RSPB St Aidan's

The small town where I live was once a village which prospered due to the mining industry. It's surrounded by other mining villages and it's in one of these villages, less than four miles from my home, where you can find RSPB St Aidan's. 

This nature reserve has been transformed from an old, open cast mine. There's still evidence of its past but it's been reclaimed by nature and is a haven for all kinds of wildlife.

The Sunshine Miners Landmark Memorial. Remembering all those and their machines who worked in the open cast coal mining industry. This walking dragline is the oldest surviving machine of its type in Europe. The machine is nicknamed 'Oddball' and if you look where this beast of a machine rests, you could see kestrels, barn owls and little owls.

There's a variety of habitats at St Aidan's, reedbeds, wetlands, meadows and woodland, so the wildlife it attracts is diverse.

This photo isn't all that clear as it was taken right across the lake but you can see that the swans have their cygnets with them.

We visit at all times of day and it's very popular, the car park can be full and yet you always get that sense of peace and tranquility because of the wide open space, it does feel as though you're the only people there.

There's lots of coots at St Aidan's.

There's pretty wildflowers blooming at the moment, a haven for butterflies and bees, and small mammals also enjoy the cover of the long grass.

A Common blue damselfly. We see lots of them on the paths around the lake and amongst the wildflowers.

There's lots of dragonflies too, this one is a Ruddy Darter.

There are only about nine hundred reed beds left in the UK and of these, only fifty are big enough to support bitterns, St Aidan's is one of the largest. Here, as well as bitterns, you might see other rare birds such as marsh harriers and bearded tits. We haven't seen any, though to be honest, I wouldn't know what I was looking for.

A family of graylag geese, there was a third one just out of the picture.

There are different walks and trails around the site to appeal to people with different desires. We usually take Archie with us but dogs do have to be kept on a lead so they don't disturb the wildlife. There's paths so it's definitely suitable for prams, Jack has been with us, and it's wheelchair accessible too.

We tend to see more when we visit on an evening. This juvenile kestrel was calling for its mum, I hope it found her. We've also seen barn owls swooping over the meadows.

Little owls nest in Oddball. They can often be seen perching on the woodpiles which surround the machinery.

There are a lot of magpies and we've seen them chasing away the barn owl when it's in flight.

I think these two kestrels were a parent and a juvenile. There's definitely a family around at the moment.

A lapwing. Not a very good photo I'm afraid. We see these on the lane where we live too, you can always tell they're about by their somewhat electronic sound, quite unlike the call of any other bird. They're also known as peewits.

You definitely feel at one with nature here but the imposing sight of Oddball reminds you of the site's industrial heritage.

We don't make use of the Little Owl Cafe very often as dogs aren't allowed inside, but it's a nice place to grab a cup of tea after a walk around the site.

It's also a great place to shelter from the rain if you happen to visit at an inopportune time!

Admission is free at St Aidan's, car parking costs just £4 for the whole day, or free if you're a member of the RSPB.