TONIGHT HERON?

More on the Night Heron: First seen by Barnsley Blade on Willow Pool making a brief flight at 20.10 last night it was finally ‘nailed and pinned down’ about an hour later. Sounds cruel I know, but nailed and pinned down is not nearly as bad as being chopped up by a wind turbine! It sat deep in Willows (but was very vociferous) and was viewable from the Wath Ings Hide until about 10.15 when it ‘came out to play’ first heading towards Bolton Ings and then over to Manvers Lake where it was lost to view. Although long predicted, this is the first record for the Old Moor area although there have been two previous sightings in the Barnsley area. The first was a juvenile over the Anglers Retreat pub near Wintersett on 25^th July 1990 (allegedly seen by a group of drunkards!) and the second was an adult at Scout Dike Reservoir on 9^th February 2008. Perhaps of interest is that there have been several sightings of  possible Night Herons at both Old Moor and Bolton Ings over the last month or so (by different observers) but the only thing we can be sure of (thanks to Nigel’s vigilance) is that one (an immature) was present last night. Perhaps not surprisingly, there has been no sign of it so far today, so we will have to hope for a repeat performance tonight. Once again, thanks to Dave and the RSPB team, special opening hours are in place for tonight and the reserve will be kept open till dusk. Good luck!