Leader : Nora Boyle

Six members present.

The meeting started at the Trans-pennine Trail car park as indicated on the R.S.P.B. map. Almost straight away we heard the familiar song of Chiffchaff, a song we continued to hear as we moved through the reserve and in several situations we were lucky enough to have extremely clear views of birds perching high in the tree tops.

We followed the Trans-pennine Trail until it met the public bridleway, shown on the map in red, heading towards Harlington Flash. Ash buds were just beginning to open revealing the blackberry-like fat buds of the flowers which appear before the leaves. Blackthorn flowers on some bushes were beginning to show signs of decay, petals falling to the ground giving the appearance of plants with tiny white petals but others still appeared as masses of fresh white flowers, as with the ash, appearing before the leaves. Walking along the bridleway we came across a fellow birdwatcher who explained he had been observing a Little Owl flitting in and out of the canopy of a tree in the distance. In order to get a bit closer for the chance of seeing the owl we left the path and walked round the edge of a circular pond shown to the north of the reserve on the R.S.P.B. map. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to get much closer but Tim was more interested in the pond and noted that there were several clumps of frogspawn along with water mint with its very distinctive minty smell.

As noted in the previous visit on the 12th March, ground flora was beginning to emerge, in particular Coltsfoot, White Dead-nettle, Arum maculatum and Cocksfoot grass. Tim discovered several examples of Cigar galls formed by a fly called Lipara  lucens on Common Reed Phragmites australis.

In the hedgerow were several pussy willows bearing catkins at various stages of development. Willows are dioecious meaning male and female flowers grow on separate trees, the term pussy willows used to refer to both male trees and the furry catkins which appear early in the year and well before the leaves. Some of the willow catkins observed were still tightly closed and covered in covered with tiny silver hairs acting as insulation to protect them from cold temperatures but some, as in figure 3, were fully in bloom and stood out clearly in the blue sky with their masses of yellow pollen.

On leaving the pond we continued along the public bridleway until we reached Harlington Flash. There we could see Canada geese and Greylag geese feeding both in the water and on the surrounding grassland.

Waders such as Lapwing, Redshank and even Little Ringed Plovers were also observed. We spent a fair amount of time watching two species Ruff and Black-tailed Godwit which weren’t on the list for the 12th of March. Avocets with their magnificent black and white plumage and grey-blue legs were feeding in the shallower water near the islands.

After some time, we headed towards the viewing point shown on the R.S.P.B. map and on the way, we observed two Pink- footed geese with their darker heads and as the name suggests, pink legs.

In the trees and shrubs alongside the paths we saw a good number of passerines whose names will appear on Colin’s species list accompanying this report.

From the viewing point we picked up several species which we hadn’t seen on the Flash in particular Little Egret, Shoveller, Wigeon and Common Gull.

At about 3.30pm we returned to the public bridleway, crossed over to the other side and headed back to the car park via the bank of the River Dearne. We left the car park at approximately 4pm.

Nora Boyle

Notes

On arriving back along the flood embankment Tim Kohler drew attention to the large accumulation of tree and shrub debris deposited on the central buttress of the carboniferous sandstone Adwick road bridge. The height of the debris indicated that the floodwater from the February storms [Dudley, Eunice and Franklin] had almost reached the level of the carriageway.

Recording areas:

1 = Trans-pennine car park to Bridleway (SE4702).
2 = Circular Pond to the north of the perimeter path (SE4702).
3 = Lake to north of Lowfield Road bridleway (SE4702).
4 = Hedge & Drains along bridleway & adjacent fields (SE4602).
5 = Causeway to Outlook (SE4602).
6 = Seen from the Outlook (SE4602).
7 = River Dearne Flood Embankment (SE4602)

+ = not counted

Adwick Washlands

Latin Name	Common Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Flora
Alisma plantago-aquatica	Water Plantain		*
Anthriscus sylvestris	Cow Parsley	*			*	*
Arum maculatum	Arum	*
Betula pendula	Birch	*			*
Callitriche stagnalis	Starwort				*
Callitriche stagnalis	Water Starwort		*
Caltha palustris	Kingcups (f)		*
Carex acutiformis	Lesser Pond Sedge		*
Centaurea nigra	Knapweed		*		*	*
Corylus avellana	Hazel (catkins)	*			*
Crassula helmsii	Newzealand pygmyweed		*		*
Dactylis glomerata	Cock’s-foot grass	*			*	*
Epilobium hirsutum	Great Willowherb		*		*
Ficaria verna	Lesser Celandine (f)	*			*	*
Filipendula ulmaria	Meadowsweet	*			*	*
Fraxinus excelsior	Ash (f)	*			*
Galium aparine	Cleavers	*			*	*
Geranium dissectum	Cut-leaved Cranesbill	*
Geranium robertianum	Herb Robert	*
Geum urbanum	Wood Avens	*
Glechoma hederacea	Ground Ivy (f)	*
Glyceria sp.	A flote grass		*
Hedera helix	Ivy	*
Heracleum sphondylium	Hogweed	*			*	*
Hypochoeris radicata	Cat’s-ear	*
Ilex aquifolium	Holly				*	*
Juncus effuses	Soft Rush		*
Juncus inflexus	Hard Rush		*
Lamium album	White Dead-nettle (f)	*			*	*
Lemna minor	Duckweed				*
Lemna minuta ?	Least Duckweed		*
Leucanthemum vulgare	Oxeye Daisy	*
Lonicera periclymenum	Honeysuckle [2 forms]				*	*
Mentha aquatica	Water Mint		*
Muscari armeniacum	Grape Hyacinth (f)	*
Phalaris arundinacea	Reed Canarygrass				*	*
Phragmites australis	Great Reed		*		*
Populus sp.	Poplar sp. (catkins)	*
Potentilla reptans	Creeping Cinquefoil	*						*
Prunus spinosa	Blackthorn (f)	*			*			*
Pteridium aquilinum	Bracken	*
Quercus robur	Oak	*			*			*
Ranunculus sceleratus	Celery-leaved Buttercup		*
Rosa canina	Dog Rose	*			*			*
Rubus fruticosus	Bramble	*			*	*		*
Rumex obtusifolius	Broad-leaved Dock	*			*	*
Salix	Sallow				*	*		*
Salix sp.	Pussy Willow (f)	*
Sambucus nigra	Elder	*
Scrophularia auriculata	Water Figwort		*		*			*
Stellaria media	Chickweed (f)	*
Tanacetum vulgare	Tansey	*			*	*		*
Taraxacum officinale	Dandelion agg. sp. (f)	*
Tussilago farfara	Coltsfoot (f)	*
Typha latifolia	Reedmace		*		*
Ulex europaeus	Gorse (f)				*	*
Urtica dioica	Stinging Nettle	*				*
Veronica persica	Field Speedwell (f)	*
Birds		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Aegithalos caudatus	Long-tailed Tit				2			2
Alauda arvensis	Skylark (s)						2
Anas clypeata	Shoveller			4			2
Anas crecca	Teal			15			+
Anas penelope	Wigeon						4
Anas strepera	Gadwall			4			6
Anas platyrhynchos	Mallard						4	2
Anser anser	Greylag Goose			89			+
Anser brachyrhynchus	Pink-footed Goose						3
Athene noctua	Little Owl (not seen by our group)		*
Branta canadensis	Canada Goose			17			+
Charadrius hiaticula	Ringed Plover			2
Chloris chloris	Greenfinch				1
Chroicocephalus ridibundus	Blackheaded Gull			+			43
Columba palumbus	Wood Pigeon	*
Corvus corone	Carrion Crow	*		2			2
Corvus frugilegus	Rook (injured)		1				6
Corvus monedula	Jackdaw
Dendrocopos major	Great spotted Woodpecker	1
Egretta garzetta	Little Egret						1
Emberiza schoeniclus	Reed Bunting		*		1		1
Erithacus rubecula	Robin (s)	*
Falco tinnunculus.	Kestrel		*
Fulica atra	Coot			6			+
Gallinula chloropus	Moorhen			4
Haematopus ostralegus	Oystercatcher		*	4
Larus argentatus	Herring Gull						1
Larus canus	Common Gull						1
Limosa limosa	Black-tailed Godwit			1
Parus major	Great Tit (s)	*			2			2
Phasianus colchicus	Pheasant				3
Philomachus pugnax	Ruff			1
Phylloscopus collybita	Chiffchaff	*			1			1
Pica pica	Magpie			2			2
Prunella modularis	Dunnock	*
Recurvirostra avosetta	Avocett			17
Tadorna tadorna	Shelduck						2
Tringa totanus	Redshank (calling and displaying)			4			+
Troglodytes troglodytes	Wren (s)	*
Turdus merula	Blackbird (s)	*
Turdus philomelos	Song Thrush (s)	*
Vanellus vanellus	Lapwing			25			+
HERPTILES	Frogspawn (5 clumps)		*
	The flote grass looked ideal for newt egg deposition
INVERTEBRATES
Polygonia c-album	Comma butterfly		*		*	*
Bombus lapidarius	Red-tailed Bumble bee		*		*	*		*
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7

 

 

Leader : Colin Howes
 

Leader : John Scott & Louise Hill

16 members and friends present.

A bright sunny day, the Butterflies were becoming active with sightings of Brimstones punctuated by Commas (!)

Roche Abbey

Botanical Name	Vernacular Name	SK5489	SK5490	SK5390
Acer pseudoplatanus	Sycamore	*	*	*
Alliaria petiolata	Jack-by-the-hedge	*	*	*
Allium ursinum	Wild Garlic	*	*	*
Alnus glutinosa	Alder	*	*	*
Anemone nemorosa	Wood Anenomy (in Flower)		*	*
Angelica sylvestris	Wild Angelica	*	*	*
Anthriscus sylvestris	Cow Parsley	*	*	*
Arctium minus	Lesser Burdock	*	*	*
Arum maculatum	Arum	*	*	*
Asplenium ruta-muraria	Wall Rue (on Abbey gatehouse)	*
Asplenium scolopendrium	Hart’s-tongue Fern		*	*
Bellis perennis	Daisy (in Flower)	*	*	*
Betula pendula	Silver Birch	*	*	*
Brachypodium sylvaticum	False Brome	*	*	*
Buddleja davidii	Butterfly Bush		*
Centaurea nigra	Common Knapweed	*	*	*
Cirsium arvense	Creeping Thistle	*	*	*
Clematis vitalba	Traveller’s Joy		*	*
Conopodium majus	Pignut		*
Cornus sanguinea	Dogwood	*	*	*
Corylus avellana	Hazel (males in Flower)	*	*	*
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn	*	*	*
Dactylis glomerata	Cock’s-foot	*	*	*
Daphne laureola	Spurge Laurel (in Flower)		*	*
Dryopteris dilitata	Broad Buckler Fern		*	*
Fagus sylaticus	Beech	*	*	*
Ficaria verna	Lesser Celandine (in Flower)	*	*	*
Filipendula ulmaria	Meadowsweet		*	*
Fraxinus excelsior	Ash	*	*	*
Galanthus nivalis	Snowdrop (mainly finished flowering)	*
Galium aparine	Cleavers	*	*	*
Geranium robertianum	Herb Robert	*	*	*
Glechoma hederacea	Ground Ivy (in Flower)	*	*	*
Hedera helix	Ivy	*	*	*
Helleborus viridis	Green Helebore (in Flower)			*
Heracleum sphondylium	Hogweed	*	*	*
Hyacinthoides non-scripta	Bluebell	*	*	*
Hypericum androsaemum	Tutsan			*
Ilex aquifolium	Holly	*	*	*
Lamium album	White Dead Nettle (in Flower)	*	*	*
Ligustrum vulgare	Wild Privet	*	*	*
Lonicera periclymenum	Honeysuckle	*	*	*
Mahonia aquifolium	Oregon Grape (in Flower)		*	*
Mercurialis perennis	Dog’s Mercury (in Flower)	*	*	*
Narcissus pseudonarcissus.	Wild Daffodil (in Flower)	*	*	*
Phyllitis scolopendrium	Hart’s–tongue Fern	*	*	*
Polystichum setiferum	Soft Shield Fern		*	*
Primula vulgaris	Primrose (in Flower)	*	*	*
Prunus spinosa	Blackthorn (in Flower)	*	*	*
Pteridium aquilinum	Bracken	*	*	*
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	*	*	*
Ranunculus repens	Creeping Buttercup	*	*	*
Rosa campestris	Field Rose			*
Rosa canina	Dog Rose	*	*	*
Rubus fruticosus	Bramble	*	*	*
Rumex obtusifolius	Broad Dock	*	*	*
Salix spp	Pussy Willow spp (in flower)	*
Sambucus nigra	Elder	*	*	*
Sanicula europaea	Sanicle		*	*
Taxus baccata	Yew (in Flower)	*	*	*
Tilia cordata	Small-leaved Lime		*	*
Ulmus glabra	Wych Elm (in Flower)		*	*
Urtica dioica	Stinging Nettle	*	*	*
Veronica persica	Field Speedwell		*	*
Viola odorata	Sweet Violet  (in flower – white form)		*	*
Viola riviniana	Common Dog Violet		*	*
DIPTERA
Eristalis tenax	Dronefly		*
HYMENOPTERA
Apis mellifera	Honey Bee (nectaring on Ficaria verna)		*
LEAF MINERS
Diptera: Agromyzidae
Phytomyza ilicis	Holly Leaf-miner Blotch Miner on Holly		*	*
Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae
Stigmella aurella	Golden Pigmy Leaf Miner on Bramble		*	*
Stigmella splendidissimella	Glossy Bramble Pigmy Leaf Miner on Bramble		*	*
LEPIDOPTERA (Butterflies)
Gonepteryx rhamni	Brimstone Butterfly (4)	*	*	*
Vanessa atalanta	Red Admiral (seen by Joyce)			*
Polygonia c-album	Comma (3)	*	*	*
BIRDS
	Blackbird	*	*	*
	Blue Tit (Calling)	*	*
	Buzzard (Calling)	*	*	*
	Carrion Crow	*	*	*
	Chaffinch (singing)	*	*	*
	Chiffchaff (Singing)	*	*	*
	Dunnock (Singing)	*	*	*
	Great Spotted Woodpecker (Calling & drumming)	*	*
	Great Tit (Calling)	*	*	*
	Jackdaw	*	*	*
	Jay		*
	Long-tailed Tit		*
	Magpie	*	*	*
	Mallard	*	*
	Nuthatch (singing)	*	*
	Pheasant (Calling)	*	*
	Robin (Singing)	*	*	*
	Song Thrush (Singing)	*	*	*
	Wood Pigeon	*	*	*
	Wren (Singing)	*	*	*
MAMMALS
	Mole (hills)	*	*	*
	Roe Deer (Foot prints)		*
	Badger (Footprints)		*
	Fox (Scent)		*	*
	Rabbit (seen by Paul)			*
	Brown Hare (seen by Jim)			*

Recorder CAH.

Preliminary visit to Adwick on Dearne RSPB Washland Nature Reserve.

Aims: To work out routes and timing for the Nats visit scheduled for Sunday 27 March 2022 looking for birds and other wildlife on the water meadows and marshes.

Background information: Edited from notebook entries and RSPB website –

https://community.rspb.org.uk/placestovisit/dearnevalley/b/dearnevalley-blog/posts/adwick-washland-the-dearne-valley-s-newest-nature-reserve

1. The strategic function of Environment Agency Washlands along river catchments is to manage excess water from flooding events, storing it ‘out of harm’s way’ and thus prevent homes and businesses from flooding.
2. With a view to enhancing the biodiversity potential of this policy within the in the Dearne river catchment, in 2011 the RSPB took the lease on a large area of land from the Environment Agency to create the RSPB Adwick Washland. This brings the number of sites the RSPB manages in the Dearne Valley to seven.
3. Adwick Washland is about 95 football pitches in size, is pretty flat and is drained by a network of ditches and pumps that lift excess water into the embanked River Dearne. The area has a history of drift mining but after the removal of coal deposits the land was returned to agricultural use and was farmed until the RSPB took it on.
4. Adwick Washland is situated between the villages of Bolton on Dearne, Harlington and Adwick on Dearne. A bridleway (Lowfield Road) runs east/west through the site and there is a car park on the Transpennine Trail at the eastern (Adwick on Dearne) end and at the western end is Bolton on Dearne railway station. This gives good access to the site and a circular walk can be had by linking with the River Dearne flood bank.
5. A path from midway along the Lowfield Road bridleway leads north to a slightly elevated lookout point bounded by a three-sided drystone wall structure created from re-used carboniferous sandstone blocks. This stout structure (the Look-out) forms the centre point of the site and affords views over the reserve and of the surrounding  villages of Bolton on Dearne, Goldthorpe, Hickleton, Barnburgh, Harlington, Adwick on Dearne and Mexbrough … try picking out the parish churches.
6. The Look-out resembles a 19^th century shooting butt from a Pennine grouse moor but instead of the walls being the right height to rest your shot gun on, it’s the right height to rest your binoculars on. Looking towards Bolton on Dearne, undulations in the fields identified ‘Ridge and Furrow’ management indication the survival of an ancient agricultural landscape.
7. The main function of Adwick Washland as a nature reserve is to create wet grassland to help breeding waders such as Snipe, Lapwing and Redshank. Sluices installed by the Environment Agency manage water levels to just below land surface. Scrapes and ditches have been excavated so that water bodies are available throughout the year. This combination of wet grassland and open water enables the chicks of wetland  species to find their preferred invertebrate foods. The drier areas are being managed to encourage such farmland birds as Yellowhammer and Skylark.

Date: 12 March 2022
Present: Nora Boyle & Colin Howes

Arrived at Transpennine Trail Car Park at 12:45 … departed 3.20pm. (2 hrs 35 minutes)

Abbreviations  (sp) = species; (s) = singing; (ca) = calling;(d) = displaying; (c) = catkins; (f) = flowering; (pr) = pair.

Followed footpath to the reserve perimeter path and on to Lowfield Road bridleway.
Ground flora included Cleavers; Nettle; White Dead-nettle (f); Herb Robert; Hogweed; Cow Parsley; Cock’s-foot grass; Arum maculatum; Bracken.
Shrub layer contained Blackthorn (f) Birch; Hazel (c).
Birds – Blackbird; Dunnock; Robin; Wren (s).

A circular pond to the north of the perimeter path looked ideal for amphibians. (Perimeter path too muddy to negotiate).
Lake to north of Lowfield Road bridleway
Redshank 4+ (ca & d)
Lapwing 11 +
Avocet 11 +
Oystercatcher 2
Black-headed Gull 53+
Shoveler 1
Teal 8+
Gadwall 2
Greylag Goose 150+
Canada goose 6+

Drain adjacent to bridleway
Mute swan pair feeding on Duckweed Lemna minor.

2^nd lake to north of Lowfield Road bridleway
Lapwing 61+
Coot 5+
Moorhen 4 +
Black-headed Gull 100 +
Common Gull 2
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1
Herring Gull 4
Shoveler 2
Wigeon 2pr
Shelduck 1 pr.

Hedge along bridleway
Since this roadway features on the 1^st edition 1 inch to 1 mile Ordnance Survey map, surveyed between 1838 and 1840, the shrubs and trees by the path are probably the survivals of an old pre-enclosure hedgerow. Species noted include Gorse (f); Ash; Honeysuckle sp.; Rose (sp); Blackthorn; Holly; Hazel (coppiced); Sallow sp.
Long-tailed Tit 3 +

Seen from Outlook
Gadwall 3 pr.
Starling 11+ 20
Greylag Goose many including 1 Pink-footed Goose
Redshank
Common Gull 2
Lesser Black-backed Gull 3
Herring Gull 3
Immature large gulls 6
Wigeon 8
Teal not counted
Mallard 4

Walked from Outlook back to Transpennine Trail car park via the river Dearne flood embankment 3pm to 3.20pm (20 minutes).

Leader : Mick Townsend.