THE FINANCIAL BIRDER 2: On the Farm & Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

Tuesday 4th April 2023.

This Treecreeper was seen picking off Spiders Webs from a Silver Birch tree within the Wildlife Park.

A busy, but a superb day with the family on another bright sunny, cloudless day. Our plan today was firstly for our Isabelle to feed the Farm animals here at Water Hill Farm, which was arranged for 8.30am and after a quick breakfast, a trip down to Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, to visit the Yorkshire Wildlife Park for the rest of the day. I have to admit, I am really not one for Zoo’s, however, this was pretty exceptional and as well as the ‘kept’ animals of the world, the whole Park is very ecological friendly with plenty of habitat for our UK birds to breed and inhabit between all the attractions.

From top to bottom: Dunnock, male Blackbird and a male Greenfinch. All these were seen while I was with Isabelle this morning by the Farm.

I was up early this morning, checking out the fields to the north of the Farm for anything of note. Overhead, Yellowhammers, a Meadow Pipit and a few Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Goldfinch flew over, while nearby, Chiffchaffs were in full song in the trees nearby. Nothing of note really feeding in the fields with the Alpacas and so I made my way back to pick Isabelle up, ready for her to feed the Farm animals.

Above, a Goldfinch in the hedge above the Farm Car Park and below, a Blue Tit by the Weather Vane.

However, it didn't quite go according to plan as the Farm hands had to get three young Goats on a trailer, which took quite a bit of time and therefore, not enough time for Isabelle to feed the Alpacas. On a positive side, we got to see the young Pigs, the Sheep, the Banded Cows with their young and of course, the Alpacas.

Above, nesting Coots were dotted around the small lakes and below, several Little Grebes were also noted on the lakes, with some coming very close to the footpath at the Wildlife Park.

The hour there simply flew by and with a big smile on her face, Isabelle and myself went indoors to have breakfast and then get ready for the long journey to the Wildlife Park. The 80 minute journey there was a bit tedious with some of the roads showing low speed limits, especially on the A1M. We believe it was a deliberate ploy to simply slow the traffic right down as there was no sign of any accident on the aforesaid road!

Above, another Little Grebe feeding close to the main footpath. Below, Sinead spotted this Common Buzzard sitting distantly on a fence post from the main path. Many more were seen throughout the day soaring high in the clear blue sky.

I have to say, Yorkshire Wildlife Park is certainly a great place to go and definitely gets my vote. Yes, it was packed with people during this Easter term, but it was very clean and tidy, bar a few discarded Zoo maps and empty drink bottles. The Park covers 260 acres of land and it could take around an hour to complete the circuit there on the easiest route if you didn't look at anything. Even our Sinead said she counted over 1200 steps today here on her Smartwatch!

Above, you could easily be forgiven for thinking you might be on a huge Nature Reserve with so many superb areas for our wildlife to flourish here. There were many different habitats here for a variety of bird and animal life to see here. Below, a large flock of Sand Martins came in and explored the area, mostly near the Water Treatment Works and when something spooked them, all the Corvids and Gulls got up and also a pair of Oystercatchers!

As mentioned earlier, I was far more interested in photographing the UK birds and there were plenty of them to keep me very interested. Instead of writing chapter and verse, I shall let the photos do the talking; though I will mention that the huge flock of Sand Martins that flew over several times was brilliant to watch. On the Zoo side of things, the 6 Polar Bears that they have there were amazing and probably the only opportunity to see these amazing animals in the flesh. Becky has made noises about going up to the Arctic to see these and other amazing creatures up there; but because of Global Warming, I think we need to do this sooner rather than later.

Above, Pied Wagtails were abundant throughout the Wildlife Park including a flock of 12 by the Water Treatment Works and below, House Sparrows made the most of people dropping their crumbs by the many cafes present.

Some other birds of note included a male Reed Bunting and a flock of around a dozen Pied Wagtails near a Water Treatment Works opposite one of the Polar Bear attractions. Common Buzzards soared overhead (sadly, no Alpine Swift!) and on the fresh pools (and there were a lot of them), Little Grebes, Shoveler, Teal, Mallard, Gadwall, Shelduck were all seen and nesting Coots were abundant. Cetti’s Warblers were calling within the reedbeds, but no early Sedge Warblers were heard. In a wooded area which they labelled a ‘British Wood’, we saw Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Blue, Great and Coal Tits as well as both my first Peacock and Speckled Wood butterflies of the year.

A few butterflies were on the wing during our trip to the Wildlife Park including (above) several Peacock butterflies and below, a Speckled Wood. Both were my first for the year.

Above, Horses Hoof Fungus growing on a Silver Birch Tree.

With all this wildlife habitat for our native species, I think I would most certainly come back here again, for I am sure there could be some notable summer visitors using the many lakes and woodland here.

Above, another photo of the Treecreeper collecting Spiders webs and below, a juvenile Great Black-backed Gull enjoying some offal left by one of the Polar Bears. This species and both Herring and Black-headed Gull were making the most of the large pools by the Polar Bear encampments.

On the lakes, there were plenty of wildfowl including Teal (above) and Shoveler (below). Several Grey Lag Geese were also seen by the edge of the lakes.

On the way back from the Wildlife Park, a flock of 2 Great White Egrets with 3 Little Egrets flew high over the A1M some ten miles into our journey back as dusk was approaching. Shame I could not get a photo of them for the record. Over the past few weeks, I have had trouble with my back and after playing football with Isabelle and her Dad yesterday, this idiot really made a mess of his back this time as I took painkillers and wore a heat pad all day for my stupidity! I just hope I get a better night's sleep than I did last night!!

Above, there was a Little Egret feeding along one of the waterways within the Park and below, at least two pairs of Gadwall were seen today. Such smart birds.