Mere Sands Wood 3
I got up in the small hours of the morning in an attempt to miss the rain, and headed off to Mere Sands Wood in Rufford. This is rapidly becoming one of my favourite places - aesthetically pleasing and teeming with wildlife.
Thanks to previous posts by Bassist, I took a detour of about a mile behind the reserve, in search of a big pile of.....well, you know...I followed my nose
I was instantly rewarded by several Yellow Wagtails feeding on the pile. There appeared to be a small flock of about 12 - taking off and calling noisily, circling over the field a few times and then landing, only 1 or 2 landing on the manure to feed at any one time - maybe because of my presence.
These were a first for me, so as I walked to the reserve itself, I was grinning from ear to ear and rubbing my hands together
Now a Kingfisher would be the icing on the cake.
Kingfishers are well known to frequent the perching posts in front of the Rufford hide - so that's where I headed first. I had the hide to myself and as soon as I walked in I stooped to look out of the window and saw 2 Kingfisher's perched right in front of me
They stuck around for a good 20 minutes. I thought one of them looked like a juvenile and the other an adult male, but wasn't certain enough to call it - turns out they are both juveniles - thanks John. I watched one fishing and got a couple of pics of it with its catch - it was too distant for me to post - you need a magnifying glass
There were 3 Grey Herons and 2 Cormorants on the same mere, with 2 distant Mute Swans, lots of Coot, Moorhen, Mallards and numerous gulls. The woodlands had the usual Blue and Great Tits, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blackbirds and Robins.
I made it around the reserve in the dry, but got drenched on the 30 min walk back to Rufford station
I've put a few images in the Mere Sands Wood album earlier today - thanks everyone for your kind comments.
Thanks to previous posts by Bassist, I took a detour of about a mile behind the reserve, in search of a big pile of.....well, you know...I followed my nose
I was instantly rewarded by several Yellow Wagtails feeding on the pile. There appeared to be a small flock of about 12 - taking off and calling noisily, circling over the field a few times and then landing, only 1 or 2 landing on the manure to feed at any one time - maybe because of my presence.
These were a first for me, so as I walked to the reserve itself, I was grinning from ear to ear and rubbing my hands together
Now a Kingfisher would be the icing on the cake.Kingfishers are well known to frequent the perching posts in front of the Rufford hide - so that's where I headed first. I had the hide to myself and as soon as I walked in I stooped to look out of the window and saw 2 Kingfisher's perched right in front of me
They stuck around for a good 20 minutes. I thought one of them looked like a juvenile and the other an adult male, but wasn't certain enough to call it - turns out they are both juveniles - thanks John. I watched one fishing and got a couple of pics of it with its catch - it was too distant for me to post - you need a magnifying glass
There were 3 Grey Herons and 2 Cormorants on the same mere, with 2 distant Mute Swans, lots of Coot, Moorhen, Mallards and numerous gulls. The woodlands had the usual Blue and Great Tits, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blackbirds and Robins.
I made it around the reserve in the dry, but got drenched on the 30 min walk back to Rufford station
I've put a few images in the Mere Sands Wood album earlier today - thanks everyone for your kind comments.
Total Comments 2
Comments
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Sounds like a super spot Alan and you were well rewarded for following your nose!!!
Posted 30-07-09 at 09:37 AM by Twitcheruth
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I'd love to see a yellow wagtail before they depart for the winter holidays. Not sure where to look around here, they get them at Greywall but there was no sign on my visit. Sounds like a good day out Alan, your kingfisher pics are great!Posted 30-07-09 at 10:19 AM by astafjevs 
