Old Moor

We spent a couple of hours at Old Moor last Saturday morning. There was a colder vibe in the air, it was definitely Autumnal and we saw fungus and plenty of berries around the reserve.

The Sunflower field was still full of flowers

We went first to the Reedbed Hide where we watched a Little Grebe successfully fishing right in front of the hide. There were Great Crested Grebes, Swans, Gadwall, Coot ,Heron, Moorhen, there had been a Spotted Crake seen from here over the past couple of days but we didn't see any sign.

By the Bittern hide we saw lots of these blue Beetles devouring the plants

*Edit* Alder Leaf Beetles - thank you! 

A Kingfisher flew across the path in front of us at one point but we couldn't see where it had gone. We saw a rabbit on the bank of the Mere and watched Canada Geese and a lone Common Gull. There were lots of Lapwings, which often flew up in a panic as they seem to do. We managed to pick out a couple of Golden Plovers in with them at one point though there was a large flock of Plovers there we only saw them flying off in the distance.

Lapwings & a Golden Plover

Through the viewing screen onto the apple trees we saw a Robin and a female Blackcap. From the hides we saw Spotted Redshank, a Dunlin, Greenshank, Teal, Chiffchaff, Shelduck and Pied Wagtail. Possibly 3 Black-tailed Godwits too but they were a bit distant for me to be sure.

We took a look at the Tree Sparrow Farm, where we accidentally spooked a Pheasant, a Squirrel was trying to bypass the Squirrel proof feeders and the odd Great Tit and Goldfinch were in the trees.

A good morning and three new birds for the year too.

Swillington Ings Bird Walk

On Sunday morning we joined a bird walk run by the Swillington Ings Bird Group, it was open to everyone and it was quite a large group that headed off. I'm recognising more faces now, it's good to see familiar ones and everyone is quite friendly! 

We started off from the hide and walked around to Astley Lake, which was full of Lapwing, Gadwall and Gulls. A few Common Terns were flying around too. A Common Sandpiper was on one of the islands, my daughter after watching it through a scope decided it looked like it was twerking!

It started to rain a bit as we moved on but it didn't last long thankfully and then the sun came out and it warmed up a lot. As we walked on to Lemonroyd lake a Kestrel flew over and hovered a couple of times nearby. 

At the lake, scopes were set up and Pintail ducks found at the far end, I've been a couple of times when they've been here and never managed to find them, so I was pleased to see several, granted they were mostly bottom up! A new bird for me. 

As we were focusing on the ducks one of the guys suddenly realised there was a Bittern on full view across the side of the lake! Amazing, only my second sighting and again at St Aidan's, almost everyone in the group saw it apart from a few people who hadn't quite caught up with the group. It did wander back into the reeds and didn't appear again whilst we were there.

You can just about see the Bittern in this shot!

We walked up to look over the ridge and furrow. seeing a beautiful Marsh Harrier, Curlew and a Snipe too. Then a Wheatear was spotted and after a bit of direction everyone managed to see it. Thank goodness for the grazing cows, great for using a guide!! A Little Egret, Heron and Little Grebe were on the Reedbed at the other side of the path.

The views here are always stunning

Back towards the causeway now and on a path we'd not explored before, which lead up to a view over the main lake. A nice little spot, which has a feeding station too and when it's quiet it can be good for the small birds including Willow Tit (thanks for that tip!), we'll come back another time to see what we can find. While we were there though we had a great view over the lake and quite a distance around. Birds of prey were the stars of the show though, with Buzzards in the distance, Sparrowhawk, the Marsh Harrier and another new bird for me - a Hobby! 

It had got quite warm by now we were being buzzed by Butterflies and Damselflies. I'm not sure on what species of Damselfly but the Butterflies were Speckled Wood, Whites and a Small Copper too. 

Walking back towards the hide now I spotted a little creature running across the path - a newt! A Smooth one I believe, it ran into the grass at the side. I looked them up later and didn't know that they come out of the water to hibernate, so maybe that's what it was doing?

I realised I hadn't taken many photos during the walk but then I also realised we walked a lot quicker than we usually do (which is why it always takes us so long to walk around anywhere........we're so slow)!

We had a good morning and I saw two new birds and found out a little more about the site. Thanks to everyone involved, it was well worth doing and we really enjoyed it. 

Temple Newsam

Just a few photos from a walk around Temple Newsam a couple of weeks ago before my daughter started back at school, she mostly wanted to see the farm there but we also explored the house and grounds including the old woods, which everyone else seemed to be ignoring.

There were a few Swallows flying in and out of the farm buildings and quite a few Starlings and Sparrows on the buildings too.

Swallow 

Magpie

The noise from the farm animals was almost overpowering especially from the pigs, almost feeding time I think!

I don't think I can ever hear a Turkey gobble without smiling, it is the oddest noise!

Crow

We took a walk through the old woods, which were very quiet bird wise (as well as people wise) but when we reached the bottom and looked up the field a Deer was at the edge. We saw Deer in these woods the last time we were here. 

This little area off a boardwalk was covered in dancing Speckled Wood butterflies, it would I guess normally be wet but after the dry summer we've had there wasn't a drop of water.

I think this is an old golf course, we found a couple of markers at the side.

It was busy by the ponds lots of families - you don't have to pay to walk around the grounds only the farm and house so it's well used. Despite the noise this Moorhen family seemed oblivious.

On one of the ponds these bees - i'm not sure what species - were congregating on a rock in the water. I've not seen this behaviour before.  

I loved the blue of these pine cones

And the shape of this plant!

The walled gardens were packed with plants, it would have been good to come just a couple of weeks earlier and see everything in full bloom, they're were a lot of white Butterflies around but they didn't sit still long enough for photos.

It was a nice little walk before the madness of school kicked back in.

A Day Out

The week after Cleethorpes we headed east again, this time to Blacktoft Sands and then North Cave Wetlands.

At Blacktofts we stopped in the reception first and had a chat with the wardens there. A Wood Wasp was on the window, they are amazing looking wasps and I thought i'd taken a photo but I can't find one!

Wasps had also taken up residence in a large nest by one of the paths so they'd had to arrange a slight detour as the wasps can get a little irate! There is also work going on at the Ousefleet end of the reserve to clear a build up of silt and though it didn't really affect us much.

The difference though with the view from the Ousefleet hide compared to the last time we were here in April is immense, not a drop of water to be seen and the only birds we saw were around half a dozen Yellow Wagtails following the Konick ponies around.

The field by the Ousefleet trail was being plowed as we walked along and there were a lot of Gulls in the area, mostly Black-headed but a few Herring and Lesser Black-backed too. There were a few butterflies along the trail, Small and Large Whites and Speckled Wood, it wasn't the sunniest of days though.

On the lagoons we saw amongst others Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Canada Geese, Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Pied Wagtail, Stock Dove and a Cetti's Warbler called briefly too. I didn't take a lot of photos as the birds were distant.

Avocet & Black-tailed Godwit

Pied Wagtail

Headless Ducks......Gadwall

Snipe

Black-tailed Godwits

Green Sandpiper

Black-tailed Godwit

We stopped to have lunch before heading off and this scruffy looking chap decided to join us.

Onto North Cave Wetlands, it's not much of a detour to visit here, we only discovered it about ten or eleven years ago thanks to my Uncle who lived in nearby Gilberdyke. He decided the family weren't seeing enough of each other and arranged a yearly get together, it was for one of these that we discovered the Wetlands, sadly both he and my aunt have passed away now but I always think of them when we visit the wetlands.

It was quiet people wise and had been all day really, we had picked the weekend of the Birdfair so i'm thinking a lot of folk where there instead! There were however birds in abundance including a lot of Greylag Geese everywhere!

We were watching a couple of Blackcaps in the bushes from the Turret hide when a Fox wandered out of the bushes for a minute before disappearing again!

There were a few dragonflies on the paths, they didn't stay still for long but I grabbed a couple of photos.

Common Darter

We also found a beautiful Grasshopper by one of the benches, they always amaze me how intricately detailed they are, I think this is a Meadow Grasshopper.

This fly settle on my husbands hand for a couple of minutes, it's quite a beauty as flies go!

A few more photos from the walk.