Carlton Marsh

A Great White Egret came in from the north at around 1105hrs and alighted for a couple of minutes before returning north (Harold Heath/Clive Mitchell).

                               Great White Egret (Clive Mitchell)

                               

                                 Red Fox (Clive Mitchell)

Also present 10 Redpolls, Great Spot Woodpecker, Water Rail, Cetti's Warbler and 2 Sparrowhawks (Les & Andrew Corrall).

Earlier c40 Pink Feet flew north towards the reserve at 09.30hrs (A. Vincent).  

Storrs Mill Wood

10 Fieldfare, 2 Redpolls, Grey Wagtail, Buzzard. The Brick moth was found in the wood and Harlequin Ladybirds were everywhere (CG). 

Carlton Marsh

Our wildlife group was busy this morning strimming on the embankment. 

After and during working at least 3 Cetti's Warblers sang, 2 Water Rails called a few Siskins and a Redpoll were audible, and a 'Redhead' Goosander seen at dawn left sometime during the morning.

We didn't see any Willow Emeralds, but the sun had gone in by mid-day making it more difficult. However,  a search of some small Willows they had recently frequented revealed some freshly made galls made by the female while impregnating her eggs in to the bark of twigs no more than a quarter of an inch thick (CG/Melvyn White). This is final proof that they are breeding here, after a 3 year search!

              Willow Emerald Galls where eggs have been laid (CG)

Carlton Marsh

The Barn Owl was hunting behind the cottages at first light before heading NE towards Shafton. 6 Shovelers and 2 'Redhead' Goosanders stayed all day (Keith Bannister).

This afternoon Kingfisher, 2 Redpolls and 3 Siskins (CG).

            Goosander photo-bombed by a B.H. Gull (John Finch).
 

Carlton Marsh

A quick visit around mid-day produced single Red Admiral and Small Copper + 3 Willow Emerald Damselflies. A Buzzard was lurking in the car park trees (C. Parkin).

 

Willow Emerald male (Chris Parkin)

 

A Red Kite flew over Nether Cudworth, south at 13.10hrs (Richard Laverack)

Carlton Marsh

A Barn Owl was hunting again at 07.45hrs (behind the cottages) (K. Bannister).

During the morning a Green Woodpecker was on the Northern Meadow and a Red Kite flew south (H. Heath/C. Mitchell/S. Cox).

From the hide a Kingfisher was watched for quite awhile diving for fish (H. Heath/C. Mitchell). 

 

Photos by Clive Mitchell

Carlton Marsh

A Green Sandpiper was on the wader scrape at 07.30hrs as a Raven flew west calling (Neil Lunn/Keith Bannister).

200+ Pink Feet Geese flew east at 10.05hrs (JP).

130 Pink Feet flew west at 13.39hrs. Also of note 5 Shoveler, 10 Siskins and 2 Goldcrests (CG).

Carlton Marsh

This mornings best was 6 Siskins, 2 Redpolls, Grey Wagtail and Great Spotted Woodpecker, all in the car park.

A Treecreeper and a Small Tortoiseshell  were seen on the embankment (GM Carr/CG et al)

Carlton Marsh

The Barn Owl was hunting behind the cottages again at 07.00hrs (Keith Bannister). 

Around mid-day a Kingfisher was observed from the hide fishing from a post. It took all of 30 minutes to catch a Stickleback. 

Butterflies on show were Red Admiral, Small Copper and 5 Speckled Wood. 

3 Willow Emeralds were also of note and the first Wood Blewits were found. (Chris Parkin).

Carlton Marsh

2 Tawny Owls were calling again at dawn (K. Bannister).

2 of the Willow Emeralds that were on a Willow branch when I left at 16.00hrs yesterday were still in exactly the same position despite all the overnight rain! As the sun came out during late morning, they began to exercise their wings a little and were still there when we left (M.White/S. Cox/CG).

                                 Willow Emeralds (Simon Cox)

A Firecrest was seen briefly in Les Corrall's White Cross Road, Cudworth garden this morning by his son Andrew Corrall. 

Last night the migrant moth Dark Sword Grass was at the side of the M V light trap in my Cudworth garden. This is my 3rd record of it and the first since September 2001!

                                      Dark Sword Grass

Carlton Marsh

A Barn Owl was hunting the field behind Farfield Cottages at dawn (K. Bannister).

At mid-day a female Peregrine Falcon flashed at a bird near the hide, and a Kingfisher was present. 

A Migrant Hawker was on the wing and several pairs of Common Darter were in tandem egg laying. Also of note 1 Red Admiral and 6 Speckled wood (C. Parkin).

The afternoon session provided 15 Teal, a Cormorant, 5 Water Rails called, a Grey Wagtail flew over, 3 Cetti's Warbler's sang, and a Coal Tit was amongst a group of roaming Titmice.

2 pairs of Willow Emerald were in the 'Wheel' position, the females appeared to be ovipositing into the bark of Willow, on the right side of the hide (CG). 

                         Shaggy Scalycap (Pholiota squarrosa)

Carlton Marsh

A Bittern came in from the marsh towards the hide at 17.49hrs and landed in a reed bed to the left of the hide not far from its usual haunt. 

This is the first sighting of it since the 6th of October. It was still there after the light faded (Dave Standish).

Carlton Marsh

 A Tawny Owl called at dawn and again at dusk (K. Bannister). 

40 Canada Geese were on the wader scrape and 6 Shovelers were on the Whin Pool. 

This afternoon a female Blackcap, 3 Song Thrush and 3 Water Rails called.

 As the light began to fade c60 Starlings roosted and 4 Great White Egrets flew south at 17.45hrs. A record maximum! 

                               Shovelers (John Finch)

Carlton Marsh

Our group was busy this morning mowing/strimming the grass in the car park/hide areas and also strimming behind the double seats.

80 Canada Geese were languishing on the scrape and 8 Shovelers were on the Whin pool. 

Also of note Great Spot Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail and Treecreeper.

Several Toadlets were found near the School Pond (M. White/CG). 

Carlton Marsh

A nice surprise for JP this morning when a Fieldfare flew from the little bridge over the dike towards Sunny Bank, it was the first for the autumn, and unusual in that it arrived before the first Redwing.  

c100 B.H. Gulls were on a tilled to the east, 30 Starlings passed over, a Redpoll called and 2 Little Egrets were on the wader scrape (JP/K. Bannister)  

Peter and Annefie Roberts ansd 2 oth members of the Barnsley Narturalists Group visited to look specifically for plant galls. 

Here's what they found; 

On the trees near the Ralph Hibbert’s seat we found quite a lot of Common spangle galls, which are caused by the gall wasp Neuroterus quercusbaccarum (asexual generation). 

These galls were on your photo’s, I believe, little hairy discs with a pimple in the middle. The galls, like most, fall in Autumn from the leaves and stay during the winter in the leaf litter, where the insects continue to mature. The adult gall wasps emerge in the Spring and will then be laying their eggs, in this case on the male catkins, to produce galls of the sexual generation.

Other species we found on Oak around the reserve were: 

Knopper gall, induced by the sexual generation of the gall wasp Andricus quercusramuli.

Silk button spangle galls, caused by the gall wasp Neuroterus numismalis. These galls have been very prolific this year and some of the Oak leaves are completely covered with them underneath. 

A number of Marble galls, caused by the gall wasp Andricus kollari, 

Some Artichoke galls, caused by the gall wasp Andricus foecundatrix,

Some Cola nut galls, caused by the gall wasp Andricus lignicolus, 

A few Pea galls from the asexual generation of the gall wasp Cynips divisa, 

and the tiny egg-shaped galls on the veins of oak leaves of the gall wasp Neuroterus anthracinus (better seen with a magnifier) .

On Alder we found the distinctive pouches near the main veins of Alder leaves, caused by the gall mite Eriophyes inangulis 

On Phragmatites, Lesley found us the Cigar galls, caused by the fly Lipara lucens. 

Carlton Marsh

A Little Egret on the wader scrape was the first since 9/8/25! (Karen Pickard/Richard Laverack).

                              Little Egret (John Finch)

Stubble fields to the east produced c60 Linnets, 3 Yellow Buntings, a Red-legged Partridge, a handful of Skylarks and 3 Herring Gulls. Once again demonstrating how important spilled seed on arable land is. Due to the recent drought, the farmer has delayed ploughing/harrowing to plant a new crop because the ground is so hard (JP).

Carlton Marsh

 This morning 6 Teal, 6 Shoveler, Kingfisher, 16 Greylags with Canadas, Cetti's Warbler and Water Rail.

Also a small group of Siskins. 

The Origins of Carlton Marsh (continued)

The disputed meadow we renamed the Western Meadow, had been neglect since 2013, so our wildlife group set about manually chopping down all the Hawthorn, Willow and Birch scrub that had grown. A formidable achievement especially during the Covid Pandemic, when we had to socially distance ourselves from each other to prevent the spread of the vile disease and to comply with government dictate. Since then, we have been helped by BMBC Rangers and YWT to restore the meadow.

In 2023 YWT obtained funding to fence the meadow, so that our Parks Officer, Russ Boland could get a sheep farmer to come and graze it from the latter part of 2024. It is our intention to put cattle on during the summer months, we couldn’t in 2025 because of the severe drought.

In 2023, Dave Smith moved to Amble in Northumberland. Dave was a staunch member of our group. He co-wrote our Annual Natural History Report with me from 1983 to 2024 and spent countless hours birding and ringing here. Needless to say, his input in the data base is much missed.

The reserve has always been managed by a small group of volunteers with help from BMBC Rangers, and for the last 10 years by YWT volunteers.

Down the years we have lost people who have died, notably Robert Laverack, Steve darcy, Frank Hardy, Ernest Jobling, Brian Morton, Phil Wordsworth, Ralph Hibbert, Elaine Evans and Councillor Charles C. Wraith MBE.

Our wildlife group meets every Thursday to do management tasks to keep the site looking at its wild best. Without our dedicated wildlife observers there would be no database. Not forgetting my old friend and founder member, Keith Bannister, who diligently makes sure that the main gate to the car park is opened every morning come rain or shine, and Dave or Claire Richardson, who shut the gate every night.

There have been several officers in charge from the BMBC Parks Department to manage the site over the years, namely Eric Bennett, Geoff Carr, Philip Tierney Kitchener, Nigel Labdon, Brian Hearne, Trevor Mayne and since 2011, Russ Boland. Their role as officers for the Council has been essential for us to gain access to gain grants and Section 106 money, Green Flag and Yorkshire in Bloom Awards and a whole host of other things now help the site gain more status and protection against development to the benefit of wildlife and visitors.

If you wish to send in your sightings my email is cliff1947@hotmail.co.uk

Carlton Marsh

 The Origin of Carlton Marsh & Ringing (continued)

In 1977 BMBC started landfilling part of Pool Ings near Monckton Pit stack. By 1982, the refuse tip was beginning to attract wintering Icelandic, ‘White-winged Gulls. So, some of our younger birders started to watch the site. John Clarkson, Peter Senior and Jeff Cattle found Iceland and Glaucous Gulls feeding there. Keith and I, along with Richard and Robert Laverack, made many visits until the site was closed in 1992.

Meanwhile back at the reserve, one of our biggest challenges was the dispute over the disused Hull & Barnsley Railway and marshalling yard that was leased to BMBC as part of the nature reserve. The adjacent scrapyard owners claimed it was theirs. In their wisdom, in 1985 British Rail decided to sell it, including the old railway embankment we used as a footpath, to several Boulder Bridge scrapyard owners. An agreement was reached, with BMBC to allow the extraction of ash to go ahead with the proviso that the site be given over to the nature reserve after the work was completed. In 1990 two ponds were created and a wildflower mix was put on the land to create a wildflower meadow.

That said, the scrappers held on to the deeds and claimed it was still theirs. This argument with the scrappers rolled on until it came to a head in February 2013, when they blocked all entrances to the railway embankment with posts and barb wire and signs saying ‘Keep Out’. The police were brought in, but the scrappers objected saying they were biased against them. Our group members, at their own risk, removed the barb wire and carried on as usual.

Time moved on and in November 2018, after months of building a case with the BMBC solicitor, I went with her as a witness for BMBC, on the 5.30am train to Manchester where the case was heard in a court there. Unfortunately, the scrappers had a top London Barrister representing them, and he ran rings around the BMBC Barrister, by his own admission. However, nothing was decided that day, apparently that was only part one.

Nothing more happened until both parties got together and came to an out of court financial settlement in August 2019. Finally, after 33 years of constantly looking over our shoulders, in case we were whacked with a baseball bat, the dispute was over and the land given over to BMBC as part of the nature reserve. Phew! We have had no trouble since.