Summary January 2016
Species this month = 83
New Species added to 2016 Year List in January= 83
Running Total for the 2016 UK So Far = 83
New UK Life List Birds In January= 0
January 2016 archive
Jan 26 2016
Tatton Park : 26th January 2016
Tatton Park : 26th January 2016
The birding group morning this week was to Tatton Park which turned out to be a total waste of time and quite exhausting. Due to the threated (but not materialising) high winds the authorities had decided to close Dog Wood which was a shame beacause my only reason for going there (rather than to the Wales which was my preferred option to get pelagic birds) was to get some woodland birds for my year list and I felt sure that I could get Nuthatch and Treecreeper at least. It wasn’t to be and the morning was a long hard slog instead.
Jan 24 2016
WWT Martin Mere 24th January 2016
WWT Martin Mere 24th January 2016
I wanted to add to my 2016 list by going to Martin Mere where I was guaranteed to get Whooper Swan, Pink-footed Geese and Marsh Harrier. An additional advantage was that we managed to get a, very obscured, view of one of the roosting Tawny Owls and a bonus Ross’s Goose from the Rains Observatory. On the minus side, we didn’t see the Barn Owl that had been showing very well from the Ron Barker Hide recently and it was probably the busiest day ever. With the expansion of the playground and the new heated hide near the shop, Martin Mere is staring to become more of a theme park and petting zoo than a nature reserve as is usually understood. No doubt they will say that raising the interest of young people and fund raising are crucial to their conservation aims but they would say that wouldn’t they ?
Jan 22 2016
Grand Tour of The Wirral : 22nd January 2016
Grand Tour of The Wirral : 22nd January 2016
Although there had been a high tide on the Dee Estuary, it wasn’t particularly high (8.8m) and it had been at 9.48am and we didn’t get to our first stop until around 10.30am. Be that as it may we wanted a day out and I suggested a round trip of some of our regular haunts : New Brighton, Hoylake, West Kirby and Burton Mere Wetlands. It was interesting to visit these sites at a relatively low (and receding) tide but we were not sure if it was going to be a bit of a wash-out or not. As it happened we had some nice additions to our new year list.
Jan 19 2016
Burton Mere Wetlands 19th January 2016
Burton Mere Wetlands 19th January 2016
The second birding group outing of the term, and the year, was to RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands where I hoped to add a fair number of species to my 2016 year list. I wasn’t to be disappointed and, although we did not see the Long-eared Owl that has been roosting down the path to the Inner Marsh Farm hide, we did manage to get long and wonderful views of a Short-eared Owl quartering the marsh from Burton Point. Other nice birds were a small flock of Golden Plover on the Scrape and a Kingfisher from the Marsh Covert Hide as well as Siskin, Linnets, Fieldfare and Redwing in the sky and among the trees around the site. We also got a good number of ducks and some waders adding up to 43 species for the day but – incredibly for Burton – no Black-tailed Godwits ! Who knows where they have gone.
Jan 12 2016
Pennington Flash 12th January 2016
Pennington Flash 12th January 2016
The first birding group morning of the new year was to Pennington Flash. The weather held out and although it was overcast at the outset, the sun eventually came out before the rain started again around mid-day. We managed to stay dry, though and had a great start to our year with some forty-three species including great views of a mixed flock of Siskin and Lesser Redpolls, two Kingfishers, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers and even a Water Rail !
Jan 09 2016
Great Northern Diver, Salford Quays. 9th January 2016
Great Northern Diver, Salford Quays. 9th January 2016
With Christmas and New Year dominated by bad colds and illness, it was a pleasure to open the year’s birding campaign with a woderful bird; the easiest Great Northern Diver I’m ever likely to get.