Monthly Archives: October 2011

Once again out at Old Moor looking for that elusive Jack Snipe but our first call was at Wombwell Ings next door to Old Moor and fresh in from Scandinavia were plenty of Redwing, Fieldfare and Blackbirds with the odd Mistle Thrush thrown in, supporting cast were Greenfinch and Goldfinch with Long Tailed, Blue and Great Tits along the hedgerows, Pied Wagtails and Red leggeed Partridge and Lapwings in the fields, Black-headed Gulls overhead.

After all that excitement we finally arrived at Old Moor at 9am okay 30mins early but the car park feeders held Greenfinch and Tree Sparrows so we watched those until the reserve opened up. When we were on the reserve we headed straight up to the Bittern hide, last reported place for Jack Snipe and Water Pipit, seeing Lesser Redpolls, and Kestrel by the wayside, we also had great views of a Kingfisher on one of the ponds.

After  about an hour in the hide the Jack Snipe once again beat me, we did see Whooper Swans (10) go thru and along with Redshank and Common Sandpiper we did have something to watch. On then to Reedbed hide in the vain hope of it having moved next door. Water Rail was seen but still no Jack Snipe or Water Pipit. We heard reports of a Red Kite flying thru so it was all out the hide for a moment to catch it making its way thru Old Moor.

After no success we decided on a toilet break and then down to Wath Ings hide for some waders. After the toilet we moved into the feeder hide next to the centre to see a Stoat take out a Rat and drag it in to one of the nearby bushes, with a Grey Wagtail looking on from the visitor centre roof.  At Wath Ings the Golden Plover flock was now a few hundred strong  and careful scoping thru the flock revealed a few Dunlin and Ringed Plovers amongst them, but we couldn’t keep away from the Jack Snipe and we were soon back at the Reedbed hide, after about a 30mins wait and of watching very little the Jack Snipe finally put in a 20 min appearance to the assembled group, another one for the Old Moor list now at 108

The Day List:-

Mute Swan, Whooper Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Red-legged Partridge, Pheasant, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Red Kite, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Ringed Plover, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin, Jack Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Kingfisher, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie, Jackdaw, Crow, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Starling, Blackbird, Feildfare, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Robin, Dunnock, Tree Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, Bullfinch

Another visit out to Old Moor to try to see the reported Jack Snipe that had been seen over the last couple of week, I planted myself in the Bittern Hide the area which it had been seen over the last couple of days for an hour and a half, I saw Water Rail (a me first for Old Moor) , Coots, Little Grebes, Tufted Duck, Canada Geese, Lapwing, Crows. Cormorant, Mute Swans, Golden Plover, Starling, a covey of eight Grey Partridge (another me first for Old Moor List now standing at 107) but alas no Jack Snipe I moved on. Moving back to the ponds to see if I could find any Dragonflies, there was still plenty of Common Darters about but I didn’t catch sight of anything else. I moved to the Gannets cafe for dinner and over dinner I decided to go back home via a couple of sites in the HBW (The Patch) a place I hadn’t been for a while due mainly to the dog population on the local reservoirs and of course the disrespect for the bird life by the owners despite the number of signs outlining my dogs should be on leads etc etc. Anyway I arrived at Ingbirchworth Res. to find a dog not on a lead, point taken, nothing changed here then,  I looked over the birds anyway since I was here, there was plenty of Mallards, Black-headed Gulls with Lesser Black-backed Gulls (4), Common Gulls (6), lots of Canada Geese, Pink Footed Geese (2), a large flock of Chaffinch got my attention for about 20 minutes looking out for a Brambling wasn’t to be my day.

The sign outlining why dog owners should have dogs on leads and why people shouldn’t  go down to the water’s edge to throw stones, seems  plain enough to me…….so why do so many people ignore it ??????……is it because so many people can’t read or are we living in a very selfish society these days?????

One of the signs at Ingbirchworth Res

and of course a couple of views from Old Moor RSPB vast becoming my favourite place to be!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Old Moor RSPB

Old Moor RSPB