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Recent sightings

• 8 February 2012

  Busy Bird Garden ..

  Greetings friends :-)

  Another freezing cold day  !!

  Not much reported today apart from the Bird garden although there were 10 yellowhammers seen at the Tree Sparrow farm ..

  Seen on the Bird Garden  were blue tits, long-tailed tits, great tits, a willow tit, bullfinches, chaffinches, greenfinches, pheasants, blackbirds, robins, reed buntings, a moorhen, magpies and a wren which was actually in the hide !!

  Yes folks, you can really get close to Nature here on Old Moor ;-)

  A final report was from Broomhill Flash where the little owl was once again seen ..

  As I said yesterday .. let's hope that there is enough food and shelter  to keep our feathered friends fit and well .. And the ones without feathers of course !!

  I wonder how cold sheep get ...

  Have a nice evening everyone ;-)

  Bert xxx 

   

   

   

   

  Posted by Dave Simmonite

• 7 February 2012

  A Respectful Post :-)

  Evening readers :-)

  Another very chilly day as doubtless most of you have noticed !!

  Roll on Spring !

  Today's sightings are more suited to an A4 sized diary than yesterday's slim offerings ..

  Firstly the Mere ..

  Reported from here were a grey heron, Canada and greylag geese, cormorants, 2 dunlins, mute swans, stock doves and the now, only slightly nomadic, little egret;-)

  The Tree Sparrow Farm had tree sparrows (obviously) .. 10 yellowhammers, linnets, greenfinches and reed buntings ..As you stand in the viewing screen here, there is a 'wee' pond to the RHS .. There were 2 bank voles seen visiting to drink which is very a nice  sighting :-)  

  Well, when I say drink, maybe they were just skating ..

  Over by the Field Pool West Hide were a kestrel, male and female sparrowhawks, 2 snipe and 20+ fieldfares ..

  The Wader Scrape had 6 shelducks, male and female goldeneyes, pochards, wigeons and teals ..

  There was a common buzzard seen passing over the Bittern Hide and a water rail was also seen in this area ..

  Lastly but not 'leastly' was a report from Broomhill Flash ..

  Seen here were a kestrel, 3 shelducks, a snipe, 3 common gulls and 3 golden plovers .. I can also report the little owl is also still hanging around and was seen today .. 

  Another report of an owl was a barn owl which was seen at 11:30 from the Wath Ings Hide .. Must be getting hard for these guys now .. Fingers crossed that they and the rest of the poor wild creatures who live outside can all find adequate amounts of food and suitable shelter ..

  I have often wondered as I lay under my nice warm quilt how the poor things are managing as night falls and they just have to sit there and get on with it ..

  I have nothing but the greatest respect for them all ...

  Have a nice evening everyone ;-)

  Bert xxx

   

  Posted by Dave Simmonite

• 6 February 2012

  A10 Sightings !

  Greetings friends :-)

  Titchers was holding the Fort today when I rang to get the recent sightings from the Sacred A4 ..

  A4 it may be but today's reports would have fitted on an A10 !!

  Here they are ..

  The Mere had 20+ goosanders, 2 shelducks, 2 common gulls, shovelers, teals, tufted ducks, mallards, gadwalls, pochards, wigeons, a little egret and a kestrel...

  There were snipe, 3 grey partridges and a sparrowhawk seen on the Field Pool and a reed bunting was reported under the 'No Fixed Abode' category ...

  There have been up to 10 grey partridges reported at various times .. Maybe the sparrowhawk had some dealings in the reduced numbers ??

  I asked Titchers if the 'sprawk' was reported as 'waddling around' and unable to fly due to being full of dinner but no reports pointed to that ..

  Innocent until proven guilty !!

  Have  a good evening everyone ;-)

  Bert xxx 

   

   

   

  Posted by Dave Simmonite

• 5 February 2012

  Mr Wood's Bittern ..

  Hi friends !!

  I hope that you are all well and are enjoying the lovely weather .... :- /

  Old Moor was open as normal today but I was out in the wilderness watching a playful raven rolling about in the snow !!  A brilliant sight :)

  All was not lost though as Tree Sparrow was kind enough to phone the Visitor Centre and then email the sightings to me ..

  Thanks Treespers ;-)

  So .. Here is today's news ..

  On the Mere were c720 wigeons, c500 teals, c35 shovelers, c270 Gadwalls, c160 mallards, 45 tufted ducks, 23 pochards, 25 goosanders, 110 lapwings, 2 male pintails, 12 golden plovers, 3 dunlins and 2 snipe... 

  Plenty to see there then !! 

   

  The Wader Scrape had a sparrowhawk and a wren .. Obviously that's why it's called the Wader Scrape ;-).

  There were 60+ reed bunitngs on the Field Pool East  and 3 snipe were seen on the Field Pool West ..

  In the Bird Garden were a female sparrowhawk, male reed buntings, a long-tailed tit flock and a great spotted woodpecker ..

  Over by the Tree Sparrow farm were 16 yellowhammers, 35+ tree sparrows., 20+ bullfinches, 3 linnets and  2 jays.

  Outside the Visitor Centre were 3 song thrushes and there was a flock of redpolls seen by the Wildlife Ponds ..

  The Bittern was seen coming into roost over by the reedbeds and a water rail was seen in this area too ..

  A special mention goes out to for chap called David Wood who is an ardent fan of our 'Tweeting, Blogging and Facebooking' .. He has been getting a lot of 'stick' from many people as he has failed to see the bittern despite spending many hours trying to do so !! He has been visiting Old Moor for a long time now too ;-)

  So .. as I said ... The bittern was seen coming into roost at 4:30 ... Guess who saw it !!

  Well done Mr Wood ..  You can now strut around Old Moor with your head held high my friend :-)

  Obviously David will be having a great evening and hopefully the rest of you will too ...

  Night friends !

   

  Bert xxx 

   

   

  Posted by Dave Simmonite

• 3 February 2012

  Cold Moor ....

  Hi friends :-)

  Another week bites the dust .. Another lie in tomorrow !!   ;-)

  A good list today in the Sacred A4 .. Tree Sparrow was working today and so she probably made everyone write something or else they couldn't leave !!

  Here is 'said list' ..

  In the Bird Garden were a song thrush, 3 male reed buntings, a willow tit, 2 stock doves, a wren, a female great spotted woodpecker, redwings and a female sparrowhawk ..

  Our handsome friend the bittern was seen at around 3:50 over by the reedbeds (thanks Craig) as were 4 water rails, the nomadic egret (also seen on Bolton Ings), a jay and redwings ..

  The Wader Scrape had male and female goosanders, shovelers, a male goldeneye, wigeons, teals, gadwalls, mallards, 6 shelducks, 5 green sandpipers, 4 dunlins, 2 wrens and a mistle thrush ..

  Over on the Mere were 6 stock doves, 100+ wigeons, 100+ lapwings, 2 cormorants, 3 snipe, 2 great crested grebes, another shelduck, tufted ducks and goosanders ..

  The Tree Sparrow farm had 2 linnets and 2 yellowhammers ..

  There was a kestel seen over the driveway leading to the car park  ...

  A final report was from Wombwell where there were flocks of both fieldfares and redwings seen ..

  There concludeth 'said list' ...

  So .. Have a great weekend everyone and I will hopefully be back on Sunday ;-)

  Off to polish my skirt now ..

  Bert xx

  Posted by Dave Simmonite

• 2 February 2012

  Le Bittern !

  Evening readers ;-)

  Friday Eve arrives once more ... Great !!

  Quite a bit to report today so without further ado I will commence reporting ....

  All from Old moor today chaps ..

  The Bird Garden had 18 chaffinches, 6 greenfinches, bullfinches (3m + 2f), 2 willow tits, 2 reed buntings and a great spotted woodpecker .. 

  The little egret was seen on the Wader Scrape along with 5 dunlins, a redshank and a snipe ..

  Over on the Mere were cormorants, wigeons, pochards, tufted ducks, mallards, gadwalls, goldeneyes and goosanders ...

  Wath Ings had a grey heron ... Poor thing must have been very lonely ?

  A flock of long-tailed tits was reported from Green Lane, there were 2 yellowhammers on the car park feeders and a further 13 on the Tree Sparrow farm ..

  Flocks of goldfinches and greenfinches were seen in the area around the children's playground ..

  Gadwalls were present in front of the Bittern Hide and a sparrowhawk was also seen here ..

  A final report was of our mate the bittern which was seen heading over to the reedbeds at 1:10 this afternoon ... Cool !!!!

  So there you have it for today friends ... Another report bites the dust :-)

  Have a great evening everyone !!

  Bert xxx

  Posted by Dave Simmonite

• 1 February 2012

  Remembered ? .. Course I did !!

  Evening friends :-)

  The first night of 5pm closing time ...

  I was wondering if I would remember to ring an hour later than normal or whether I would forget to do it at all !

  Obviously with my memory there was never going to be a problem ;-)

  I have a memory like a .. like a .. you know .. big grey thing .. trunk ... What's it called now .... ??

  Never mind .. I'll just do the sightings ...

  Not too much to report today to be fair but here is what I have ..

  Firstly Wombwell Ings where there was a small number of goosanders and 5 dunlins ..

  Back on Old Moor were goldeneyes and dunlins on the Mere ..

  Yellowhammers were present on the Tree Sparrow Farm and there was a redshank on the Field Pool West ..

  Over on the Wader Scrape were a peregrine falcon and a little egret which appears to have relinquished its' nomadic tendencies .. Well at least for now  ;-)

  Great crested grebes were seen on Wath Ings and the barn owl was over by the Bittern Hide .. 

  And that .. so far as I can remember .. is that !

  Have a good evening friends :-)

  Bert xxx 

   

  Posted by Dave Simmonite

• 31 January 2012

  The Cold Is Coming ...

  Hello boys and girls ...

  The time has arrived once more for me to display the recent sightings on your computer screen :-)

  Here is today's news ... All from Old Moor ...

  There was single redshank reported from the Field Pool and there were 7 dunlins seen on the Mere ...

  The kingfisher was reported at the far end of the Wildlife Pond just as the path climbs to approach the Mere Hide ...

  The Wader Scrape had 3 goosanders, the nomadic egret, a goldeneye, 2 grey herons, lapwings and 3 snipe which were seen passing over ... 

  The Bird Garden was busy as normal with a great spotted woodpecker, bullfinches (2m + 1f), chaffinches, greenfinches, great tits, blue tits and long-tailed tits .. Doubtless plenty more besides too !

  Apparently it's going to get colder !!

  I best get knitting again ...

  Night everyone :-)

  Bert xxx 

   

   

   

  Posted by Dave Simmonite

• 30 January 2012

  Geordie Sightings !!

  Good evening viewers :-)

  Another Monday is upon us but hopefully we are all still smiling !!

  I had a brief chat with Titchers today to see what had been around ..

  Here is his reply ..

  "Howay canny lad" .. He exclaimed ...

  "Errr .. Hi Steve"  .. says I .. " Much about?" ..

  "Why aye man !!" .... He proclaimed ...

  So .. Here is the report in English .. ;-)

  There was a male sparrowhawk seen in the Bird Garden and a stoat was reported from Wath Ings ..

  The Tree Sparrow farm had 10 reed buntings, 7 yellowhammers and a female linnet ..

  The Mere had 6 male and 3 female goosanders, gadwalls, teals, wigeons, mallards and tufted ducks .. A peregrine was seen flying over too ..

  There were 4 grey herons seen in the Cuckoo Tree and 3 lesser redpolls were in the Wildlife Pond area ...

  The 'Nomadic Egret' was still on the Wader Scrape .. Obviously likes it there !!

  And that my friends is that ;-)

  More tomorrow !!

  Have a good evening everyone ...

  Bert xxx 

   

   

  Posted by Dave Simmonite

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