Female Mallard at Elsecar

A day of showers and the odd bit of sunshine and our very first visit to Elsecar park this morning.  Several people have told me that the reservoir is a good place for Great Crested Grebes and I counted at least nine, though most of them were a long way from us.  I did get one or two closer views, but I think I’ve taken better ones in the past.  My favourite was this female mallard.

Other birds:  black-headed gulls, coot, moorhen, tufted-ducks and a very mixed bag of Heinz 57 ducks.

I hd a practice at capturing the gulls in flight but found them less predictable than the gannets - I managed a few in focus, but not anything I wanted to save,

We had lunch in the little cafe, which was also good.  We rather wish we’d discovered it when Bobby and Jimmy were younger.  We’re sure they would have liked it.

The park is very well laid out, complete with bandstand.  We think this is a legacy of Earl Fitzwilliam (money made from coal mining and exploitation, though he was much loved by the people who worked for him).