RSPB Leighton Moss : 27th March 2015 After we left Sizergh we drove down to Leighton Moss RSPB reserve again, this time parking at the top of the causeway first and walking down to the public hide. The star attractions here were at least three Marsh Harriers and possibly more and a pair of Otters.
Hawfinch Watch at Sizergh Castle : 27th March 2015 We had last gone to Sizergh Castle for the Hawfinch Watch in early March 2012 and that had been very successful. There had been several cold winters, however, and the numbers of native birds had been boosted by foreign birds escaping the colder parts of Europe….
RSPB Leighton Moss : 26th March 2015 We decided to take a trip up to Sizergh Castle for a Hawfinch spotting morning and decided to throw in a couple of visits to Leighton Moss RSPB reserve. The last time we visited here in similar circumstances we had had three fantastic “life ticks” – a “redhead”…
Birding Group Visit to Frodsham Marsh : 24th March 2015 A fairly quiet day on the marshes. We started off at the usual path leading to the Weaver Bend. A fair number of species but numerically modest. A few Goldeneye could be found with a bit of effort and a small group including Gadwall, Teal…
High Tide at Parkgate : 23rd March 2015 Another chance for a high tide at Parkgate wasn’t to be missed and at 10.2 at 12.20pm the height and timing could not have been better. The problem was that it was a beautiful windless and very sunny day – not always what you want at Parkgate…
Birding Group Visit to Burton Mere Wetlands : 17th March 2015 In a change of schedule we swopped our planned venue for Burton Mere Wetlands. This gave those members of the group that had not already seen the Long-eared Owl to try for it. Although the bird had moved from its previous location we eventually…
Birding Group Visit to Sandbach Flashes : 3rd March 2014 A brisk morning at Sandbach Flashes saw a rather small birding group party – just six people including us three ! As usual, though, you can expect a nice range of birds. We didn’t do too well on waders but there was an attractive mixed…
Birding Group Visit to Moore Nature Reserve : 24th February 2015 A fairly uneventful morning of birding at Moore. We looked, unsuccessfully, for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Tawny Owl but at least the rain held off and, although it was a bit windy, we did get a reasonable variety of birds. Our count for the…
Laughing Gull at New Brighton : 22nd February 2015 After getting lucky with the Long-eared Owl at Burton Mere Wetlands, we decided to head off to New Brighton for the last high tide day of February (10.1 metres at 1.27pm). We got there around 1pm so we had half an hour before high tide. As…
Long-eared Owl at Burton Mere Wetlands : 22nd February 2014 While we were on holiday in Lanzarote I had been monitoring some of the sightings in and around Manchester and two in particular jumped out at me. The first was a roosting Long-eared Owl that had been at Burton Mere Wetlands and the second was…
