Yeadon Dam & Nunroyd Park

Made the most of a visit to my parents last week with a trip around the dam first, another lovely day and it was busy with dog walkers.

As usual there were plenty of birds waiting to be fed, they were out of luck this morning though.

The top end of the dam is overflowing with grasses and flowers, it's lovely to see and the butterflies and bugs clearly agree. We saw Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell and Small Whites and lots of ladybirds.

Great Willowherb

This rather scruffy looking Magpie was hopping about by the boat house, i'm not sure why it's in such a state?

As we were walking I decided to take us through Nunroyd Park, somewhere I haven't been in years, but after reading posts over on The Quiet Walker I though it was about time I explored. 

We walked through Kirk Lane park to get there, they are building an actual path between the two but as it was mid week and nobody was actually working on it i'm not sure sure when (if) it'll be finished?

There were a lot of Blackbirds in the Rowan trees and quite a few Goldfinch around but they weren't too happy to pose for a photo.

Amongst the thistles and flowers were more Goldfinch and a lot of butterflies, the Small Tortoiseshell was the only one I snapped photos of though.

The flowers here were beautiful as well, I need to make more of an effort with identifying them, I used to know lots as a child out walking with my Dad, but i'm sad to say names escape me now!

Edit, thanks to Amanda for help with the flowers! 

Meadow Cranesbill

Meadowsweet

Himalayan Balsam

There were a lot of Damselflies around and several ducks too.

I was happy I made the effort not to bypass these places for a change.

Yeadon Tarn

Yeadon Tarn or Yeadon Dam as we know it in our family is somewhere I have visited regularly since I was tiny. My brother and I played here a lot as we grew up and it was great for watching frogs, snails and ducks.

We went yesterday and it was busy as it usually is on a sunny day. There were quite a few boats out too. These don't seem to bother the birds in the slightest. Neither do the planes, as part of Leeds Bradford Airport runway runs down the top end of the tarn! There was a Pied Wagtail in the car park when we pulled up.

There were lots of Canada Geese there and of course Mallards, a couple of the Mallards had young. We also saw a Moorhen and a couple of Coots on nests. There was one Coot baby, still with a red head so that must have been quite young. No Swans though today, which is quite unusual, I can't think of a time i've been recently when we haven't seen at least one.


There was a lone Great Crested Grebe at the top end of the tarn, I saw my first one here and this one for a change didn't spend the whole time ducking under water.


Usually the place is plagued by Gulls but not today for some reason, if fact all I saw was a Common Tern, which was already flying away when we got there. The top part of the tarn has been left to go a little wild and is full of Buttercups, Yellow Lillies and lots of other shrubs that I can't identify!






It does have the requisite island in the middle which has quite a bit of vegetation and lots of Canada Geese and Mallards on there, quite often there are Grey Herons too but not today. I didn't get a great shot of the island, but didn't realise till I checked back home.



A great little place to visit and a nice walk even in winter (if you are wrapped up warm - the wind is biting round there!) with frost and ice everywhere, it's very pretty.