Adel Dam

As always Adel Dam was fairly quiet despite the crowds in Golden Acre - from a selfish point of view it's lovely but on the other hand it's a shame people seem to overlook it - they don't know what they are missing!

At the first hide we watched Coal, Great, Blue and Long Tailed Tits, a few Mallards, a Chaffinch and a squirrel.

When we went back outside my husband spotted something moving in the undergrowth - a Bank Vole, it ran about on and off some logs for quite a while - too quick for a photo unfortunately. As far I as can remember it's the first time i've seen one.

The little stream was flowing quite fast for a change though not quite the waterfall my daughter described it as!

Walking around we saw plenty of fungus - it's quite a haven for it here - we never fail to spot some every time we visit.

From the main hide the only thing of interest we saw was a pair of Teal in the distance and a couple of Moorhens.

Not the most bird filled afternoon but we all enjoyed it and that's the main thing!

Golden Acre Park

We visited Golden Acre and Adel Dam yesterday afternoon - it was a gorgeous day and we made the most of it. There were plenty of birds on the water - Mallards, Canada Geese, Moorhens, Coots, a few Tufted Ducks and a flock of Black Headed Gulls.

The Gulls were spooed by a dog and spent a while flying above our heads before settling back on the water.

We saw signs of new life as we walked...

The old life didn't look too bad either in the sun.

Feeding areas have now been set up in parts of the park and they were awash with Squirrels, Blue, Great and Coal Tits. They all seem quite used to the people and dogs that were around and we spent quite a while watching them.

I spotted this Robin singing away and managed a few shots.

I'll post on Adel Dam later in the week.

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

I had time to squeeze in an hour of garden watching on Saturday just after lunch. My garden has been busy throughout the day over the past few weeks so I was hoping this would be as good a time as any as it was the only chance I would have!

It didn't go too badly - here is what I sent in to the RSPB

6 Blackbirds
2 Blue Tits
1 Chaffinch
1 Coal Tit
2 Dunnocks
7 Goldfinch
1 Great Tit
9 House Sparrows
2 Long Tailed Tits
1 Robin
4 Starlings

Of course as my hour was up the garden filled with Starlings, Blackbirds and Sparrows! It probably wasn't the best time but it was all I could do and I was quite pleased with what I saw, especially the Long Tailed Tits as they don't visit often.