Potteric Carr.....Saturday 13th December 2014.

With nothing really about in the way of rares,apart from the continued presence of the Blyth's Pipit near Wakefield,a change of scenery and a visit to Potteric Carr near to Doncaster was the order of the day.
 It was a pretty trouble free journey along the M18 and i arrived just as the visitor centre was opening it's doors.It was pretty cold with a ground frost,so plenty of layers was the order of the day.Pack up and drink in my pockets and camera set up and off i went to explore this extensive reserve.
 While walking along one of the paths i noticed a movement,when three Roe Deer quietly appeared feeding pretty unconcernedly.I was fairly close to them,but i stayed still and watched them from a distance,when all of a sudden a Fox appeared and startled them briefly.What a great scene to enjoy,with them all disappearing into a nearby copse.
 Very little was seen along the remainder of the reserve until i reached Huxter Well Marsh apart from a few roving Tit flocks which included a single Willow Tit.
 On Huxter itself there was a decent sized group of mixed wildfowl,as this was the only open area of water on the reserve.It included several Cormorants,Mute Swans,a large flock of Greylag,Shovelers,Teal,Gadwall,Mallard and a handful of Wigeon.There were also a few Lapwing feeding on the edge of the lake and in turn this area had also attracted a single Dunlin.
 At the back of the pools the best bird up to now was sat preening,a Juv. Marsh Harrier.It spent most of the time i watched it sat preening,but it did have a few bouts of activity half heartedly hunting.
 I continued on my journey around the reserve and sat in one of the other hides overlooking Huxter when all of a sudden a Bittern appeared distantly flying towards my viewpoint before it landed again.It then flew twice more and i didn't see it again afterwards.It's always great to see these cracking herons and i was pleased with my sighting of this rare heron.
 Other sightings observed during my visit included a couple of Little Egret,two Common Buzzard and a calling Green Woodpecker was heard.
 Not a bad visit at all today and it is always nice to visit somewhere different for a change and i travelled home a happy boy.

Displaying Robin,a great piece of behaviour to observe.

Robin.

Roe Deer.

Distant shot of the Bittern on Huxter Well Marsh.

Greylag Geese.

Greylag Goose.