Summary

Wet, wet, wet but great for the birds! Almost uninterrupted rain throughout our stay at this reserve in the Dearne Valley near Barnsley, which sometimes made it difficult to identify birds. Fortunately, there are several hides, including at least two that are particularly large. It was from one of these that we saw the three Spoonbills; initially just one of them was feeding in characteristic fashion with its long bill dipped in the water, swinging from side to side but then the other two joined in.

We failed to reach consensus over the Sandpiper – was it a Green or a Common? Hopefully we are all still on speaking terms and will meet again next month!

It was good to see such a variety of species, including some that don’t appear regularly on our lists and the café proved a welcome refuge at the end of our visit.

Members participating: 10 + 1 guest

Bird list (46 species seen and/or heard)