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Oct 11 2015
Mallorca : 11th October 2015
Mallorca : 11th October 2015 : Arrival and travelling to hotel; La Gola
We set off horribly early on the 11th of October for a fortnight holiday in Mallorca where we again stayed at the Hoposa Uyal Hotel in Port de Pollenca. We had stayed there last Autumn and again this Spring. We were a bit later this year by a couple of weeks so we were not sure how far advanced the Autumn migration would be. Still it was a holiday and the birding is a bonus.
Oct 06 2015
Moore Nature Reserve : 6th October 2015
Moore Nature Reserve : 6th October 2015
It was a very pleasant day for what will probably be one of the few birding group days we attend this month on account of our holidaying in Mallorca where we intend to do quite a lot of birding to make up for it. The morning started off quite well with a Greater Spotted Woodpecker drumming from a tree next to the car park; unfortunately we did not see him. Thereafter it was all a little uneventful with the usual suspects on the water and nothing much in the trees.
Sep 30 2015
Summary September 2015
Summary September 2015
New Species added to 2015 Year List in September = 6
Running Total for the 2015 UK So Far = 160
New UK Life List Birds In August = 0
Our Garden
The Starlings seem to have suddenly become less obvious. The Wren is less obvious just as the Dunnock becomes more obvious. There are a pair of Coal Tits regularly on the feeder and a small group of Goldfinches. A Magpie seems to have taken up residence but in general it is quite quiet. This was our only solo day out before the resumption of the birding group term.
Sep 29 2015
Hoylake : 29th September 2015
Hoylake : 29th September 2015
The last birding group day out of the month and, in fact, our last birding day out of September, was to Hoylake for an 11 metre high tide at 12.30pm. The weather was so good, however, that there was a bit of a shortage of birds. It was a lovely day for standing on the prom however and not without its own nice birds.
Sep 22 2015
Hilbre Island : 22nd September 2015
Hilbre Island : 22nd September 2015
The second birding group day out of the new was to Hilbre Island where I had not been for quite some time; I think we must have been on holiday last year when the group went there. The whole thing is about a four mile round trip over the sands to the island. It was a glorious day so perhaps not the best day for birding there but it was a refreshing change not to face an oncoming wind all the way.
Sep 15 2015
Burton Mere Wetlands : 15th September 2015
Burton Mere Wetlands : 15th September 2015
It seems that we just cannot keep away from Burton Mere Wetlands and, with the resumption of the birding groups visits opening with a visit to Burton Mere Wetlands, we were back there again for the second time this month. Our morning started with a fantastic – and entirely fortuitous – sighting of two Spoonbills looking impossibly white heading away from the reception hide and over Inner Marsh Farm. They went south and then turned back towards the north before disappearing. They were a bit hard to identify but with all the staff of the reserve watching them the id wasn’t a problem !
Sep 08 2015
Parkgate and Burton Mere Wetlands : 8th September 2015
Parkgate and Burton Mere Wetlands : 8th September 2015
We left Gilroy Nature Park and headed for the Boathouse at Parkgate for lunch. A great bonus here for us was the sighting of both Marsh Harrier and a ringtail Hen Harrier – while we were having lunch ! The latter was a “year tick” We added a Kestrel to our “birds of prey for the day” list but also on the marsh were Skylark and Meadow Pipits and a Little Egret and a Curlew.
Sep 08 2015
Gilroy Nature Park : 8th September 2015
Gilroy Nature Park : 8th September 2015
We wanted to take a look at somewhere different of the Wirral so we decided to check out Gilroy nature Reserve where we had read about the big Black-tailed Godwit roost. As it happens, probably the most exciting spot of the day was a sighting of three Great White Egrets flying overhead in a southerly direction just as we came off the M56 and on to the M53. This added bonus was very nice but our real target was Godwits.
Aug 31 2015
Summary August 2015
Summary August 2015
New Species added to 2015 Year List in August = 3
Running Total for the 2015 UK So Far = 154
New UK Life List Birds In August = 1
Our Garden
The Starlings seem to have suddenly become less obvious. A Wren is almost permanently stationed in the garden calling continuously and a juvenile Robin visits regularly.
Aug 07 2015
Sabine’s Gull : Pennington Flash : 7th August 2015
Sabine’s Gull : Pennington Flash : 7th August 2015
A few days of continuous reports of a second-summer Sabine’s Gull proved too much to resist so on a beautiful, sunny morning we set of for Pennington and it didn’t take very long for us to locate the bird.