Carlton Marsh

This morning in the sun were; 3 Shoveler, new in today, Buzzard, Little Owl, Kingfisher, Siskin and 5 Fieldfares.
Scrub cutting near the hide tomorrow from 10 am, weather permitting!

Two bars & a Kit

Broomhead Reservoir - 2 Teal, 28 Mallards, 11 Tufted Ducks, 2 Cormorants,  5+ (3 males & 2+ females) Two-barred Crossbills and 30+ Common Crossbills.
The Gull roost -was very difficult to count today as many birds left west at regular intervals, perhaps to roost on Langsett Reservoir, but the minimum counts were:- 1 adult Kittiwake, 2106 Black-headed Gulls, 27 Common Gulls, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 312 Herring Gulls and 53 Great Black-backed Gulls.

The Edge 4th Dec

Wombwell Ings early AM- Looked very quiet as I walked onto the ings.. Hardly surprising since I saw the 'Gunner try to shoot something' brigade leaving the back field. Over the next 90 minutes bird numbers gradually increased. Present, at the time of leaving, were 1 Cormorant, 3 Grey Heron, 49 Canada Geese, c220 Wigeon, 42 Teal, 11 Mallard, 3m Goosander, 2 Gadwall, 1 Tufted Duck, 85 BH Gull, 3 Common Gull, 29 Lapwing, 1 Kestrel and 13 very skittish Red Legged Partridge( in the back field ).

Broomhill Flash mid/ late AM- Not so obviously  affected by the shooting, but the 103 Canada Geese were tucked away in the corner furthest away from the back field. Also present were 5 Cormorant, 1 Little Grebe, 11 Mute Swan, 1 Greylag, 83 Gadwall, 27 Teal, 6 Tufted Duck, 6 Wigeon, 3 Shoveler, 1m Pochard, 35 BH Gull, 5 Common Gull, c50 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, 2 Dunlin, 1 Black Tailed Godwit , 1 Kestrel and c20 Redwing in the car park bushes. Left early for my own blood sport appointment with a nurse and syringe.

Haw Park

This morning 22 Crossbills, 2 Treecreepers, c20 Redwings, 4 Great Spot Woodpeckers and 1 Siskin.

The Edge 3rd Dec

Broomhill Flash mid AM- Present were 2 Cormorant, 10 Mute Swan, c230 Canada Geese, 2 Greylag, 63 Gadwall, 23 Teal, 6 Tufted Duck, 5 Mallard, 4 Shoveler, 1m Pochard, 1 Wigeon, 1m Goosander, c130 Lapwing, c130 Golden Plover, 4 Snipe, 1 Black Tailed Godwit, 32 BH Gull, 17 Red Legged Partridge, 1 Kestrel and 1 Sparrowhawk.

Bolton Ings late AM/ early PM- Present were 3 Grey Heron, 5 Cormorant, 4 Mute Swan, 42 Canada Geese, 1 Greylag, 32 Gadwall, 12 Tufted Duck, 10 Pochard, 10 Wigeon, 6 Mallard, 5 Shoveler, 4m+1f Goosander, 4 Teal, 3f Goldeneye, 119 Lapwing, 18 Common Gull, 1LBB Gull, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Kestrel and 5m Bullfinch.

Langsett

Hingcliff Common/Calf Knoll - 2 Kestrels, 5+ Goldcrests, 500+ Fieldfares, 2 Treecreepers and 5+ Siskin.

28 wing-bars

A very successful morning at Broomhead. Spent a hour in the clearing looking through a flock of 30 Crossbills. Usual stuff around the feeders plus c30 Siskins, 2 Lesser Redpolls, c10 Goldfinches. Along the road had c60 Redwing and 40 Fieldfares. After lots of looking over the last few weeks finally found the Two-barred Crossbills. Seven birds, four males and three females, were  feeding in larches at the  side of the road c100m past the turning to Low Bradfield. They weren't feeding with the main crossbill flock. It may be that time would be better spent searching the larches than looking through the crossbill flock.
ps c150 Pink-feet west over Broomhill at 14:15

Broomhill Flash & Wombwell Ings

The sightings for today for Broomhill Flash were :-

Black-tailed Godwit 1,
Snipe 4+,
Golden Plover c30.

Mute Swan 12,
Cormorant 5,
Wigeon 5,
Teal 10,
Shoveler 7,
Gadwall 47,
Tufted Duck 5,
Mallard 4,
Little Grebe 1,
Common Gull 1.

Redwing & Fieldfare flock c250.

Grey Partridge 12.

Sparrowhawk 1.


Wombwell Ings.

Grey Heron 3.
Wigeon c200,
Teal 51,
Tufted Duck 1,
Gadwall 2,
Goosander 4♂ 1♀,
Mallard 6.

Kestrel 1.

Sunday 1-12-13.

Wilthorpe Marsh west, Chiffchaff 1 + 6 Jack Snipe still. Woolley filters starling roost continues to entertain with pete middleton counting 11000 on wednesday night. At least 2 sparrowhawks chasing them every time + a fem. juv, merlin type on 24th november. Easiest access park at motorway side of old post office pub. walk along track under motorway towards riverside farm, turn left at gate towards river and cross on metal bridge. Reedbed straight ahead. Its about 5 minutes walk.

No large bills...............yet

Broomhill Flash: Black-wit 1 still, Snipe 4.

Old Moor (Chris Harris): Marsh Harrier, Goosander 22+, Goldeneye, Shelduck 3, Green Sand,  Dunlin 2. Also Brambling reported still pres.

Broomhead (JMT): Two-barred Crossbill 7 (4 males, 3 females) and apparently 7 seen regular last week. How long before we get a slice of the ongoing Parrot Crossbill influx I wonder?

Peregrine Attack

Stocksbridge - drew the curtains this morning to be greeted with the sight of a female Peregrine stooping at and taking a Jackdaw over the steelworks

Carlton Marsh

New in this morning 2 Shoveler and 2 Goosander. Resident birds included Little Owl and Buzzard and a flock of c100 Redwings were exploiting the haws on offer. (Rod Heeley)

Two-bars Again

Broomhead Reservoir - 2 Two-barred Crossbills reported today -  heard in larches at the south side of the reservoir near New Road.
per SBSG website.

BARNSLEY BIRD STUDY GROUP presents....

Thursday 5th December at the Old Moor Visitor Centre at 7.15 pm
The RSPB's Pete Wall is presenting an illustrated talk on the Dearne Valley. Come and learn about the 'greening' of this former heavy industrialised area and about its' future.
All welcome, £2.50 each includes interval drink.

Edderthorpe Flash

Not much change here since last weekend;- Shelduck 7, Wigeon 72, Shoveler 31, Gadwall 35, Goosander 3, Lapwing 331, Golden Plover 41, Dunlin 2.

Wintersett Sunday

A mild sunny start slowly clouding over. The Cettis Warbler is still in residence on the top reservoir calling regularly. A flock of  22 Crossbills were in the carpark trees around mid day. The remainder of the day involved gulls;- A noticeable passage during the morning produced a total of 835 Herring Gulls and 315 Great Black-backed Gulls all heading quickly northwest. The evening gull roost on the Country Park produced very high numbers with GBBGull 315, LBBGull 7, Herring Gull 1231 and the usual adult Yellow-legged Gull. 51 Goosanders were roosting at dusk.

The photos are of a very interesting gull in the roost tonight. It is either a Glaucous/ Herring hybrid or a Arctic-type argentatus Herring Gull from the far north of the range in northern Norway and Arctic Russia.
The hybrid theory probably fits best due to the pale mantle.

Casper

Langsett Reservoir - 1 adult Caspian Gull into the roost early this pm.
per R Twigg

Broomhill Flash

A few Redwing and Fieldfare were in the car park tonight as I went to lockup and there were a few the other day which I managed to get a half decent picture of a Fieldfare for a change.

Today's sightings for Broomhill Flash include :-

Black-tailed Godwit 1,
Snipe 3.

Mute Swan 10,
Shoveler 3,
Tufted Duck 3,
Cormorant 2,
Gadwall 44,
Teal 8,
Wigeon 3,
Little Grebe 1,
Canada Goose c250.

Fieldfare & Redwing flock c30.

Carlton Marsh

60 Redwing, Buzzard and Cormorant were among the birds present this afternoon. (Rod Heeley) 

Broomhill Flash

Todays sightings for Broomhill Flash included:-

Green Sandpiper 1,
Redshank 1,
Black Tailed Godwit 1,
Snipe 5+.

Mute Swan 10,
Gadwall 40+,
Tufted Duck 2,
Teal 2,
Cormorant 1.

Grey partridge 8.