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.

Waterton Countryside Discovery Centre

After seeing signs for this place on numerous visits to friends in Wakefield we finally made the detour to check it out. We walked around the lake at the Anglers Country Park. Despite it being early afternoon and packed in the car park once we were walking there was enough space to enjoy the afternoon without being too crowded with people and dogs. The park is full of information boards which our little one always checks out.

There are two hides on the site, one overlooking The Pol and one overlooking an area of the lake called The Shallows. The one at The Pol seemed a little overlooked by a lot of people as it was hidden down a boardwalk, which was fine by us! It was pretty quiet with a couple of Moorhens and a few dragonflies, we did hear we had just missed a Water Rail though.

The Shallows hide was a great spot and is in a reserve area of the lake where some of the land is restricted, our friends told us that part of the are was cordoned off earlier this year when the birds were breeding.

As we walked to it there was quite a few Swallows overhead, they turned out to be nesting nearby and we actually saw 3 or 4 chicks with their wide open mouths being fed by one of the adults. Our little one loved seeing that the best I think.

From the hide we saw many Lapwing and Canada Geese, both with lots of youngsters. Three Cormorants sat on a raft and a fourth flew in while we watched. There were Crows and Starlings by the waters edge too. A Heron stood on the furthest island with it's back to us the whole time! Again there were Moorhens, with Mallards and Coots too. We saw a pair of new birds for us - Greenshank.


Our walk also produced House Martins, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Great Crested Grebes and a lone Pied Wagtail.


We will definitely be back, it will be interesting to see what other birds may turn up in The Shallows over the winter months.

Here are some of the other things we saw.

Not sure what this caterpillar is but we saw them at Rodley too.

Ruddy Darter (?)

Plenty of flora too