May 21 2016
We are due to go to Scotland at the same time as the birding group has scheduled Upper Goyt Valley so we will miss it. We decided to go there, a little earlier than usual) in the hope of seeing the usual species we like to think we will see there; Spotted and Pied Flycatcher and Redstart and Tree Pipit. We were partly succesful but also had an added fantastic sighting that I can’t really believe I managed to make.
May 02 2016
We drove from Wicken Fen to Lakenheath Fen as part of our Peterborough to Halesworth journey. The afternoon had started to look a bit gloomy but we felt we had a fair chance of getting to the first hide and back before the rain fell. It was a bit of a rushed walk out there but we did manage to get Whitethroat and Dunnock. We started to hear a Cuckoo and this was a feature of our visit to Lakenheath Fen as we continued to hear what must have been several Cuckoos.
Mar 04 2016
Kentish Plover, Salinas de Janubio, Lanzarote
Mar 01 2016
Houbara Bustard, El Jable, Lanzarote
Trumpeter Finch, Salinas de Janubio, Lanzarote
Jun 02 2014
Day 6 of our Scottish holiday was spent with the family and, apart from a visit to a formal garden where a pair of Oystercatchers had nested right in the middle of one of the ornamental sections, we did not do any real birding. We stayed the Saturday after we arrived from Newburgh and left on the Monday morning. We usually stop off somewhere on the way south when we return home in order to break up the journey and this is often Montrose Basin reserve. This time, though, we had picked up a leaflet and this mentioned RSPB Fowlsheugh. We had never heard of this place but it sounded very promising at this time of year so we stopped off and checked it out. To say that I was surprised was a bit of an understatement.
Apr 27 2014
Another unpromising day weather-wise but we did not let this put us off. We decided to go back to RSPB Ham Wall and NE Shapwick Heath but this time we started at the far end of the Shapwick Heath reserve, first dropping into the Avalon Marshes visitor centre first for a cup of tea (horrible) and a loo stop (necessary). We then walked down the main road to the entrance at the opposite side of the reserve from our usual starting point. We walked down the ride of the river before taking the path into the woods that has a large reed bed on one side and a woodland on the other. As it was rather dull there wasn’t as much bird song as we expected but there was constant Reed Warbler song and as we walked down the path a black crow rose up from the reeds and started bothering a Marsh Harrier. The whole thing was very close but brief. About a kilometre down this path we came to the Covert Hide from which we could hear Cetti’s Warblers calling and a faint Cuckoo call and a booming Bittern could also be heard. A Great White Egret flew over and disappeared down the marsh.
Sep 01 2013
24 Sep Pennington Flash
1 Oct Moore Nature Reserve
8 Oct Brockholes
15 Oct Neumann’s & Haydn’s Flashes
22 Oct Leighton Moss : Day trip
29 Oct Wigan Flashes (visit far side of canal ?)
5 Nov Burton Mere Wetlands (high tide approx 11.45am)
12 Nov Sandbach Flashes
19 Nov Martin Mere : Day trip
26 Nov Frodsham Marsh & Weaver Bend ( low tide approx 10.30am)
3/4 Dec Inner Marsh Farm or Hoylake/West Kirby. (high tide approx 10.45am)
10 Dec Dunham (plus lunch & programme planning for 2014)
Apr 26 2013
Our three-day stay in Poole had come to an end and it was time for us to move on to Somerset where we were to stay with friends. However we had another chance to drop in on RSPB Arne which was more or less on our way anyway. We hoped that going on our own rather than being in a group would enable us to see more birds. We took the Coombe Heath path again hoping to have a second go at finding a Dartford Warbler and we were only minutes away from doing so as we discovered when we entered one of the hides and a couple said that they had just seen one on a bush right outside the hide! I would have felt worse but we have done the same to others ourselves and there is always an element of luck in birding. Perhaps it will be our turn to get lucky next time. Continue reading
Mar 14 2013
On 14th March we paid a visit to WWT Martin Mere, principally to pick up my new Swarovski ATX scope and APO adapter for my Nikon D300 that I had ordered two months ago ! We gave the scope a test run on a fairly quick walk around the hides. As we walked down the avenue to the Ron Barker hide we saw a single Redwing looking exceptionally attractive in the sunlight. At the hide the presence of about a dozen Avocets was the highlight. Continue reading