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Aug 12 2014
High Tide at Hoylake : 12th August 2014
High Tide at Hoylake : 12th August 2014
Another high tide of 9.8 metres at 1pm took us to Hoylake for the hard to resist spectacle of large numbers of waders. This time the tide came nearly all the way in to the promenade so that huge numbers of Dunlin – estimated at 2,800 – ended up about 100 feet from the promenade.
Aug 08 2014
Wood Sandpipers at Martin Mere : 8th August 2014
Wood Sandpipers at Martin Mere : 8th August 2014
Having been a bit preoccupied of late we were keen to take the opportunity of a nice day to follow reports of a pair of Wood Sandpipers seen from the Ron Barker Hide at Martin Mere WWT. We got there pretty quickly and after a cup of tea we headed straight up to the Ron Barker hide where we met a chap who had been looking at a pair of birds but wasn’t sure if they were the Wood Sandpipers or not. The two birds concerned kept drifting off behind some reeds and would not give us constant views making a positive ID difficult.
Jul 31 2014
Summary : July 2014
Summary : July 2014
Birding Days Out
Birding in general this month has largely been determined for us by weather and visitors. We have had visits from two sets of friends who do not live in Britain and they are not particularly birders so we have been either preparing for them or attending to them for a lot of the month. Anne’s birthday party also took a little chunk of time out of the month but he main reason we did not do a lote of birding this month was the prolonged good weather – so hot, in fact, that we have largely kept in shade where possible. It has been quite like the summers of old ! Be that as it may we managed to do some birding and even got a life tick or two !
Jul 30 2014
Recce of Heswall Bank : 30th July 2014
Recce of Heswall Bank : 30th July 2014
When we left Burton Mere Wetland we decided to do a little recce of Heswall Bank which I had been curious about. I had read an article on the internet on Heswall Bank which also had a very good hand-drawn map of the area from a birding point of view. This article describes the area from a starting position at the end of Riverbank Road where there is some parking. It also describes it as one of the very best places to see waders at a high tide
Jul 30 2014
Spotted Crakes at Burton Mere Wetlands : 30th July 2014
Spotted Crakes at Burton Mere Wetlands : 30th July 2014
On the 30th of July we went to RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands in search of the Spotted Crakes that have been seen there recently. We asked at the reception hide whether they had been seen (It seems that there are two pairs with chick/s there) but no one had seen them recently. From the hide we got nice views of a Little Grebe carrying a pair of chicks on its back. There was a single Dunlin and a few Snipe as well as the usual Black-tailed Godwits and Greylag and Canada Geese. A few Ruff were also present but we could not see Spotted Crake anywhere. It was a bit of an outside chance because they are usually more likely to be seen at dusk apparently so we felt we still had a chance.
Jul 03 2014
Craster : 3rd July 2014
Craster : 3rd July 2014
Our third and last day on the Northumberland coast was reserved for non-bird watching activities but we still managed to have a little bit of birding in the village of Craster where we stopped for lunch at The Jolly Fisherman restaurant where we sat on the balcony in the sunshine watching Eider parents showing their young where to find food amongst the rock pools in the harbour and find drinkable water. Out at sea there were Guillemots and small numbers of Shelduck. On the harbour wall Gulls roosted and the odd Pied Wagtail bobbed along. All the houses around the harbour seemed to be built to help nesting Swallows and House Martins and the air was full of them. We had a lovely lunch and sneaked a little bird watching in anyway.
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Jul 02 2014
Druridge Bay Sites : 2nd July 2014
Druridge Bay Sites : 2nd July 2014
After our boat trip yesterday had failed to give us close views of Roseate Terns we thought we would try our luck at a few of the sites along the coast. We started out at Hauxley Nature Reserve
Jul 01 2014
Roseate Terns at Coquet Island : 1st July 2014
Roseate Terns at Coquet Island : 1st July 2014
On the first day of July we drove over to the Northumberland coast where we were staying for a few days at the Warkworth House Hotel in Warkworth, just north of Amble. We were taking a few days away but the main reason for choosing the area was to go to the RSPB reserve at Coquet Island to see if we could see any Roseate Terns. Coquet Island is the only remaining British breeding colony of Roseate Terns. It is not possible to land on the island but we booked a boat trip from the harbour at Amble where Puffin Cruises use a retired Lifeboat to take people on round the island trips. As these are highly dependent upon the tides being right, the trips are sometimes at odd hours. Ours was booked for 4pm and we had high hopes for the trip.
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) |