which was seen on Wombwell Ings
Thursday, 10 September 200917 black-tailed godwits; 4 green sandpipers; 1 common sandpiper; 50 + golden plovers; 200+ lampwings; teals; gadwalls; 100 + linnets; great spotted woodpecker; 2 bullfinches; 5 tree sparrows; 2 grey partridges. Chiffchaff and willow warbler and reed bunting still on-site. Little owl sighted yesterday.
Tuesday, 8 September 200918 black-tailed godwits; 200 + lapwings; 35 + golden plovers; teals; gadwalls; 100 + linnets; swallows; sand martins; house martins; 1 greenshank; 3 green sandpipers. Shoveler ducks on Wath Ings. Hobby and sparrowhawk. Spotted crake at Edderthorpe Flash.
Thursday, 27 August 2009Wednesday's sightings 30 common terns; 5 greenshanks; 1 ruff; 40 golden plovers; a green sandpiper and a common sandpiper; 5 teals; 1 shoveler duck; a gadwall; 2 snipes; 100 sand martins. Tuesday, 25 August 2009A slightly Autumnal feel to the air? Yesterday... 10 green sandpipers; 9 greenshanks; 8 black-tialed godwits; 41 golden plovers; 1 gargany; 2 little egrrets; 1 water rails; 1 kingfisher; 1 kestrel; 1 peregrine; 1 willow tit. Today's star spot so far... 1 avocet - can be viewed from the wader scrape hide.
Monday, 27 July 2009Our most exciting visitor this week - A bittern! Seen flying over the reedbeds on site on Sunday and Monday. We have also had a hobby, a garganey, two greenshanks, a ruff, six ringed plovers, 3 dunlins, four green sandpipers, a common sandpiper and five common terns.
Tuesday, 14 July 2009The little owl has been showing again from the Court Yard. They nested in the trees around the children’s play area this year. The tawny has also been seen in the area. The barn owl chicks are usually standing at the front of the nest box by the Reed Beds and the adults are hunting most of the day now.
The male garganey has been seen on Wath Ings but only after being flushed by a fox. It is probable that it is flightless now and so is being shy.
Today we have had 4 black-tailed godwits on the Wader Scrape along with 3 common sandpipers, 2 green sandpipers, 5 ringed and 2 little ringed plovers.
Six-spot burnet, small skippers, meadow brown gatekeeper and small tortoiseshell are on the Ponds and Picnic trail. The dragonflies are mainly 4-spot chasers, common darters and brown hawkers and damselflies common blues and blue tailed. |
Dearne Valley, general landscape views - Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Peacock butterfly - Steve Round
Bird illustrations by Mike Langman (RSPB)