On May 12th 6 Members of the RPS Nature Group visited St Aidans RSPB Reserve in Yorkshire meeting at 6am. The weather was somewhat overcast when we started but cleared to give a very warm sunny morning.
St Aiden’s came up trumps with a great morning watching, listening to and photographing the abundant bird life. It may not have been the advertised close encounters with the Black-necked grebe, but certainly there was lots going on.
Male passerines singing and displaying, bitterns booming and male shovellers squabbling and lots more but it’s clear that the cold weather in early April has put back the breeding times of our rare grebes. We had some record shots but unfortunately, not the inmate kind. However it is one of those reserves where decent photography is clearly possible.
All our shots were taken as we walked the pathways crisscrossing this vast wetland which was once an opencast mine, known as the The Savile Colliery, near Swillington, West Yorkshire.
Images by Barry Quatermass, Bruce Kendrick, Ann Miles, Chris Russell and Derek Brett
For Gallery see RPSNature - St Aidens RSPB Reserve
For more events to attend go to RPSNature - Public Home Page
