St Aidens

Common tern

It was a warm and sunny and cloudy day and the Met Office had changed its mind about its raining today so I decided to go over to St Aidens to see if the pectoral sandpiper was still about and have a general nosy round.

I got the train to Castleford and the 141 bus from the bus station to Wood Row at the far end of Methley. It should have been a simple walk up Station Road to the bridge over the River Aire and into St Aidens. Unfortunately the work on the level crossing due to be completed at the end of June hadn't been completed so I had to backtrack and follow the paths through the housing estate to the bridge. Irritating though it was at first I only lost quarter of an hour and I've got a better sense of the paths round Methley and a couple of ideas for exploring the bits of St Aidens I've not got round to yet. And it was nice watching swallows feeding their young on the telephone wires.

River Aire

The causeway

Half a dozen migrant hawkers were patrolling the parched vegetation on the other side of the bridge. I headed for the causeway and bumped into a very busy mixed tit flock, the blue tits and long-tailed tits providing all the acrobatics to a chorus of squeaks from the chiffchaffs. Walking down the causeway the squeaks of the chiffchaffs gave way to the rusty hinge calling of common terns on the pools. The pools were littered with coots, black-headed gulls and gadwalls. A few cormorants fished in the water, great crested grebes had large and noisy youngsters to feed and the terns were diving just feet away from where I was standing. I spent a while getting photos of wingtips and blurry cloud formations.

Common tern

Common tern

Common terns
It's easier when they're sat down.

Great crested grebes

Great crested grebes and coot

Mallards and tufted ducks haunted the reed margins. Greylags and Canada geese shouted from more open shores. And there were yet more coots and gadwalls.

Main Lake

Juvenile common tern

I turned into the bridleway crossing the causeway. This gave me a closer look at the terns, including one young juvenile still begging from one of the rafts. The pool on the right side was busy with egrets, a dozen or more little egrets and at least four great white egrets. Some were fishing, most were loafing in the reeds on the islands. There were shovelers and teals amongst the crowds of ducks on these pools. 

Great white egret

Little egrets, mallards and Canada geese
Sometimes you have to.

Snipes, shovelers and lapwing

Snipe, shovelers, coots and Canada geese

Waders fidgeted on the open mud. Most were lapwings and snipe, nearly all the snipe wading up to their thighs as they fed. I noticed a ruff fairly close in, and so did a lapwing which chased it off before I could take a photo. Further out I noticed a couple of redshanks and then there, over on the far side of the pool amongst a bunch of juvenile snipe, all wearing fresh bright braces on their backs, a pectoral sandpiper. Pectoral sandpiper is the only "stray" peep I can identify with any confidence: that abrupt cut from the stripy brown breast and white underparts really stands out.

Cormorants, Canada geese, greylags, mallards, coots, gadwalls and teal

Little egrets and great white egret

Centaury

Small copper

Knapweed

It was a nice afternoon, I'd found my target, I drifted round to see what else might be about. Small coppers, large whites and meadow browns fluttered about the wayside. Bees and hoverflies visited the flowers. Southern hawkers patrolled the vegetation by the bushes, common darters sunned themselves on the path, common demoiselles kept out of the way of both in the waterside grasses. I'd seen some black darters on the causeway as I came in. I bumped into my first ruddy darter of the year as it hunted midges over some overblown Michaelmas daisies. I'd written them off for this year, I'd had no luck in the usual places.

I'm rubbish at umbellifers, I think this is a wild carrot

Lapwing

So far I hadn't seen any birds of prey. A flock of lapwings suddenly rising from the fields beyond made me look round for one. Eventually I spotted the peregrine that had spooked them. It flew high over the pool I was standing by, the lapwings making themselves scarce. A female-type marsh harrier rose from behind the reedbeds behind the pool and flew after the lapwings. The peregrine went for the harrier, stooping and barely missing its target as it lurched out of the way. The harrier was ready for the second attempt and barrel-rolled out of the way, presenting a full set of claws to its attacker. The point had been made, the harrier made an exit and the peregrine circled high over the pool a few times before drifting over to the larger pools.

Peregrine

Peregrine and marsh harrier
First pass.

I walked round to Astley Lake and had a sit down while I had a look round. There were more great white egrets and little egrets. Loafing cormorants shared islands with geese, ducks and lapwings. A Cetti's warbler sang. I'd been sat there at least five minutes before I realised there were ten spoonbills asleep on an island right in front of me.

Spoonbills and teal

Spoombills

St Aidens 

Having had my wake-up call I managed to add some dabchicks and a willow warbler to the day's tally before deciding to start making a move for getting home. On a whim I took the path leading out over the Aire and onto the Aire and Calder Navigation, which was picturesque. I crossed the canal and headed down Fleet Lane, which was less picturesque as it passed under the railway line.

Luckily, there were stepping stones

I've not suffered much from hayfever this year so I noticed it when the sinuses threw a wobbly as I walked past fields of flowering sweetcorn. My sneeze woke up the chiffchaffs and titmice in the hedgerow. I probably disturbed much else besides given that a pile of swallows and house martins chose to drift my way.

I didn't have long to wait for the 141 back to Castleford but just missed the Manchester train and had an hour's wait for the next. I weighed up the options of getting the next train to Leeds or Sheffield and making connections there but I'd be arriving in Manchester later than if I sat and waited. A collared dove sang on the lamppost by my seat to keep me company.