June 2014 archive

Jun 30 2014

Summary : June 2014

Summary : June 2014

Garden

The garden continued to be full of young birds with juvenile Robins and a juvenile Blackbird visiting the bird table. Lots of Blue Tit young and lesser numbers of Great Tit young are on the feeders and the window box. The Dunnocks are less obvious but are around. The Sparrows from across the way spend quite a bit of time in our garden now. Nothing really special apart from the usual fun of new birds finding their way around. Cat problem not as bad as it used to be but occasionally still an issue. Woodpigeons a constant nuisance. We have a small flock of young Starlings as well, now.

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Jun 26 2014

Birding Group Schedule Autumn 2014

Birding Group Schedule Autumn 2014

 

23-Sep-14 Burton Mere Wetlands
30-Sep-14 Pennington Flash
07-Oct-14 Leosowe / Heswall (high tide approx 10.50am)
14-Oct-14 Leighton Moss
21-Oct-14 Neumann’s Flash / Marbury
28-Oct-14 Llanfairfechan / Conwy   (high tide approx 13.00pm)
04-Nov-14 Tatton Park
11-Nov-14 Frodsham  (low tide approx 08.45am)
18-Nov-14  Sandbach Flashes
25-Nov-14 Hoylake / Thurstaton C.P.    (high tide approx 12.25pm)
02-Dec-14 Moore Nature Reserve
09-Dec-14 Martin Mere  (Christmas lunch & programme planning)

Jun 24 2014

Birding Group Visit to Brockholes : 24th June 2014

Birding Group Visit to Brockholes : 24th June 2014

We started off with a quick look at the Meadow Lake from the visitor centre. There were Swallows and Sand Martins flying overhead in good numbers and on the islands there were Oystercatchers, Canada Geese and Mute Swans. A small group of Cormorants collected at the end of the near island. A look through the scope at the far side of the lake threw up two or three Common Snipe and there was a good smattering of Lapwing and their chicks. From the cafe we got very nice views of a Great Crested Grebe family with four stripey fledglings. When we were all collected we decided to take a walk up to the River Ribble and look for Kingfishers.

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Jun 17 2014

Red-necked Grebe at Frodsham Marsh : 17th June 2014

Red-necked Grebe at Frodsham Marsh : 17th June 2014

As it happened we felt that after the birding group had finished at Moore we had time to pop down to Frodsham Marshes where a Red-necked Grebe had been loitering for more than a week. It was only about twenty minutes out of our way so we decided to give it a shot. There had also been a Lesser Scaup seen on tank six lately so that was another possibility.

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Jun 17 2014

Birding Group Visit to Moore Nature Reserve : 17th June 2014

Birding Group Visit to Moore Nature Reserve : 17th June 2014

We started out at the car park then walked uphill to the hide that overlooks Lapwing Lake. On the lake were a Little Grebe, Coots, Mute Swans and a small Mallard family. A Cormorant flew overhead. Reed and Sedge Warblers could also be heard. Outside the hide, in the brambles and bushes, Chiffchaff could be heard and we saw a Bullfinch which was calling quietly.

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Jun 11 2014

Birding Group Visit to RSPB South Stack : 11th June 2014

Birding Group Visit to RSPB South Stack : 11th June 2014

We stayed overnight on the 10th at the Seacroft Hotel in Trearddur Bay. Some of the group stayed at the Travelodge in Holyhead but we all met up on the evening of the 10th for a meal. We had a nice evening and retired exhausted ready for another birding day in North Wales. We headed off to Holyhead first to look at the Black Guillemots at the old Fish Harbour and they were as reliable as usual giving us views of them swimming, flying and even perching and displaying on the harbour wall. This got our appetite up for South Stack where we headed off to next.

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Jun 10 2014

Birding Group Visit to RSPB Conwy, The Spinnies and Cemlyn Bay : 10th June 2014

Birding Group Visit to RSPB Conwy, The Spinnies and Cemlyn Bay : 10th June 2014

On the 10th June the birding group set off on day 1 of the two day outing to Anglesey. We met up at RSPB Conwy and had a quick cup of tea before going round the site. It was a little after high tide when we set out. In truth there wasn’t that much about apart from the usual suspects. One surprising thing was that although it was high tide when we got there, by the time we had walked round to the far side there was quite a lot of mud visible, an interesting reminder of how shallow the water was.

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Jun 04 2014

Summary : May 2014

Summary : May 2014

Garden

The garden continued to improve bird-wise  but we can’t seem to shake off the Woodpigeons that seem to be in our gardens in numbers any time there is food around – and even where there isn’t. Blackbird are getting pushy as they clearly have young to feed. Dunnocks very visible and even on the bird table which is unusual, I even saw one of the bird feeder eating kibbled sunflower hearts. Some good, sunny weather around the 17th and lasting a week saw the first Chorlton Swifts of the year.

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Jun 03 2014

Scotland Birding Trip Summary May 2014

 Scotland Birding Trip Summary May 2014

Our birding trip to Scotland took in visits to Loch of the Lowes and Loch Garten as well as the fours days birding in and around Grantown-on-Spey and visits after that to the Ythan Estuary at Newburgh and RSPB Fowlsheugh. In total we saw 113 bird species and added six new life ticks to our UK list. These were Black-throated Diver, Slavonian Grebe, Ptarmigan, Dotterel, King Eider and, some may think oddly, our first Little Stint. We added twenty-four birds to our year list which, after the holiday, stood at 168 species. Out UK life list now stands at 227 species. Still a long way to go but all the more reason to get out there and see what we can.

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Jun 02 2014

Scotland Trip Day 7 : RSPB Fowlsheugh : 2nd June 2014

 Scotland Trip Day 7 : RSPB Fowlsheugh : 2nd June 2014

Day 6 of our Scottish holiday was spent with the family and, apart from a visit to a formal garden where a pair of Oystercatchers had nested right in the middle of one of the ornamental sections, we did not do any real birding. We stayed the Saturday after we arrived from Newburgh and left on the Monday morning. We usually stop off somewhere on the way south when we return home in order to break up the journey and this is often Montrose Basin reserve. This time, though, we had picked up a leaflet and this mentioned RSPB Fowlsheugh. We had never heard of this place but it sounded very promising at this time of year so we stopped off and checked it out. To say that I was surprised was a bit of an understatement.

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