October 2018 : Summary
UK Species Year List to October : 168
Total UK Species in October : 71
New “Year Ticks” in October : 1
New “Life Ticks” in October : 1
Year ticks in October
- Golden Plover at RSPB Old Moore on 23rd October
Life ticks in October
- Rose-coloured Starling, St Helens 28th October 2018
Summary
The birding group morning at Moore Nature Reserve on the 16th October proved to be pretty uneventful. The next, longer, outing was a trip over the moors to the RSPB Old Moor Nature Reserve on the 23rd but this was also very uneventful and a strong wind ensured that we didn’t stand a chance of Bearded Tits.
On the 28th of October we had a great life-tick in the shape of a juvenile Rose-coloured Starling, roosting in a bush of ivy and bramble at the back of a chip shop in St Helens! We still had time that day to get to Burton Mere Wetlands where we had a brief look around before heading off to Riverbank Road where we got Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier and Great Egret. Not a bad day out and it was sunny and dry until half way back home when we it tipped down.
The birding group had a morning out to Sandbach Flashes on the 30th October which turned out to be quite good with forty-one species sighted including Buzzard, Peregrine and Sparrowhawk as well as Fieldfare – the first of this winter – and some Redwing, Pintail, Snipe and Ruff all added a bit more interest to the day so we had a pretty good morning birding – and the weather was milder than expected..