Old Moor and Denaby Ings (1 Viewer)

Had to collect the car from partnyorsha's workplace yesterday, so took the opportunity of an unexpected visit to Old Moor.

The day was mostly cold and grey, although briefly the sun poked through the clouds and gave the slightest respite from the chill.

The journey out produced a few sightings of the usual supsects - Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Carrion Crow and Chaffinch.

Old Moor is one of a number of "wetland" sites in the area, generally created as a result of former mining or other industrial activity, but now converted to a Nature Reserve.

Although the weather was cold, the water at Old Moor was not frozen over on some of the larger pools, although the smaller ones were still covered by a thin sheet of ice.

There were a good number of waterbirds present, including at least 6 Gossander (4 male, 2 female), large numbers of Gadwall and Wigeon, and also a large quantity of Coot and Black-headed Gulls.

Wader numbers (except Lapwing) were low, and I noticed only 1 (perhaps one other by call) Redshank, and a couple of small waders that may or may not have been Dunlin.

After spending a couple of hours at Old Moor, I decided to move on, and call in at Denaby Ings.

Whilst I certainly undervisit Old Moor, Denaby Ings is somewhere I frequent even less. I believe this was only my second ever visit, but it won't be my last!

Denaby Ings is a small reserve, which I was able to circumnavigate leisurely in less than an hour, comprising a large ing, the level of which seems to be controlled by water-board sluice gates. There is a second smaller patch of water, split from the larger are by a road, I coulb not tell if they were connected.

The southern side of the main ing is bordered by a large, tree-covered embankment, and a footpath takes you along here (past three ricketty old open hides), over a small footbridge past the sluice gates, round the end on the ing and then returns alongside (but not adjacent to a busy minor road), and some fields.

So for a small area, the habitat is quite varied, and will be worth the smal detour when I'm in the area.

Yesterday, the water was busy, although mostly down at the eastern end.

Again Goosander were present, maybe a dozen, a small selection of ducks, once more Gadwall being the most numerous, and at least 200, maybe as many as 500 or more Coot, crammed together in a couple of small areas of unfrozen water. Many Black-headed ulls were again present, and a smallish roost of about 11 Cormorant.

Most of the non-waterbirds seen were single individuals, but I was treated to two Bullfinch.

Returning home, I was treated to the best view of a Sparrowhawk I've had in a long while, and was forced to stopon a country lane, whilst a couple of cock pheasants engaged in a fight in the middle of the road!

Any way list as follows (Outbound, Old Moor, Denaby Ings, Homebound)

Woodpigeon : O, OM, DI, H
Carrion Crow : O, OM, DI
Chaffinch : O, OM
Blackbird : O, OM, DI
Tree Sparrow : OM
Blue Tit : OM
Yellowhammer : OM
Pheasant : OM, H
Teal : OM, DI
Moorhen : OM, DI
Mallard : OM, DI
Gadwall : OM, DI
Magpie : OM, H
Black-headed Gull : OM, DI
Lapwing : OM
Mute Swan : OM
Great Black-backed Gull : OM
Coot : OM, DI
Wigeon : OM
Cormorant : OM, DI
Tufted Duck : OM, DI
Shoveler : OM, DI
Green Woodpecker : OM
Canada Goose : OM
Fieldfare : OM
Dunnock : OM
Goosander : OM, DI
Goldeneye : OM
Redshank : OM
Reed Bunting : OM
Song Thrush : OM
Robin : OM, DI
Wren : OM
Greenfinch : OM
Great Tit : OM, DI
Goldfinch : OM
Grey Heron : DI
Redwing : DI
Long-tailed Tit : DI
Bullfinch : DI
Sparrowhawk : H
Kestrel : H
Collared Dove : H

Looks like a wonderful, unexpected day, Birdman!

And an ING is . . . .? Some kind of lake/pond? Manmade or natural?

Sometimes it seems the unexpected birds are the best.

Beverlybaynes said:

And an ING is . . . .? Some kind of lake/pond? Manmade or natural?

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Yep... I think that is pretty well right.

Ings are I believe generally shallow areas of water (probably larger than a pond but don't really qualify as lakes). There are many ings around here, the vast majority of which are due to industrial, usually mining, land usage.

I'm sure someone else will confirm these "facts", but I think that historically the term may also refer to natural features (there are many place names locally that end -ing, which I don't think necessarily always has this derivation, but often does).

I also think that the water tends to seep in from the ground, due to the level of the local water table - although maybe drainage or overspill also creates ings (but I would tend to call those flashes). I have seen eveidence of a marshy area also being refered to as an ing or ings

Ing may be a local term, but I suspect there is some Scandinavian derivation.

Help me out someone!

BTW, the day was really quite a pleasant surprise - partuclarly enjoyed the Bullfinces!

Originally the term "Ing" referred to lowlying meadow or pastureland situated close to water. Because of this Ings were very frequently flooded so the term started to be used for permanently flooded areas.

So an 'ing' would be roughly equivalent to a marsh? Or a 'seep'?

I love finding out the meanings of these words. Took me forever to find out the difference between a pond and a lake (which, BTW, has to do with level [pond] vs. irregular [lake] bottoms, and steady [pond] vs. varying [lake] water temps). Has nothing to do, as I originally thought, with size.

So --- does anyone know if there is a glossery of nature-related terms like these somewhere on the web? It'd be interesting to read!

We went to Old Moor today and saw pretty much the same as you did, with the addition that the Green Sandpiper was showing quite well. Didn't manage any photos though, as it was scared off by a Redshank just as I got the camera set up.

The Golden Plover were also gathering in large numbers. Taken with new Canon 10D and Sigma 50-500m lens + 1.4x converter.

helenh said:

Originally the term "Ing" referred to lowlying meadow or pastureland situated close to water. Because of this Ings were very frequently flooded so the term started to be used for permanently flooded areas.

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Thanks Helen,

That sounds about right, and Wheldrake Ings springs to mind.