Edderthorpe Flash

Mute Swans are down to 26 today. Shelduck 2, Teal 2, Avocet 1, Ringed Plover 2, LRP 2, Oystercatcher1, Cuckoo 1, Yellow Wag 1, House Martin 110. Good news on the owl front;- the Long-eareds territory has been found and a adult flying around during the morning means they should have young and they haven't abandoned the area after being displaced last winter by a Tawny Owl. And Barn Owls are also feeding young nearby.

ADWICK WASHLANDS (am) Little Grebe 2, Shoveler 3 males, Tufted 4, Lapwing at least 12 juvs flying now, plus 3 recently hatched young, Redshank 10 plus 5 young, Ringed Plover 2, Avocet 1, Snipe 3, 1 drumming, Common Tern 1, Cuckoo 1.

Carlton Marsh

New in today a female Pochard.  A Cuckoo and 3 Garden Warblers were singing and a Little Owl was in Carlton pit yard.  A Lesser Whitethroat was feeding young in a nest and Brooklime and Orange Hawkweed were in flower. (per Jim Plant)
Butterflies included 1 Large Skipper, 6 Small Copper, 16 Small Heath, 6 Dingy Skipper, 13 Common Blue, 7 Orange-tip males and 5 Four Spot Chasers. (per Chris Parkin)

Earlier at Barrow Tip were 66 Dingy Skippers (per CP)

Wintersett 04.06.12

The Black Tern is still on Wintersett Res.  The 2 Common Terns are still on Anglers CP.

LBBG

Very quiet at the Ingbirchworth group of reservoirs.
Broadstones Reservoir - 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 1 drake Tufted Duck and suprisingly 1 singing Blackcap.
Mammals - 1 Stoat with prey over the road at Horn Lane, Ingbirchworth.
Butterflies - 1 Wall and 1 Small White on Spicer House Lane.

Stainborough June 4th

Highlights of this morning's patrol were two GS Woodpeckers together in the parkland and in the gardens one of the two Spotted Flycatchers which Gary saw earlier today.

Old Moor - 3rd June

Very little coverage today in the poor weather, however the Bittern was seen again as were the Avocets still with 4 chicks. New in was a drake Wigeon on the wader scrape where a Teal was also seen. Also on the Wader Scrape were 4 Ringed Plovers and 4 Little Ringed Plovers.

Jubilee Bonanza Wintersett 03.06.12

The weather today has been dreadful.  It was a very cold 8 degrees, with gusty wind, and the rain was incessant.  However the dramatic and unseasonal conditions heralded the appearance of a large number of Swifts and House Martins swooping low over Wintersett  Res.  Conservative counts were: 1000 Swift  and  400 House  Martin,  (which is the highest HM count for many years). Swallow 80,  Sand Martin 30.  The highlight today was a BLACK  TERN  gliding and dipping around the edge of the throng.
The 2 Common Terns were still present on Anglers CP.

Edderthorpe. Sunday morning, we now have 36 mute swan, 1little egret, 4 redshank 1Oyc. 2ring plover, and a Roe deer on the tip.

Boom boom at old moor

The male bittern was heard booming twice this morning and the female is still making regular feeding flights over on the reedbeds. Please be aware that the reedbed paths are still closed although adequate viewing can be had from the switchback.
Other news; A 1st summer(2cy) med gull was seen flying towards bolton ings, 16 avocet + 4 young, 4 LRP, 4 ringed plover, 159 gadwall, 13 pochard (2 fem), 1 teal and a barn owl.
Worsbrough res. GCGrebes are doing very well here - 3 broods of 3 so far plus 6 birds still sat. Hopefully the forecasted rain will hold off! Common terns look to have deserted, probably as a result of herons occupying the rafts and/or the youths that went out during the last warm spell.

SWAN LAKE

This morning the number of Mute Swans at Edderthorpe Flash had increased to 34. Also 5 Pochard, 1 Avocet, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 11 Ringed Plover, 1 Dunlin, and 7 Redshank

House Martins & Ravens

Whitwell Moor - 2 adult Ravens and 7+ Skylarks
Stocksbridge - 30+ House Martins over the Garden Village area - first in the Little Don Valley this year.

Wintersett 02.06.12

Another cool day today.  A Water Rail was singing at Wintersett Res and 2 Common Terns were flying around Anglers CP.

Now is the time.........

......to make a special note of..........Pochard.......how many females and males are still hanging about?
Can the Dearne Valley achieve more than the 4 successful pairs which have been recorded in each of the previous 2 years?

Teal is another one which is a good record at this time of year. 

Friday 1st June

Langsett Reservoir - 1 Cormorant.

Wintersett 01.06.12

Brrrr!  Cold, damp and overcast start to a new month. 
Very little of note here.  A pair of Common Terns have been around Anglers CP all week and an Arctic Tern arrived this afternoon.  On Wintersett Res. the Mute Swans still have four cygnets and the Great Crested Grebes have two youngsters.

The Trinity

Broomhill Flash- Quiet apart from good numbers of  Swifts,House Martins(50+) and Swallows(100+) but only two Sand Martins. On the flash were 25 Tufted Duck, 10 Gadwall, 2 Little Grebe and 1 Ruddy Duck.
Bolton Ings- Along the old railway the singing males included7 Chiffchaff, 6 Willow Warbler, 4 Blackcap,1 Whitethroat, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler, 6 Wren, 2 Song Thrush and 2 Mistle Thrush. A Common Tern flying from Wath Ings had a fish in its mouth- for a mate or feeding young? Views of the Waderscrape included  Avocet (10 adults +1 young), 2 Redshank and 1 Shelduck. Large numbers of hirundines but only 2 Sand Martins. Also seen were 2 Oystercatchers, 2 Kestrel, 1 Redshank and 1 Jay.
Wombwell Ings- Quiet apart from 2 Avocet, 3 Redshank, 3 Ringed Plover and a Lapwing family with 3 young.

House Martins

Has anyone noticed  a significant fall in the number of House Martins?
Amazingly I have not seen one in the Little Don Valley this year. There are usually 20-30 pairs in the Stocksbridge & Deepcar areas, but to my knowledge not a one to date.
Additionally there were smaller numbers than usual at the Ingbirchworth group of reservoirs this spring.

New Month - Same Birds

Virtually no change at Edderthorpe Flash from yesterday;- Ringed Plover 13, LRP 3, Dunlin 6 and I know everyone is wondering-there are still 29 Mute Swans.

Thursday

Old Moor - Bittern still showing quite regular in flight. Little Egret, 20+ Ringed Plover, 6 LRP, 1 Dunlin.

Steve Ward has kindly sent the location of where he saw his probable Golden Oriole recently. The description certainly fits nicely.

The location ~ go up the northern arm of the Trans Pennine Trail from the Stairfoot roundabout. After about 1/4 mile, the TPT takes a left turn towards Wakefield/Leeds, but don't take that left turn, instead carry on for about another mile towards Cudworth until you come to a very long bridge/viaduct over the river/valley with a sewage works to the right (pray for a westerly wind). The bridge and the path form part of a dismantled railway. It was on that bridge, which must be a good 80-100 feet high, that I saw the bird ~ on my right hand side. I'd stopped for a drink as I'd cycled from Wath and was just looking over the bridge at the river and I saw it fly north(ish) from the river, i.e. towards Cudworth, and it went into some trees about 200 yards away from the river.

I wont be around personally for the next few days but would suggest this is well worth looking for if anyone can drag themselves away from the jubilee celebrations! Steve Also sent these great shots of a Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding young which he took locally. Thanks Steve.