I have been trying for ages to find out where the site referred on the Deeside Birding web site as the Caldy Wildfowl Collection is actually located. I even looked for it specifically recenty going from the east to the west along Column Road and didn’t see it. Recently, driving the opposite way, I located it : Continue reading
Category: How To Get There
Nov 05 2017
High Tide on the Wirral – 5th November 2016
A high tide of 9.9 metres at 11:27am took us up to the Wirral where we dropped in at Hoylake, Rivebank Road, Denhall Old Quay and Burton Mere Wetlands. There haven’t been many high proper tides this year so this was a good chance to see what we could see in the way of waders and sea birds.
Jan 24 2015
Shotwick Boating Lake 24th January 2014
Shotwick Boating Lake 24th January 2014
I had been reading on the Dee Estuary Birding web site that there were Black-necked Grebes wintering on Shotwick boating lake. I was quite keen to see these but I was actually more taken with the report for the 17th January when someone had seen four species of Swan in the nearby fields. I was particularly keen to the Bewick’s swans that winter on the estuary every year so we started our day with a quick recce visit before going on to our main site of the day which was at Riverbank Road in Heswall for a high tide watch.
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
Feb 25 2014
Birding Group Visit to Carsington Water : 25th February 2014
Birding Group Visit to Carsington Water : 25th February 2014
Carsington Water was a first for me although the birding group have been there before. On the down side, although the distance isn’t too great, the roads are so slow that it took us two hours to get there. As it happens it was well worth the travel as we managed to get a life tick in the shape of a Great Northern Diver !
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Aug 06 2013
Visit to North Cave Wetlands : 6th August 2013
Visit to North Cave Wetlands : 6th August 2013
Our visit to the Yorkshire coast involved a bit of a stay over in Hull so that we could have enough tome to fit in visits to the RSPB site at Blacktoft Sands and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust site North Cave Wetlands. This is a continuously developing site with a number of bodies of water and scrapes and fields on either side of a long lane that also has a few hides and some “blinds” along one side of the path. There is sometimes a mobile cafe but it had closed for the day and moved off the site by the time we got there. It seems that the lady who provides the service starts very early in the morning ! At the end of the path you can see the gravel and sand pits that are used for extraction and on one side is a spanking new hide that looks over about a 200 degree view of the surrounding bodies of water. This is quite impressive and very comfortable but we didn’t see a great deal from here except lots of Greylag Geese, Ravens and Great and Lesser Back-Backed and Black-headed Gulls. However when we visited other parts of the site, there were some good birds for us to discover. Continue reading
May 21 2013
Birding Group Visit To Neumann’s Flash and Haydn’s Pool 21st May 2013
Birding Group Visit To Neumann’s Flash and Haydn’s Pool 21st May 2013
The birding group visit to Neumann’s Flash and environs was notable for the fact that, apart from the three of us, there were only two others, Richard and David Hulse, in attendance whichwas a shame but it was an interesting dynamic being such as small group and we could not have picked a better day for. Although the weather wasn’t brialliant, it wasn’t too cold and it was dry and their were some signs of blue in the sky. Moreover, the birds seem to have fed up of waiting for Spring and they were in full voice all together. As we took the long path to the right side of the Flash there was a constant sound of Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Chiffchaff’s singing and calling. For once it felt like it might be Spring after all. Continue reading
Apr 27 2013
Visit to RSPB Shapwick Heath 27th April 2013
Visit to RSPB Shapwick Heath 27th April 2013
Having spent a bit of time at the RSPB reserve at Ham Wall I decided to forego lunch with the friends I was with and instead to have a quick look at the adjoining Natural England reserve at Shapwick Heath. I only had time to walk down to the first set of hides, stopping off at the pools on Meare Heath. I had a look for the Pied-billed Grebe but again I was out of luck. The largest presence was a fifty strong flock of Black-tailed Godwits. There was also a fairly large number of Gadwall and a single Little Egret.
Apr 27 2013
Visit to RSPB Ham Wall 27th April 2013
Visit to RSPB Ham Wall 27th April 2013
Part of our holiday involved staying with friends in Montacute in South Somerset and, as we had been reading a lot recently about the RSPB reserve at Ham Wall and the adjoining Natural England reserve at Shapwick Heath, this seemed like an ideal opportunity to check these reserves out. As we approached the sites our friends commented that the times they had been here before it had been more or less deserted so when we arrived at the car park and it was full to overflowing we realised that something was up – that something was an ongoing “twitch” The question was what species had been spotted ? Continue reading