cliftonbirding: A trio of Inland Wetlands

Monday 13 March 2017

A trio of Inland Wetlands

I was out on Sunday and as the weather looked better away from the Coast I decided to do some Inland Wetland reserves starting at Nosterfield with the chance of year ticking Smew, called in at Ladybridge Lakes first on the offchance Fridays Ring Necked Duck might have returned but it hadn’t, a good selection of Wildfowl but nothing out of the ordinary, carried on to Flasks Lake where the 1^st winter drake Smew has been residing for a while but there was no sign of that neither, I suppose they all have to go sometime, it was a lovely morning though, the Great Crested Grebes were displaying and I just had a steady wander around. Late morning I headed South, Swillington Ings was next on the agenda, I went to the Lemonroyd Filter Beds first hoping for Water Pipit but ironically even though it was Sunday they were working in the compound so there was very little about although I did have my first Chiffchaff of the year singing away, the main reserve held the usual fare plus the long staying Long Tailed Duck on Lemonroyd Lake and the Black Necked Grebe now attaining its summer finery on the Eastern Reedbeds. Mid-afternoon I moved on to Fairburn Ings where a walk along Lin Dyke saw the usual stuff plus a couple more Chiffchaffs then a local informed me the Great White Egret was showing well from the feeding platforms by the Visitor Centre, I went down and spent a bit of time watching it feeding along the edge of the reeds then carried on to Pickup Hide where I saw my first Willow Tit for the year then gradually moved round to the Kingfisher screen where there was not a lot happening, with nothing more to do I headed back for a second look at the Egret watching it until it flew off late afternoon, magnificent bird.