Sunday 19 July 2015

Carlton Marsh

This afternoon 1 Little Egret and 3 Redshank were feeding on the wader scrape at 14.00hrs, but the water levels were very low. So after opening the sluice I returned one hour later and by that time there was a Grey Heron and 2 more Little Egrets, competing for food around the inlet pipe. 4 Yellow Wagtails were feeding on the mud.
 
Wild flower seed, provided by the Dearne Valley Green Heart project, was scattered around the wader scrape earlier in the year and is now in flower. Corn Cockle, Cornflower and loads of Common Hemp Nettle and Corn Marigold are just a few.
 
A Kingfisher and a Sand Martin were flying over the main scrape and 2 Little Owls were on their usual perches.  
 
A Stoat was seen near the hide, but a photographer having set up his camera for Kingfisher, on a stick perch, to try get the perfect shot, spent 4 hours to no avail, it was on the scrape!
 
Butterflies included 5 Comma, 2 Red Admiral and 10 Small Tortoiseshell.
 
Southern Hawker (2) and Black-tailed Skimmer (1) were patrolling their respective territories.

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