Wintersett May Day Monday

A very happy May Day Monday in fact. Bird of the day is a drake LESSER SCAUP found with a group of about six Tufted Ducks in the south-west corner of the Top Res. It showed very well throughout the day, spending much of the morning sleeping and then feeding actively in the evening. This is the third Lesser Scaup for Wintersett and the fourth for the Barnsley area. To add to the interest this drake is 'wearing' a red-orange nasal saddle. This is a coloured plastic patch which carries a unique code and is attached to the bill of wildfowl by 'ringers' so the birds movements can be followed and easily read in the field. This nasal saddle is marked 'VH' so we can easily source where it's been since it was captured and marked. It was first trapped on 20th December 2013 as a juvenile drake at Sao Jacinto Dunes NR in Portugal and it remained here for the winter through to 3rd February 2014. It was next noted in southern Wales at Llangorse Lake in the Brecon Beacons National Park from 17th October 2014 to February 2015. And then it went 'missing' again until turning up on the Top Res this morning. And this is not the first duck marked with a nasal saddle to travel from Sao Jacinto to Wintersett,- a Pochard did exactly the same thing a few years ago!

Showing the orange-red nasal saddle and note the markings VH in the centre.

An Osprey appeared over the Country Park at 09:10 then moved on to the Top Reservoir before heading southwards and was later picked up at Carlton Marsh. Common Tern 12, Common Sandpiper 1, Common Snipe 1, Barn Owl 1 hunting over the Top Res at 07:50, Swift 90. And another exciting development, 2 Sand Martins were watched entering holes in the nesting box on the Country Park, the first time that this has been observed and hopefully not the last.