Cawthorne Dyke 5-6-12

Hobby 1, buzzard 1, curlew 1, presumed to be on territory.

Edderthorpe early morn

Mute Swan 34, Shelduck 2, Teal 1, Gadwall 49, Oyc 1, LRP 6, Ringed Plover 2, Yellow Wag 1.

Carlton Marsh

Ringing control: Sedge Warbler X076053 ringed here as a 3j (juvenile) by Dave Smith at 05.40hrs on 19/7/2011 controlled as a 4 (adult) wing length 64mm at Wintersett Res. by Pete Smith on 2/6/2012. This species has declined in recent years so its nice to get news that one made it back!

Cudworth Common

This evening-Mallard with at least 11 ducklings, Cuckoo singing, 2 Redshank alarming near top pond + 2 on bottom ponds, 4 Meadow Pipits (1 displaying) Oystercatcher 1, Little Grebe 1, Mute Swan 2, Skylark 3 singing and 5 Tufted Duck.
Symphony (north side) Ringed Plover 1, 8 Canada Geese, 1 Greylag, Lapwings with young. (south side) 2 Red Legged Partridge, 1 Ringed Plover and Lapwing on nest. A large Dragonfly whized past too quick to identify-Emperor? climbed very high out of sight.

Wintersett 06.06.12

Anglers CP - Common Tern 5
Walton Hall - Gadwall 1 male and 1 female, Mute Swan with 4 cygnets
Wintersett Res - A new brood of 5 Mute Swan cygnets
Highlight today was a QUAIL singing in fields south of Cold Hiendley village.
(Thanks to Ivan for initial report.)
Also found was a longhorn beetle north of its usual range.   (Thanks forcomments -  I stand corrected)

Agapanthia Villosoviridescens

Old Moor Outskirts

Broomhill Flash- Very quiet with 25 Tufted Duck, 5 Gadwall, 7 Mallard (1 brood of 7 ducklings), 1 Shoveler, 1 Redshank, 1 Ruddy Duckand  150+ Swifts . A Green Woodpecker was on Little Broomhill.
Wombwell Ings-The highlight was a pair of Garganey but they were being elusive like most other ducks (8 Mallard, 3 Gadwall, 4 Tufted and 1 Shoveler).Also present were a Kingfisher on the Bulling Dyke, 1 Avocet, 1 Redshank, 3 Grey Partridge and 3 broods of Lapwing(3, 2and 1 chicks)
Bolton Ings-Along the old railway track were singing Chiffchaffs 8, Blackcap 4, Willow Warbler6, Whitethroat 5, Reed warbler 1 and Yellowhammer1. Other birds included 4 Kestrel, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 LBB Gull, 12 Mallard, 17 Gadwall, 35 Tufted Duck, 3 Gt Crested Grebe, $ Little Grebe, 2 Common Tern and a Buzzard over the west end.

The end of an era?

Early evening update - pair of Garganey still on Wombwell Ings. Bittern still showing quite regular at Old Moor. And now some not so good news - An adult summer-plumage Mediterranean Gull has been picked up dead (estimated time of death 1 - 2 weeks) by the Trans Pennine Trail near Old Moor and is thought to have succumb to overhead power lines. It is likely that this is the adult bird which graced the bird this spring and perhaps more importantly the male of the pair that were Yorkshire's first proven successful breeders back in 2010. Sad news indeed.

The Garganey on Wombwell Ings today - Jim Thompson Above - drake

below - female

Carlton Marsh

2 Buzzards over this afternoon, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker (2) and a Little Owl near Bleachcroft Farm.  Both Swan cygnets are doing well and a pair of Coot have 2 small young.  Little Grebe have so far failed to produce any young.
Butterflies included 7 Dingy Skipper, 13 Common Blue, 6 Small Heath, 5 Small Copper and a PAINTED LADY.
Also taking to the wing between the sunny spells were small numbers of Azure Damselfly and Four Spot Chaser.

Quail

Quail singing at 2.45pm today just south of Cold Hiendley village in the field behind the houses.

WI AM

A pair of Garganey Wombwell Ings this morning.

Edderthorpe early morning

Mute Swans are up to 35, a migrant Little Grebe has appeared, Shelduck 2, first brood of Gadwall - 3, of the season, Avocet 1, Oyc 1, LRP 2, Ringed Plover 1, Dunlin 3,
And for anyone who meant to get up early to see Venus transit the Sun, well you missed nowt due to the overcast conditions.

News from Donny

According to the Donny blog today per Andy Gray (glad he's out birding and not playing for't TARN this season);
Adwick
Turtle Dove 1.......is this the first for the Dearne this year? I haven't even heard of any others in the Barnsley district.
Also snipe 5 (one drumming). Avocet 1. Lapwing 40+. Redshank 10. Ring Plover 3. Gropper 1.

Also..........on the RSPB Old Moor website they are reporting a fox walking about in the reedbeds.
The guy who has posted this has added............'Maybe Basil Brush has turned up after all to try a bit of 'Boom booming' !!
Some may find this funny..........I don't.
The RSPB Old Moor have been continually asked over many years to get a grip on the fox problem at Old Moor but they have refused to do this because no one on site is willing to actually carry it out.
Consequently - the young and adult bitterns are  now at risk.
It will be an absolute disaster if the foxes get hold of these birds.

LBBG's again

Broadstones Reservoir - Lesser Black-backed Gulls up to 54 - a high count for early June. Also a Little Ringed Plover this afternoon (per HBC website).

Wintersett 05.06.12

Wintersett Res -  Today was cool and overcast with brief sunny spells and a SW breeze. 
Swift 500,  Common Tern 3.   The Mute Swan cygnets are down to 3 from 6 and the  2 young Great Crested Grebes were not seen so have probably been predated.

Edderthorpe Flash

Oystercatcher 5 - The nesting bird on Houghton is no longer sitting and presumably the eggs have been predated. Avocet 1, Ringed Plover 2, LRP 5, Forgot to mention yesterday- the first brood of Redshank-4 since the floods washed everything out. And finally- Coot 108.

Whitwell Moor

Barn Owl at the bottom wood at Long Lane, Whitwell Moor this evening.

Edderthorpe - 4th June

Called at Edderthorpe on my way home to count the Mute Swans, I agree with Grahams total of 26. Also to add to the Owl theme I saw a Little Owl sat on a road sign near the roundabout at ASOS.

Old Moor - 4th June

Following my visit to Bolton Ings I progressed onto Old Moor, highlight being 2 sightings of the female Bittern in flight at 15.10 and 15.20 from the Bittern Viewpoint. There are now 6 Avocet chicks present (3 broods of 2) and a further 2 adults dropped in from a great height mid afternoon. A flock of 9 Lapwings also dropped in shortly after the Avocets. The drake Wigeon was still present on the Wader Scrape and a drake Teal was on the field pools. I counted 10 Pochard in total with only 1 female seen, new broods of Mallard included broods of 9 and 5 on the Field Pools and 7 and 5 on the Wader Scrape. Regarding the Bittern Viewpoint this is the first time I have seen it and I was impressed. A couple of notice boards describe the history of the reedbeds and the hopes that Bitterns could be attracted to breed, I am sure the introduction of Eels and Rudd certainly helped. Also an up to date notice board of the days sightings, times, behaviour etc and helpfull staff on hand to give up to the minute news. A Gazeebo and plenty of chairs completed the setup. As mentioned earlier during my couple of hours there the Bittern showed twice and about 25/30 people were rewarded with good views. Everybody was happy with their sightings, the bloke next to me saw the Bittern for the first time and he had been trying for 2 years, he was well chuffed. Another bloke saw it yesterday for the first time (in the reeds on Reedbed 1) and came back today to see it again. Huge thanks go to the RSPB and all their staff for providing the Viewpoint but more importantly providing us all the opportunity to see Bitterns breeding in our part of the country at Old Moor.

Bolton Ings - 4th June

My first visit to Bolton for 2 weeks following my weeks rest in Magaluf, weather a lot better than yesterday. Highlights being a bit more breeding success but not much plus 4 pairs of Common Terns. Full list :- Grey Heron 1, Mute Swan 4 adults + 1 on river (broods of 4 and 2), Canada Goose 52 (broods of 6 and 2), Grey Lag Goose 9, Great Crested Grebe 6 (1 left towards Manvers), Little Grebe 10 (brood of 2), Mallard 14 (brood of 3 including a bright yellow one), Gadwall 46, Shoveler 1 drake, Tufted Duck 59 ( I decided to count males and females as with Pochard, result 39 males, 20 females), Pochard 9 (6 males, 3 females), Coot 62 ( broods of 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 & 1), Moorhen 2, Lapwing 16 (broods of 2, 2, 1 & 1), Oystercatcher 4, Redshank 2, Black Headed Gull 517 ( well down on previous counts but now harder to see because of vegetation and also birds away collecting food for chicks, many chicks now visible but not counted, next week perhaps?), Common Tern 8, Kestrel 1, Green Woodpecker 1, Reed Warbler 4, Sedge Warbler 1, Chiffchaff 5, Willow Warbler 4, Blackcap 3.

Winscar-Early evening

Singing birds included 3 Willow Warbler,Curlew and Red Grouse. Also present were an Oystercatcher, a Cuckoo and a hunting Short-eared Owl opposite the car park at 7pm.