Old Moor Nature Reserve

Sunday 16th October.
 Today we went to Old Moor Nature Reserve near Barnsley which is run by
the RSPB. When we arrived it was cloudy but becoming brighter with a
temperature of 13°C. We had heard that there were several hundred Golden
Plovers here and we wanted to have a look at them. The first hide we went to
we could see Pheasant,Cormorant,Little Grebe,Lapwing,Gulls,Swans and
Mallards. We moved on where in addition we saw Teal,Wigeon,Shoveler
and Gadwall Ducks,Grey Heron and Canadas. The next hide we saw what
we hope were the Golden Plovers which along with the Lapwings were the
most numerous we had seen over 500 birds. The flock was disturbed occasionally
and they took to the sky briefly which was a great spectacle. So hopefully we have
got it right this time and the pics are of Golden Plovers, the distance we were away
from them meant we couldn't be certain. There were other waders but again we
couldn't be sure what they were.
  We moved round to the reed bed hides were there were Coots,Moorhen and a
Great Crested Grebe. We stopped at the reed bed screen for a while which paid
off with the bonus of a brief glimpse of a Water Rail a first for us sadly we were
not quick enough to get a snap.

Great Crested Grebe

Pheasant

Mallard and Teal

Teal

Swans

Wigeon

Wigeon

Golden Plover

Golden Plover and Lapwing

Plover flock takes to the sky

Golden Plover and Lapwing