No. 87: Common Tern

Today I did leg 9 of Sheffield Country Walk - Treeton to Rother Valley Country Park. It was a really enjoyable walk, with lots of wildlife interest, covering 3 really interesting habitats. The first was Treeton Dyke, a large expanse of water edged with woodland, some reedbeds meadow and heath. I saw several whitethroat, tufted duck and great-crested grebe, but the highlight was watching this common tern swooping in for fish. The second area was Woodhouse Washlands, a YWT reserve which is wet meadowland, and here, the top sighting was banded demoiselles, one of my favourite creatures - in my view stunningly beautiful. They weren't easy to photograph as they were in an overgrown, steep-sided ditch, but I managed a shot of both the male and female. In a third area of heathland (name unknown, but it forms an approach to Rother Valley Country Park, I'm sure I heard a grasshopper warbler's amazing song but didn't catch sight of the bird itself. I stood and listened and watched for ages, until the sky turned black and the heavens opened. A soaking was a small price to pay for this lovely walk. All along the way today were butterflies - large and small skippers, lots of ringlets, meadow browns, speckled woods and a fine red admiral.