Called in here for the second stage of our Tour de Yorkshire this morning. The Glossy Ibis showed reasonably well and was mostly active. There was a single Avocet seen from the Wader Scrape hide, with a minimum of 3 Common Terns present among the Black-headed Gulls. 1 Tree Sparrow seen from the car park but we didn't go round to the viewing screen for the 'Tree Sparrow Farm' so that in itself shouldn't be taken as evidence of a dramatic decline. A Bearded Tit put in a very brief appearance while most people were concentrating on photographing the Ibis
Also: Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Canada and Greylag Geese Shelduck, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Coot, Moorhen, Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull (one of which successfully predated a Black-headed chick and swallowed it in flight Woodpigeon, Robin, Blackbird, Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat (1 heard), Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Goldfinch,
Fieldfare 20 Golden Plover 120+ Goosander 1m 1f Kestrel 1 Sparrowhawk 1 Bittern 1 fleeting, distant view...better than nothing! Little Grebe 1 Lapwings Cormorants Bullfinch 2 Linnet 6+ Plenty of the usual winter duck species, except Pintail and Shelduck. etc.etc.etc.
Only down side was Flixton to the reserve, 1hr. 40mins. That's OK, but return was 2 and half hours to do 55 miles, due to hideous traffic at Glossop and along the M60. Possibly due to it being a Friday afternoon.
Sunday was so bright and sunny that we abandoned the bathroom decorating and drove over to Old Moor - where it was dull, grey and foggy
Despite this we had a good day's birdwatching:
over 1000 Golden Plover, almost as many Lapwing, 2 Green Sandpipers, 2 Snipe and a solitary Dunlin. Plus all the usual wildfowl and what I'm sure was a Cetti's Warbler singing away in the undergrowth by the Wader Scrape Hide.
the chicks have now been sighted climbing up the reeds to get to the mother, there appears to be 3 young present. i did 1.45pm till 3.45 pm on the watch point on thursday and had 4 sightings of the mother flying from one place to another in the reed bed, it's certainly worth a visit.
plenty of usual other species, avocets with young little ringed and ringed plover. redshanks.
Quick visit this am, failed to see the Bittern, but there is a watchpoint set up, and the news is that the eggs have hatched. Was seen in flight twice yesterday. Many species were seen. Highlights: Avocet Ringed Plover 100's of Martins/Swifts Reed Warblers Lesser Whitethroat Tree Sparrows and Bullfinches on feeders Yellowhammer Skylark Reed Bunting Many young about of various species.
bitterns a booming. it's only a young un at the mo and so not very loud comparatively, but it's old moors first one and if you've never heard one before it's definitely worth a visit to hear it as it's a prolific boomer both early and late
also 2 sand martin and the first swallow of the year for me so the day was rather good right till me lens blew up
Nine hardy members of Bolton RSPB braved the Yorkshire Motorway FOG patches, To visit OLD MOOR (RSPB) nature reserve. Mist on the reserve gave way to sunshine at midday.
a new place for me,here all day 9.30-4.30pm. no signs off the water pipit or jack snipe (for me anyway) water pipit was reported early morning. birds seen... 3000+golden plovers,great to see & i believe the flocks get larger. hundreds off lapwings 1 common snipe 1 ringed plover 1 common sandpiper 2 green sandpipers 11 dunlin 2 redshanks little stint was sighted (but not by me) + all usual ducks, swans, geese & lots off little grebes around. 50+ pink footed goose over,south 30+ fieldfares over 1 kingfisher 2 kestrels 2 buzzards 3 sparrowhawks, great view off a female sat on post just above where the snipe was, the snipe just bobbed down & sparrowhawk eventually flew off with nowt. 7 redpolls 1 willow tit 1 great spotted woodpecker lots off birds around feeders mostly greenfinches + chaffinches,bullfinches + usual tits & tree sparrows. also plenty off linnets around.
Unsucessful trip over the tops first thing this morning, knew I should have gone yesterday! Watching a Short-eared Owl hunting and feeding 2 chicks over Woodhead this morning was some consolation.
26/05/2011 - A mad dash over the pennines to beat the growing darkness in the evening with Phil Owen produced good views of the Least Sandpiper from the Wader Scrape Hide. It had been reidentified from a Temminck's Stint present since the afternoon only. Feeding on it's own for the majority of the time, on a few occasions it joined up with some (relatively giant) Dunlins for good size comparison! Also seen on a brief wander around the reserve were:
1 lesser white throat and a pair of blackcaps chifchaf, 6 yellow wagtails avocet, redshank, oystercatchers plenty of ducks teal, gadwall,mallard, tufties greylag and canada geese 3 wren singing along the river bank
lots of other usual species and plenty of sand martin and swallow. song thrush and a couple of sky larks. 1 GSW
on gypsy marsh
2 annoying gropper which wouldn't show, a pair of snipe sedge warbler, whitethroat,willow warbler, reed warbler, reed bunting
old moor itself
a couple of long staying med gulls on the mere hundreds of black headed gulls.
some nice plumage on the linnets, whitethroat and plenty of willow warbler.
then all the usual suspects which you would normally see on a visit here.
First visit yesterday ,03/02/11 , 11:30-14:30... Bright and breezy . Birds seen... Chaffinch,greenfinch ,brambling,blue,great and long-tailed tits from first hide .. Loads of tree sparrows ,reed bunting,yellowhammer and more chaffinch from screen. Marsh tit between hides . On mere ...several Gadwall,widgeon ,tufties ,coot ,mallard , three goldeneye ,two pochard , mute swans . Flock of 40+ linnet , with lapwings and starlings on island no.1 . Kestrel perched on owl nesting box. Stock doves , Heron and large flock of yellowhammers on way to Bittern hide , plus first wasp of the year !!! All in all ,a very enjoyable day , and a great reserve , will definitely return there ... Cheers Chris
No sign of reported Bittern or Water Rail Good numbers of Greenshank, Golden Plover, Little Grebe and Lapwing. A couple of Snipe and Ruff also present.
Spotted Redshank Curlew Sandpiper Greenshank Green Sandpiper Black Tailed Godwit Snipe Ringed Plover Golden Plover Lapwing Redshank Ruff
Other highlights included
Little Egret Little Grebe with two very small chicks 2 Willow Tits at the feeders Good numbers of Hirundines passing through
Broomhill also had a good number of birds
Common Sandpiper Green Sandpiper Dunlin Stock Dove close views 50+ Goldfinch, lots of juveniles 1 Ruff and 5 Reeve made a brief stop off before flying in the direction of Old Moor
Also good numbers of duck at both places
Always worth a visit and invariably a great selection of waders and wildfowl at this time of year
Not forgetting the family parties of Red Grouse on the moor at the side of Woodhead on the way over
We all arrived this morning, and apart from the usual stuff, we had yellowhammers,Linnets and a water rail. At Wombwell we saw a number of grey partiridge, chasing each other all over the ground. Very nice to see.
We Three + one were here again, and once moor(sic) the rain held off. First stop was the Cafe hide for a bacon Barm. It was a good day. Just round the corner from the feeder hide, we spied a Green Woodpecker. A first I think for one of us. The bottom hide was the most fruitful, with peregrine falcon causing the mixed flock of lapwings and Golder Plover to rise. Common and Green Sandpiper were seen, plus Redshank, with all the usual stuff plus a Kingfisher, and loads of Linnets.
-- Edited by Geoff Walton on Friday 13th of November 2009 06:20:50 PM
We four had a good day at the above plus broomhill. The bottom hide at OM was packed, and so was the water, but the crake did not show up till after we had got back to the shop. Best views of Snipe I have ever had from both places, along with various sandpipers. Just a jolly good day rounded off with an amazing view through a guy's 77mm Leica with a 30x ww angled e.p.
Sorry rob, i must apologise for mr.potters mucky mind. The reference to baps was a private joke between warfy and myself. Whilst sampling a breakfast bap at old moor, melanie ordered warfys on brown, much to his disgust! It was not a reference to ladies breasts, big or small!
-- Edited by Mark Rigby on Wednesday 23rd of September 2009 11:36:14 AM