Castle Dam 04/11

Beautiful clear frosty morning with 3 Brambling feeding amongst 12 Bullfinch. 60 Pink-footed Geese flew west calling. Didn't have time to count but hundreds of  Woodpigeon streaming south.

Old Moor (Jeff Wragg): Goosander, Merlin male, Peregrine, Grey Plover, Ruff 2, Green Sand 2, Black-t Godwit.

The Stonechat was still on the fence-line by the Broomhill sluice yesterday, view-able from Wombwell Ings.

Adwick Wash sunset.

1 Little Egret, 4 Whooper swans on the top pool left east towards Denaby ings at 16.15. Also 1 Kingfisher, 1 Snipe, 2 Little Grebe, 9 Shoveler ducks, 10+ Teal 100+ Mallard, 4 Grey Heron. On Adwick tip 9 Grey Partridge.

Broomhill Flash

Broomhill sightings for 4th November are :-

Golden Plover c400,
Snipe 6+.

Gadwall 24,
Tufted Duck 2,
Teal 21+,
Shelduck 3,
Common Gull 1,
Herring Gull 1.

Red-legged Partridge 7.

Common Buzzard 1,
Sparrowhawk 1,
Peregrine Falcon 1,
Little Owl 1.

Sparrowhawk DIY - Urgent

A Sparrowhawk has been trapped in Wickes off Tannery Road in Barnsley since Saturday after dispatching a Pigeon inside the warehouse.

My stepson, who works for Canon Pest Control has contacted both RSPCA and RSPB who have both declined to assist.

The bird is perched up for tonight and is not going anywhere, but if anyone is interested to help or give advice, Steve Quick can be contacted on 07714794755.

I suppose the easy option would be to leave it to find its own way but this might not be possible due to its location.

Wintersett First Frost 04.11.13

First frost of the autumn.  2 degrees at 07.00hrs, bright and sunny with a brisk south westerly this morning.
Anglers CP Vis Mig: All SW unless stated.    WOOD PIGEON 11300,    Starling 53 W,  Redwing 25,  Fieldfare 2, Blackbird 2,  Meadow Pipt 6,  Pied Wagtail 3,  Chaffinch 4,  Goldfinch 2,  Siskin 3,  Yellowhammer 2 and  Reed Bunting 3.  Sparrohawk 1,  Common Buzzard 2,  Lapwing 12,  Stock Dove 7 and Golden Plover 12 NE.
Wintersett Res:  Goosander 2 redheads and  Grey Wagtail 1.
Also flying: A  Comma and a  Migrant Hawker.

Low Cudworth

5 Common Buzzards over Carrs Lane 1:40pm,+ Pair Sparrowhawks.

Gulls galore!!

Numbers of big gulls in the Country Park roost at Wintersett were reminiscent of the 1980's tonight, with the counts of Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls being the largest November counts since that period. In fact 553 Herring Gulls is a November record for the Wintersett Area, whilst 82 Great Black-backed and 221 Lesser Black-backed were also impressive counts for the time of year.
They were also joined by the regular, now adult, Yellow-legged Gull.

Hopefully, we are in for a good winters worth of gulling!

Broomhill Flash.

Todays sightings for Broomhill are :-

Golden Plover c500,
Lapwing c400.

Tufted Duck 8,
Mute Swan 2,
Teal 8,
Wigeon 6,
Shoveler 4,
Gadwall 56,
Coot 32,
Cormorant 9,
Little Gull 1,
Little Grebe 1,
Canada Goose 260.

Red-legged Partridge 4.

Kestrel 1.


TTFN

BARNSLEY BIRD STUDY GROUP presents.......

Yes, it's that time of year again and the winter Meetings kick off again. The first is this coming Thursday 7th November at the Old Moor visitor centre at 7.15 pm (usual place and time). The speaker will be Tony Sawbridge informing us of his recent visits to Indonesia. Anyone who has seen Tony's recent talks on Japan and Tibet will be aware of the excellent photography we were treated to and hopefully there will be plenty more here. All are welcome to attend.

Wilthorpe Marsh

Common Snipe 9
Jack Snipe 3
Water rail 2

Edderthorpe works!

Anyone visiting the Flash over the next couple of days should be aware that a earthmoving machine will be present in the marsh and disturbance to birds will be high. The aim is to widen some dikes to help control water levels better and to create some islands and trenches out in the marsh, to help breeding birds and to provide some exposed mud even when water levels are high. Saturday 2nd November;- Shelduck 3, Teal 500, Mallard 175, Golden Plover 450, Dunlin 1, Snipe 20 and a Jack Snipe was flushed when assessing a route in for the machine.

Wintersett 03.11.13

6 degrees, dry with a cold south westerly wind,  sunny and clear with some cloud.
Anglers CP Vis Mig:  Any movement fizzled out very quickly this morning. It was all over by 09.00hrs.
Best was a female MERLIN zooming through S at 08.20hrs.  Going west were: Wood Pigeon 420,  Fieldfare 5,  Redwing 51,  Chaffinch 6 and  Starling 18. Stock Dove 5 SW,  Skylark 9 S, Pied Wagtail 1 S. 
ACP:  Little Grebe 4,  Greylag Goose 90 and Cormorant 17.
Haw Park Wood:  Crossbill 17+,  Goldcrest 17 + 7 WRes.
Wintersett Res: Great Crested Grebe 70 and Goldeneye 21.  
Botany Bay: Chiffchaff 1
Also flying WRes:  Comma.

Early Report 3rd November.

60 Pink-footed Geese over Broomhill. In the field next to Gypsy Marsh, 2 Ruff, 2 Green Sandpiper, 6 Mistlethrush, 2 Redwing and a Grey Wagtail.

Broomhill Flash

Todays sightings for Broomhill Flash for the 2nd November are:-

Golden Plover c250,
Black-Tailed Godwit 1,
Lapwing c200,
Snipe 10.

Gadwall 40+,
Coot 74,
Cormorant 4,
Shoveler 4,
Mute Swan 2,
Tufted Duck 7,
Common Gull 2.

Merlin 1 (Hunting over sewage farm (Jim Thompson)).

Fox 1.

Finches

2 Brambling in a mixed group of 5 Chaffinch and 4 Bullfinch just off the footpath between Castle Dam and the Trans Pennine Trail this afternoon.

Wintersett + p.m. update 02.11.13

6°, cold and very misty first thing,  grey and drab with rain late morning.
Anglers CP Vis Mig:  Whooper Swan 7 left E at 08.10 + 4 adults W at 08.55 hrs. Redwing 48 W,  Fieldfare 58 S + 9 E,  Snipe 2 SE,  Skylark 3 SE + 3 E  and Meadow Pipit 3 S.
ACP: 20 Grey Partridge were in the Pol field. Shoveler 33,  Wigeon 216,  Little Grebe 2 + 15 WRes.  Greylag Goose 95.
Wintersett Res: A female Blackcap was ringed this morning.   Grey Wagtail 1,  Linnet 1 over,  Goosander 1 male + 4 redheads.
Wintersett Village Fields: Linnet 110,  Stock Dove 60,  Feral Pigeon 370.
Cold Hiendley Res: Cormorant 4.
The Gull Roost tonight held  160 Lesser Black-backs,  10 Great Black-backs, 39 Herring Gulls and 1 adult Yellow-legged Gull.

Broomhill Flash,Wombwell Ings

Broomhill Flash sightings.

Golden Plover 600+,
Little Egret 1.

Gadwall 19,
Teal 6,
Shoveler 3,
Shelduck 3,
Cormorant 11,
Black-headed Gull 49,
Coot 29,
Kingfisher 1.

Jay 1.
Female Stonechat (between Wombwell Ings and Broomhill Flash near sewage farm).

Kestrel 1.


Wombwell Ings.

Redshank 1,
Shelduck 1.

Friday's chit-chat

A couple of Ruff at Old Moor today - Keith Pickering

Old Moor today: Little Egret, Goosander, Golden Plover c500, Grey Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Ruff 2, Dunlin 8, Barn Owl.

This Grey Plover remains in long-term residence at Old Moor - Keith Pickering

 Broomhill Flash: Little Egret, Shelduck 3.

Wombwell Ings: Shelduck, Lapwing c200, Golden Plover c500, Grey Wagtail, Stonechat female type on fence posts adjacent to Broomhill sluice early pm (JES) but not since (to my knowledge), Goldcrest.

Wintersett 01.11.13

8 degrees, light south westerly, cool, cloudy but dry until midday then increasing rain all afternoon.
Anglers CP Vis Mig: Pink-footed Goose 120 E at 08.25hrs + 24 NW at 08.32.  Whooper Swan 14 E at 08.34hrs. Wigeon 9 S,  Wood Pigeon 570 SW,  Stock Dove 10 SW,  Fieldfare 73 S,  Redwing 33 S, Mistle Thrush 1 W,  Golden Plover 8 SW, Jackdaw 20 S, Starling 197 W,    Grey Wagtail 2 S,  Greenfinch 2S,  Meadow Pipit 6 S,  Goldfinch 4 S,  Skylark 10 SW,  Yellow Bunting  3S and Chaffinch 7 S. 
ACP: Cormorant 10 and  Little Grebe 3.
Haw Park Wood:  Crossbill 15.