Orgreave Lakes

With nothing feasibly twitchable that wanted to stick around I headed down to the patch once again to see what, if anything, had changed. The answer is, not a lot, and there seemed to be fewer birds in total than there had been on previous visits. Granted, I was not there for first light due to being a lazy student but I was there for half 9, when the effects of dog walkers would not have been felt yet.

The Maned Duck and Egyptian Geese were all still present and correct, as were the other usual suspects dotted around the edge of the lakes. Once more the Wheatears put on a fine display including a couple of females. I got a few digiscoped shots of some of the males hanging around, as they were willing to perch reasonably close.

-Wheatear

As I was watching the Wheatears another birder/photographer wandered the opposite way along the path and mentioned that he had seen 3 Yellow Wagtails behind the large mound. This would be a year-tick so I hurried off to have a look. Behind the mound there were none but I did pick them up further along looking lovely as they ran around the field.

They were not easy to digiscope as they were mobile and kept well down in the grass, but one of them eventually decided to cross the path and it allowed me a chance to get some shots for the trip/year. These are possibly the most yellow Yellow Wagtails I have ever seen, they were remarkably bright, which may not come across in the photos.

-Yellow Wagtail

I had a quick check on the birdguides app on the way back, and found that something twitchable had dropped in: 2 Black-Winged Stilts in Staffordshire. I entertained the possibility of twitching these and so headed off to get some bus wifi and work it all out. Not that I would have stayed on site any later having not known this, but an hour after my departure at midday an arctic tern was reported on site, and 20 mins after than an osprey flew through...

you can't have them all!!

Species List:

Orgreave Lakes: Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Coot, Egyptian Goose, Graylag Goose, Canada Goose, Cormorant, Little Ringed Plover, Blackcap, Redshank, Wheatear, Reed Bunting, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon,