Another early start and a convoy type progression southwards amidst traffic. The weather forecast wasn't too great so I resolved to be flexible and cram as much as I could into the morning.
The evolved road systems in the Castleford / Normanton area are not as simple as I remember them, nor is the plethora of developed "Industrial Estates". Eventually I did locate the area of choice ( Loscoe Lake ), located virtually opposite the new(?) Police Headquarters. From a distance it appears simply as a water filled depression in a field, but it seems it's developed an attraction for birds. It's difficult to oversee the whole of it so some mild trespassing was necessary to view the entire body of water. But worth it when the flock of grazing Wigeon was located within which was an adult American Wigeon. Probably the best views I've had and worth the effort. Other birds on site were Lapwing, Grey Heron, Tufted Dick, Mallard and Canada Goose plus numbers of BH Gulls. Success was followed by a late celebratory "mobile breakfast" at the Captains Table, another good find!
On to the RSPB Fairburn Reserve after successfully negotiating the centre of Castleford and choosing the correct exit route. Things started well with a good selection of birds ( Pintail, Shoveler, Little Egret, Goldeneye ) but then went swiftly downhill with quite heavy rain developing. After attempting to wait out the predicted eastward moving frontal system I called it a day and moved eastwards myself. With the weather still not improving exploring North Cave Wetlands wasn't at all productive so I finally decided to delay things until the morning!!
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