Summary

This reserve in the Dearne Valley is a haven for wetland birds with a good number of hides.  Up until the 1980s it was a coal mining area and had become heavily polluted.  The reserve was created by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and then taken over by the RSPB in 2003 and developed further.  There are several hides which we made good use of, as did one or two adventurous Robins that entered hides to spy on us.

It was a rather grey day and not great for photography but there was a considerable range of birds to see.  Almost everywhere we looked were flocks of Lapwing; a few Black-tailed Godwit and some Golden Plover were also around.  Among the ducks were good numbers of Shoveler.  The Marsh Harrier was a little distance away but with the help of bins, scopes and zoom lenses we all got reasonable views.  The Little Egret was busy shuffling a foot to stir up the mud, though without much success in finding food.  Similarly a Grey Heron was patrolling one of the lagoons at a slow but purposeful pace, apparently to no avail.

None of us suffered such a fruitless search for food however: Some had come prepared with their own supply while others made use of the on-site café.

Members participating:    8

Bird list (47 species seen and/or heard)

Shoveler – Martyn Grandy

Marsh Harrier – Chris Byrne

Little Egret – Martyn Grandy

Pied Wagtail – Chris Byrne

Robin – Chris Byrne

Robin – Martyn Grandy

Greylag Goose – Chris Byrne