Rodley Nature Reserve

A weekend trip to Rodley Nature Reserve offered the first dragonfly sighting of the year in the form of this Four Spotted Chaser, accompanied by a restless Brown Hawker and a female Broad Bodied Chaser.

On our way out we popped into the Lagoon Hide where we bumped into Chloe, Gav and Jackie, visiting the reserve for the first time. In a welcoming display of impeccable timing a Kingfisher flew into view to settle on its post before moving to another perch, focussing intently on the water below before propelling itself underwater and emerging triumphant with a fish.

Twenty+ Ringlets fluttered amongst the long grasses of the embankment running alongside the Access Road. A handful of Meadow Browns evaded our attempts to photograph them in the Hay Meadow. Five Small Tortoiseshell settled amongst nettles around the Dragonfly ponds where we saw a female Kestrel fly overhead.

Urban nature - Kingfisher over Leeds City Station

Standing on platform 3 at Leeds City Station waiting for the Harrogate train, I spotted a small, short tailed, long billed bird fly from the direction of the River Aire, way above the station platforms and power lines towards the Leeds Liverpool Canal. As it crossed overhead I caught the flash of blue and recognised a Kingfisher. My previous encounter with a Kingfisher viewed from the Whitehall Road Bridge in autumn was, or so I thought, likely to be the closest proximity to the city centre but this one is going to be hard to beat.

Adel Dam Nature Reserve

On Sunday afternoon we jumped on the bus to Goldenacre Park, how cold it was or rather how cold I was, words cannot convey. Discomfort aside we headed for Adel Dam, a local Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve. The Marsh Hide feeders were busy with smaller woodland birds including of a pair of Bullfinch, Nuthatch, Robin, Blue Tits, Long Tail Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, along with a sorry looking Magpie, Blackbird, a pair of Moor Hen, and 6 Squirrels, though sadly no sign of the Great Spotted Woodpecker today.

From the second hide, overlooking Adel Dam, only the far reaches of the dam remained unfrozen, kept clear by the current of the inflowing Adel Beck. An assortment of footprints were visible across the frozen surface.

From the left, flying low, heading directly for the unfrozen patch of water zipped the electric blue of a Kingfisher, our first ever sighting of the bird here at Adel Dam. This pic is taken at a distance, but its plumage colouration is unmistakable, it perched here for a few minutes before heading off, hopefully with better luck elsewhere, according to the RSPB website they're particularly vulnerable to hard winters. 

As the Kingfisher made its exit, on the far bank we could just make out the profile of a Roe Deer, well camouflaged amongst the snow and bare branches.

 

Having endured enough of the cold temperatures made worse by sitting still in the hide for a few minutes, we followed the woodland trail back through the reserve and found this fungi.  I'm guessing its Pleurotus sp. Buff coloured, convex cap, the gills are cream coloured and decurrent, growing in abundant clumps on a deciduous stump. Any help with the ID would be greatly appreciated.

Kirkstall Abbey & the banks of the River Aire

On Saturday afternoon we wandered down to Kirkstall Abbey stopping off at the Abbey House Museum Cafe for a mid-walk lunch which was delicious as ever. The park was uncharacteristically empty, covered with a layer of snow that had fallen in the early hours of Saturday morning.  Following the curved path down towards the river a pair of Pied Wagtail bobbed around thawed patches of ground and 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker flew overhead.

On the River Aire were 6 Goosander, familiar winter visitors to this stretch of the river, a group of 4 upstream and a pair further downstream that eventually joined the main bunch. Whilst gazing along the river, a Kingfisher zipped upstream a metre or so from the near bank.

Suddenly the two Great Spotted Woodpecker re-appeared, noisily chasing each other from tree to tree.

The cold started to kick in so we headed back towards the Abbey, in the branches of a Sycamore a mixed group of small birds were feeding, comprising Blue Tit, Long Tail Tit, Dunnock, Chaffinch and the first time I've seen a Wren in such a group.

A Nuthatch flew into view and landed at the base of this trunk making its way upwards in a spiral motion.

As we were about to leave the park we spotted movement in a Yew tree  situated at the boundary wall next to the gate. We counted approximately 8 birds, a mixed bunch of Thrush and Blackbirds were feeding on the berries, we managed a few pics and quickly left them in peace to continue feeding on the berries, no doubt a welcome source of food in these wintery conditions.

River Aire sightings

On the River Aire, between Whitehall Bridge and the Dark Arches of Leeds City Centre I noticed this beautiful Black Swan, more than likely an escapee but nonetheless a striking character . They're native to SW/E Australia and were brought to Britain as an ornamental bird.  I remembered that Paul (Little Brown Job) spotted one at RSPB Fairburn last year. These two shots upstream and downstream indicate how close to the City Centre it was.  

Continuing our wander around Granary Wharf we stumbled upon the Leeds City Cruise boat and hopped on for a £3.00 return trip to Clarence Dock, what a great way to travel through the city. It was a much gentler journey than my last boat excursion which was to the Farne Islands where I suffered a humiliating bout of sea sickness, all for the love of nature! Another bird (this time more ornament than ornamental) was this Grey Heron sculpture near Brewery Wharf.

Other wildlife sightings included two female Goosander on the river to the rear of the Yorkshire Post building. They're frequently visitors as they overwinter on the river, previously they've appeared further upstream, in December last year by Kirkstall Abbey and also near Redcote Lane. The unexpected surprise of the day was the appearance of a Kingfisher as it zipped upstream and out of view.

Rutland visit

This is the first chance Ive had to properly catch up with the blog since returning from our week away, which started with a couple of days in Rutland, Leicestershire followed by a few more days in Norfolk. This was a return visit to Ashgate Annex in Oakham, Rutland where we enjoyed yet another relaxing weekend in Isabel & David's lovely self catering luxury accomodation. Its such a great place to stay, ideal for exploring Rutland Water & the surrounding countryside. Here follows a few sightings from the Rutland portion of our trip.

Just after arriving I spotted this female Common Blue on the driveway feeding on Lavender flowers.  

Despite the overcast weather at times, we still enjoyed some great sightings. We dropped into Egleton reserve at Rutland Water Nature Reserve and watched this Kingfisher appear in a flash of blue, disappear and reappear once more where it sat for a good 5 minutes.

We sat it out in this hide during a downpour, where even the Hebridean sheep decided to congregate while the heavens opened. Apparently they were introduced to the reserve back in 2001 to help control coarse grasses around the edges of the water.

Through the binoculars we had a good view of the Ospreys, we watched as an adult consumed its share of a fish whilst sat atop platform on the left, before depositing it on the nest on the right for the juveniles to finish off.

During this visit we ventured to some new sites that we'd found via the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust website. One of the most interesting was Prior's Coppice, to quote the website "is an ancient ash-maple ash-wych elm woodland, probably a relic of the wildwood which covered all of Leicestershire and Rutland before prehistoric peoples started to clear it".

Here's a couple of pics of the wide rides that contain woodland marshy grassland surrounded by lush canopies, it was a treat to explore and well worth a visit.

On entering Priors Coppice we were amazed to see well over 50 Common Blues, I'm used to seeing them singly or maybe in two's if I'm lucky, so this was a rare treat for me. Here are a few favourites.

There were lots of dragonflies around and about, zipping above our heads following the rides, occasionally we spotted one or two resting on nearby vegetation, I think these two are immature Male Southern Hawkers, but I'm happy to be corrected.

There were plenty of Damselflies too, they really stood out against the foliage and stems, I think these are Common Blue Damselflies, single stripe on side of thorax, mushroomy mark on segment two.

Kirkstall Christmas sightings

'On Christmas Day in the morning', well more like early afternoon we wandered down along a stretch of the Kirkstall Valley along the Goitside walk that starts near Morrisons. 'And what was in those ships all three?' No ships today, but as we stood overlooking the goit that runs underneath Bridge Road metres away from the busy crossroad with the A65 we spotted a Kingfisher heading towards us, underneath the bridge & off downstream. Its the first Kingfisher we've seen in Kirkstall & it was fantastic to see it so near to home.

Then we headed downstream, from the bridge at Redcote Lane we spotted 5 overwintering Goosander, two pairs and one single male. Perhaps two of these birds were the pair we saw a couple of weeks ago upstream near the Abbey. Although not a great shot of the bird (bottom left) I do like a context shot now & again so here you get to see Kirkstall/Burley in the background (well it is Christmas). A Grey Heron flew overhead whilst we watched the Goosander.


Between Redcote Bridge & the canal 6 Redwing settled in the treetops, slightly too far away for a decent pic.

Throughout the walk Jay x 1, Blue Tit x 10, Great Tit x 7, Long Tailed Tit x 6 Blackbird x 9, Chaffinch x 3, Magpie x 10, Robin x 6, Moor Hen x 7, Mallard x 12 & squirrels scampered across the frozen canal.

Fairbun Ings Kingfisher

Andrea enjoyed the Kingfisher Safari at Fairburn Ings recently, here's her account of the trip.

With the weather fine but windy, Graham our volunteer guide made it clear there were no guarantees that the bird would put in an appearance. It was far too windy for them at the Pickup Hide so we moved onto the Kingfisher Screen. No sign of Kingfishers initially although we did watch a tiny Dabchick catch a huge fish which to our amazement it swallowed in one gulp. Sure enough after 15 minutes there was a flash of blue & orange downstream & a male Kingfisher settled on a branch a fair distance away where it stayed for 10 minutes. We left him to it & we searched elsewhere on the reserve. Our wanderings were rewarded by the sight of a huge Hare being chased by a Weasel, luckily for the Hare our party ended up between the two sending the Weasel in the opposite direction.

In the lakeside hide we waited patiently & then returned to the Kingfisher Screen where one of the volunteers was setting up a new perch much closer to the screen. He had a friend with him with a lens the size of a small car hoping for a good view. The commotion meant it would clearly be some time before the bird returned and so we ended our tour.

I left Fairburn to get some lunch but was tempted back as it was the first dry day we'd enjoyed for ages. I returned to the Kingfisher Screen to find the volunteer and his friend still in place. They pointed out a Kingfisher in the trees to the right of the stream, even further away than our first sighting. They reported that the bird had sat there for some time & showed no interest in the new perch. Eventually they gave up and moved on. Five minutes passed I glanced away from the screen for a couple of seconds and when I looked back the Kingfisher had gone. I was disappointed until I spotted a flash of blue and to my amazement the next place it settled was the very perch at which the volunteer had waited for 2 hours! It settled at various points on the river for the next few minutes and eventually flew overhead to fish further downstream. I reported my sighting to the visitor centre and the other volunteers all had a laugh at their friends expense although I'm sure he will have an opportunity for better views more often than I so I didn't feel too guilty.

Kingfishers at Far Pastures, Derwent Valley

Following our very first sighting of a Kingfisher during the previous weekend's visit to Rodley Nature Reserve, Leeds, this weekend we trumped it with a pair of Kingfishers at Far Pasture Ponds Hide, Derwent Valley, Gateshead. We only managed to photograph the birds separately & at a distance, but it’s better than nowt.



From the hide we also saw Reed Buntings, a pair of Mute Swan, a Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Swallows, Coots. Hundreds of tiny frogs hopped across the pathways & a Red Kite made an appearance over the valley.

A Grey Heron in the shallows with a Swallow making a splash in the background.

A Grey Heron and a Little Grebe on the water.

More information about Derwent Walk Country Park and Derwenthaugh Park