South Yorkshire, a good start.

Hi everyone, have you missed me? I doubt it.

Well I'm finally settled in at my sisters place, with the exception of waiting for the delivery of a chest of drawers. I have had time to look at one or two places and even get a few shots.

Old Moor RSPB reserve has been my first port of call. It's on the site of one of Yorkshires old coal mines and if I do say so myself its pretty impressive. I have had 2 1/2 days there and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I have added 3 species to my yearly list so far, Common Tern, Tree Sparrow, and Med Gull. I think I also saw a small flock of a different Tern but unfortunately the photos i got were under exposed and too far away to ID. However on the same day other small flocks of Artic Tern were seen flying over by a number of birders. I am not going to record them as a tick though because I could not say what the flock I saw were.

Old Moor has a good number of Mammels on it, amongst which are Water Voles, Weasels, Stoat and Hare. I only managed Rabbit, here's one I saw.



I was hoping to get Tree Sparrow, but I would have liked one away from a plain post. However I was not complaining.

The reserve is alive with Buntings and Warblers at the moment. Full breeding plumage Reed Bunting males are everywhere.

Reed Warblers are also around in high numbers. I managed to get this one which was creeping around the reed bottoms.

The star of the week was this Whitethroat, I believe its just a common, but I have seen and heard Lesser Whitethroat which nest on the reserve but not photographed. If not next week then that will be a target for the future.

There are a number of reserves in very close proximity to Old moor. Wombwell Ings, Bolton Ings and Broomhill flash are just three of them. I have already checked out Broomhill and Bolton Ings and believe there are good photo opportunities to be had at both. I also saw Ruddy duck and Green Sandpiper at Broomhill so that makes 5 new ticks to my yearly list. Also nearby is Gypsy Marsh, which has Northern, Southern and Marsh Orchids and I'm reliably told a good head of Grasshopper Warbler. I will check that out ASAP.

Its good to be posting again and I hope you'll come back and have a look.