Apr 24 2011
Quick Response (QR) Codes
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Apr 21 2011
The next schedule for the birding mornings has been drawn up and is as follows :
Apr 20 2011
Point of Ayr is the northernmost point of mainland Wales. It is situated immediately to the north of Talacre in Flintshire, at the mouth of the Dee estuary. It is the site of a RSPB nature reserve, and is part of Gronant and Talacre Dunes Site of Special Scientific Interest. This was an RSPB guided event. The high tide at Liverpool was 1pm and the height was to be 9.7m. (Enquiries were on 0151 336 7681) so we were expecting something of a spectacle as the tide rose.
We were to meet at 10.30am in the car park of the Smugglers Inn, Station Road, Talacre which was easier said than done as by the time we arrived the car park was full and none of the other holiday making type places would permit the parking of cars except for people eating in their cafes and restaurants. Neither were they too keen on people using their toilets – some cafes didn’t even have them necessitating the use of the very minimal and rather crude public toilets.
Apr 19 2011
The weather was fantastically warm and sunny so was a real pleasure. We parked at the main entrance rather than the one at the Anderton Boat Lift which we use for a visit to Neumann’s Flash. This is a pay and display. We then walked to the hide at the edge of Budworth Mere and walked along the mere edge through the woods where we saw several Blackcaps and some of the group saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker. There were Chiffchaffs aplenty and both Song and Mistle Thrushes. On the water were at least ten Great crested Grebes, a few Tufted Ducks and in the distance Canada Geese. Continue reading
Apr 14 2011
We were looking for somewhere to go for a walk that was quite near us but which we hadn’t been to before so we looked in “Where To Watch Birds : North West England & The Isle of Man” by Alan Conlin, Chris Sharpe, Judith Smith, J.P. Cullen Dr., et al. and came up with Etherow Country Park and Local Nature Reserve which has a web site here.
Once part of the estate of a cotton magnate, the reserve is now an interesting site that combines duck pond and sailing lake with riverine woodlands and small pools and mature woodland. The further you go into the site, the fewer people there are so whilst there are a lot of children and dog walkers etc., the further reaches are very peaceful and full of birds. Continue reading
Apr 11 2011
Another good day our with the birding group. The weather wasn’t too good but we managed to keep dry for a while. We started off at the RSPB office and spotted a range of Finches on the feeders there. One of the group saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker but we didn’t. We walked down to the hide and en route we saw a number of birds including Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Song Thrush etc. There were quite a few of us present so when we joined the half dozen people already in the hide it was pretty full. Continue reading
Apr 05 2011
The weather forecast wasn’t too good for the day and it started off dull and a bit ominous with few birds to be seen or heard in the woods. However as the morning wore on the weather picked up and so did the birding. By the far edge of the Tatton Mere we could see around eight Grey Heron nests with half of them occupied by one bird each and there were others around. On the water were fair numbers of Tufted Duck and Mallard and also a fair number of Great Crested Grebes. The last pair we saw were displaying to each other with head swivelling and neck bobbing aplenty. There were plenty of Coots but only one Moorhen and a solitary Mute Swan. By far the best sight on the water – or rather just above the water – was a huge flock of House Martins – at least 300 but possibly as many as a thousand depending upon whose judgement you believed.
Apr 02 2011
“Owl” by Desmond Morris is part of the “Animal” range of books published by Reaktion Books. I had previously read “Falcon” by Helen Macdonald and like that book, Owl deals in great measure with the mythical, sociological and iconographic history of Owls as well as the natural history of owls. In this book, however, the balance between the social history and the natural history is weighted too much to the former in my opinion. Continue reading