Adel Dam

After a recent blog post by Kirkstall Creatures Great & Small we decided to pay a visit to Adel Dam today. We got there around 9.30 and it was very quiet around the reserve. The first thing we spot at the side of the bridle path, in the ground was a wasps nest that had been ripped apart - not sure what by, bits of it were across the path.

We walked up to the marsh hide first of all and spent a while in there.

There were plenty of Great Tits, Blue Tits and Coal Tits. A Wren was in the bush right next to the hide and hopped around a while. Then a Nuthatch flew in to one of the feed tables a few times. This is only the second time I've seen one of these and we got a really good view.

The picture though is not great! Honestly there is a Nuthatch on there!

As we were about to leave I heard a bird call and saw a flash of orange then blue - a Kingfisher, it flew right across the marsh into the trees and out of sight. A fantastic flash of colour.

We decided to follow the paths and walk around the whole reserve. My daughter was happy to find more pine cones and again I soon had quite a collection in my bag. At the gate to the reserve there are leaflets and information cards that you can pick up that give you a lot of information on the area. Including a tree id card - mostly for trees in the Chevin park but it came in very handy here too.

At the lake hide at first all looked quiet. A closer look revealed several Herring Gulls, Coots and I spotted a female Teal, which I needed to check the id in my book. The green flash of feathers helping with the ID. This bird is a first for me so I was quite pleased. There is a chart on the wall showing the various birds that may be seen but it only showed the male Teal so I was glad i'd taken my guide along.

My favourite bird flew in then - a Heron, unfortunately it settled behind a tree so we could barely see it. Not to worry as we all saw and heard the Kingfisher then. It flew across the lake behind some trees then back out to some branches in the centre of the lake. We watched it dive into the water a few times and I saw it managed to catch a small fish before it was off again. Very nice to watch.

On leaving the hide and walking off to path to the left. I saw a bird run down the beck, my immediate thought was a Moorhen but this bird was brown not black. I tried to see where it had gone but it had disappeared. I was quite disappointed not to see it again as i've never seen a Moorhen run like that and it was definitely brown, so I don't think my first thought was correct. Very frustrating as now i'll never know!

We spotted a good amount of fungi around the woods and my husband took quite an interest and few photos. Now I don't know much about them (another guide book to add to my list) but even I was impressed with this first one.




Of course we also saw plenty of Squirrels around too, they didn't seem too bothered by us and were quite happy to sit and watch as we walked by. We had a nice morning, a good walk and I can't wait to go back and see what else we can spot.