Adwick Washland

Adwick Washland 

At time of writing I've only visited this RSPB reserve the once so it seems a bit odd to be posting a site guide to it. The reason why I'm doing it is to flag up just how extremely accessible it is by public transport. It may be ten minutes' walk longer from the station than Leighton Moss but it's a straight line along a road with a pavement. It's literally a matter of leaving Bolton-upon-Dearne Station, turning left onto Lowfield Road and heading in a East-South-Easterly direction along the road until you get to the car park where the road becomes the bridleway through the reserve. One footpath leads off the bridleway taking you to a circular viewpoint giving a panoramic view of the reserve. There are also some permissive paths which provide a tour around the perimeter. 

Sketch map: Adwick Washland

Adwick Washland is a piece of flooded farmland which is one of a string of wetland reserves along the Dearne Valley. To the West are Bolton Ings and Old Moor, to the East is Denaby Ings. It's a typical North of England wetland: pools, ponds and ditches in a patchwork of reedbeds, wet meadows, hedgerows and farmland, with the river nearby to cater for the moving water specialists. Which written down so baldly looks a bit dismissive but it really isn't, these mosaic landscapes pack a rich diversity of wildlife into relatively small spaces. 

Adwick Washland 

As it forms part of the local flood defences I would expect the washland varies considerably with the seasons, my visit coincided with a hot spell after a long dry but cloudy period, the meadows were fairly dry but there was plenty of water in the pools. Most of the pools are by the paths, giving very close views of the birds without the use of hides. Most of the birds didn't seem much fussed about passersby.

Reed bunting

There's as a small colony of black-headed gulls. Mallards, dabchicks, great crested grebes, lapwings and avocets also breed on the pools here. Other waders and ducks were about when I visited, I suspect some of them breed somewhere on here, too. Reed buntings, reed warblers and sedge warblers join the usual array of farmland birds, a pretty good tally can be notched up on a leisurely stroll round. And then there's all the other fauna and flora to be found about the reserve, when I visited it was heaving with butterflies and hoverflies.

Adwick Washland 

Even on a slow birdwatching day this is a nice walk to have on a gently sunny day.