Swillington Ings

 Thursday 26th March a.m. 

A frosty start at Swillington but the temperature soon rose from 3°C as the bright sunshine got to work.  Astley Lake held Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Pochard, Tufted, Lapwing, Shoveler, Oystercatcher, Gt Crested Grebe, Reed Bunting and loads of BH Gulls.  Walking between the Reedbeds Bitterns were booming (none seen), Cetti's Warblers  were everywhere with three seen and good to see a Black-necked Grebe on the Eastern Reedbed and another three on the Western side.  Also singing were Chiffchaff with three seen, I decided to have a treck to Lowther Lake and was rewarded seeing the long staying Red-crested Pochard.  Walking back past Main Lake I added Little Egret, Shelduck and Teal. 

Red-crested Pochard

Black-necked Grebe

Cetti's Warbler

Chiffchaff

Gadwall

Goldeneye

GC Grebe

Little Egret

Oystercatcher 

Pochard 

Reed Bunting

Shoveler 

Teal

Swillington Ings 20/3/2025

Leeshaw

 Tuesday 18th March a.m.

Sunny with a temperature of 7°C during an excellent visit to Leeshaw with 22 Whooper Swans a rare sight at this location.  Not to be out done there were 25 Oystercatchers,  c75 Lapwings, 3 Redshank, 2 Little Owl, Curlew, Pied Wagtail, Canadas, Greylags, Starlings and the usual Gulls.

Whooper Swans

Good count of 22 Whooper Swans

 

Redshank

Oystercatchers 

Oystercatchers & Redshank

Curlew

Little Owl

Lapwing

Whooper Swans at Leeshaw 18/3/2025

Lister Park

Sunday 16th March a.m.

A cloudy morning with a temperature of 4°C at Lister Park where I had a pleasant walk, not too many birds about but enough to keep me interested.  There was a Grey Heron on one of the islands in the Lake, with the usual, Canadas, Greylags, Tufteds, Moorhen & Coots.  A couple of Robins were fighting,  others were Blackbird, Blue Tit, Gt Tit & Nuthatch. 

Grey Heron

Nuthatch

Robins

Tufted

Greylag

Gt Tit

 

Lister Park 16/3/2025

Leeshaw

Tuesday 11th March a.m.

Sunny spells and a temperature of 4°C, the reservoir had good numbers of Gulls, Canadas & Greylags.  There were at least 22 Oystercatchers, 50 plus Lapwing, a couple of Curlew and a Kestrel.  

Lapwing

 

Oystercatcher 

Curlew

Kestrel

Lapwings 

Leeshaw Reservoir 11/3/2025

Redcar Tarn

 Tuesday 11th March a.m.

A chilly sunny morning with a temperature of 3°C, there were c300 Gulls along with Canadas and a few Greylags at the Tarn.  A couple of Oystercatchers were in a nearby field, others were Wigeon, Tufted, Rook & Jackdaw.  

Wigeon

Herring Gull

LBB Gull

Tufted

BH Gull

Greylags

Oystercatcher

Redcar Tarn 11/3/2025