Thursday 18 September 2008

Oop north, tha knows.

Slight improvement to the weather and a trip to Barnsley to see my sister meant there was an opportunity for some different areas to visit.

The first place we visited was Newmillerdam near Wakefield, It's basically a large lake with a dam at one end. A walk way allows access alaround the lake. The day was really grey and overcast so I didn't take my camera. What a shame, there were 3 Herons all almost within touching distance, a Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Ducks and the usual coots/moorhens and mallards.

We then went to Broomhill on the Barnsley to Rotherham road, There is a flash there which is managed by the Garganey trust, a group of local people who are well in to their birds. Again the weather was not great but I did get to see Lapwings, Mallard, Little Egrets, Canada Geese, Greylag, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Jackdaw, Black headed Gull, Hobbies, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Cormorant, Gadwall, coot, Moorhen, Garganey, and fantastically for me a Ruddy Duck, . A couple of shots below. The Ruddy Duck is quite a crop.

Lapwing:

Ruddy Duck:

The Highlight of the visit up north was a couple of trips to Old Moor RSPB reserve, not far from the Broomhill site and a fantastic venue. It is free to members and £2.50 for non member adults. It has half a dozen hides and is wheel chair friendly. There is a shop and canteen which have a good selection to offer. I was told it was a bit early for the high number of visiting birds but there were a good number of Geese and Ducks, there were Common sandpiper, Heron, Grebes both Little and Great crested, Little Egret, Bullfinch, Tree sparrows (yes Tree sparrows) and all the usual woodland birds. These are two of the Great crested grebe shots, it had two fish whilst i was watching it.

All in all it was a great trip oop north.