Cormorants & Constellations at RSPB Old Moor

Spent a beautiful winter's afternoon and twilight today at RSPB Old Moor in the Dearne Valley.

The "Cormorants & Constellations" Event started with a spot of guided wildfowl watching. Then as the sky darkened, a glimpse through some powerful telescopes provided by the local Mexborough & Swinton Astronomical Society as Venus and Jupiter came out to play between the rolling clouds. This stargazing was timed to coincide with the BBC's Stargazing Live programmes. Some enthusiastic young astronomers in the making were there with their families today, enjoying all that Old Moor and the MSAS have to offer to the Patrick Moores and Professor Brian Coxs of the future!

Thanks to the all wonderful staff at Old Moor, including John and Jeff who took us on guided walk No 2 to the Wader Scrape as the rain swept down and the wind buffeted the water.

Started by seeing Bullfinches and Blue Tits from the visitor centre and then wandered into the play area before the walk, where a cloud of Magpies sat in a treetop before flying rattling exuberantly over our heads.

In Wader Scrape, we looked across towards Darfield church tower, past a stormy scene alive with wildfowl and other birds battling the elements. Flocks of Lapwing, a Great Crested Grebe in its winter plumage, Goosander, Mute Swan, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, a Great Black-Backed Gull sitting dominating an island, Little Egret, and a male Pheasant scuttling across in front of the hide. Many more, including Carrion Crows, flocks of Starling in the distance over Darfield way, and, of course, a row of Cormorant, proud to know the day named in their honour was going so well!

Jupiter with its moons and Venus shining bright, the evening star in all its splendour, made the stargazing part of the evening a joy in spite of encroaching cloud cover. The Gannets Cafe for a warm cuppa and a bite to eat warmed us up nicely again, with accompanying footage of the earth from the International Space Station. Over in the Classroom, another film was showing, very popular indeed, you had to be quick off the mark to secure a seat! Shows how popular Old Moor is, and with very good reason!

The whole visit was a delight as always. Reminded me how much I love Old Moor, how it's been too long since my last visit, and how good it will be to head back there as soon as health and opportunity permits.

Our friends Sue & Col, and my mum arriving for the fun

This wind turbine sounded ready to take off in the gusty January wind!

Me, three layers of thermals (TMI!), bins, silly woolly hat and walking stick with inbuilt seat affectionately known in my house as the "Ironing Board" for its rather-bulky-but-comfy design. Vanity's not one of my many vices, obviously!

Magpies flocking. They're like Marmite - love 'em or hate 'em. I adore them, the zany clowns of the crow world!

The free giveaway info cards to tie in with BBC's "Stargazing Live"

Space Station Shuttling

Well, I didn't manage to see the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station from which it undocked today, passing over at 7.23pm tonight even with clear skies. I've seen it in the past, but this time was a hopeless "fail", even though thousands saw it. Didn't even have a good picture of the new moon to post tonight, so here's one I took during the afternoon of Jan 14th 2011 over Rotherham, Yorkshire, UK, as a compensation prize, plus a poem I've written to capture tonight's abortive quest to see the satellites.


It rippled through the evening news
Last chance! Look out!
The Space Station and the Shuttle at its heel
Undocked, wheeling unmissable
Over our northern hemisphere


We note the time, the appointment,
Synchronise our watches,
Tapping and nodding,
Grabbing scopes and cameras,
Listening to "The Archers"
To anchor us to earth.


I focus on the new moon
Tipping its cartilage comma,
Punctuating space.
But my hand trembles,
Fluttering the tripod
Like a baby's heartbeat


Each time I frame it,
The image is a paroxism, a ditzy squiggle
Melting as cheese on a burger,
Dithering like the plosive song
In the wren's zithering throat.


So I never saw 'Discovery' rising,
Or the Space Station arc up a mute rainbow,
Clearing the horizon from West through South.

But now they are gone down
Under the obstructive shoulder of earth's core,
I watch the blank plates
At the back of my lens,
While the carnival colours from bulbs
On the Working Men's Club
Scrub out the stars with a litter of lights