RSPB Marshside

Recently we went up to Cheshire and then on to RSPB Marshside for the afternoon. We were at my sister in laws house by the River Weaver and before heading off to Marshside this lovely Grey Wagtail presented itself:

So off to Marshide, just over an hour away, but on the way we drove past the entrance to Marsh Mere Wood NR of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, so we decided it would be rude not to drop in and see what was there. We didn't have long so we used the facilities and just went to the two hides nearest the car park. The first hide gave us plenty of Teal, Wigeon, Black-headed Gulls, a single Cormorant, some Canada Geese, a Little Grebe and a Grey Heron:

A couple of Buzzards flew over just before leaving the hide which was nice, also a Kingfisher made an appearance but Tina and myself missed it, but both Jo & Jimmy saw it.... so they tell us! At the next hide it wes very quiet until a flock of Canadas turned up......

So on to Marshside, we began our visit at the visitor centre (where coffee was had!) followed by a circuit of the reserve. So I'll start with some pics from the visitor centre:
Teal:

This Kestrel gave us a good show, pouncing and hovering:

A good number of Black-tailed Godwit were to the right of the hide:

along with plenty of Wigeon

After spending some time at the centre, we set out for as walk around the reserve, finding some Curlew in the scrub.

By late afternoon there were plenty of Pink-footed Geese flying in:

 the numbers whilst not of Norfolk standards were in the hundreds. So with some Sparrows, Coot, Moorhen, Gulls, Jackdaw, Crows,a Mute Swan, two Sparrowhawks and a Wigeon flying past

adding to the tally we finally arrived at the next hide for Tea!
From here there were good views of Lapwing,

more Teal, Wigeon and Godwit:

and a Little Egret on the prowl:

A nice find were two Ruff among the other waders:

Finally a Greylag turned up and wandered through the pools:

On the way back down to Winsford we decided to stop by Martin Mere arriving for the incoming Pink Foots, the reserve was already closed bu good views were had from the Car Park and neighbouring countryside when the staff threw us out of the Car Park!

So a lovely day out yet again!

A Sunny Afternoon at Sandwell Valley

Sticking to the them of not wanting to go far at the moment we decided to take the short but sometimes tortuous drive to Sandwell Valley and have a look at the new RSPB Visitor Centre.

We parked near the farm and went anti-clockwise around Forge Mill Lake. Stopping at the first bench, directly opposite the hide, as usual for coffee and to see what was about. First impression was surprise at the number of Cormorants, usually we see half a dozen, but counted 25. On bird forums this seems to have been as high as 35 at some point in the day.

From there we also spotted 4 or 5 Snipe, one of our favourite birds. I decided not to take photos at this point as they were fairly distant. After coffee we carried around the lake towards the Visitor Centre finding, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Teal, 50 or so Lapwing, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe and a fair number of Starlings.

We popped to the screens before climbing up to the Centre and was surprised that the pool here was dried up, this is usually a good spot for Shoveler but not today. So we carried on the Centre and very nice it is too, a good job, well done RSPB.

The feeders were back in their original place to the right of the Centre, we stayed a while looking for Bullfinch and possibly Willow Tit, but the only takers while we were there were Blue and Great Tit and Chaffinch. So off down to the next screen for more light refreshment, but nothing to report.

We were surprised as we carried on that the hide was still open at 3.30 so we popped in and sat a while without adding anything new. The volunteers then shut op shop at about 4pm so we carried on, finding what looked like a young Willow Warbler in the trees.

As we joined up with thee main path along the river Tame we found the Shovelers, so that was nice to add to our sightings. Then a bit further on I decided to actually take a photo! A Teal was showing nicely in the sun, so it had to be done:

We then spotted a Little Grebe who decided to make a sharp exit left.....

We returned to the car and then popped over to Swan Pool, found a bench for more light refreshment (Tea this time!) We didn't add anything new, but the Tufted Duck deserved a photo:

So another nice stroll in the sun.

The following day still being nice we spent some time in the Garden, doing some trip planning and enjoying this Sunny spell, so I took a few snaps as well:

Warrens Hall NR & The Canal

Business as usual resumed!  We didn't feel like getting in the car and going anywhere so we left the house and walked the couple of miles along the canal to Warrens Hall NR & Bumble Hole.

The weather was great although on the way we didn't see much, just what you would expect, Coot, Moorhen and Mallard, with the odd Black-headed Gull swooping by. Once we arrived at Warrens Hall we sat on 'our' bench and had a coffee, looking for what was about, not much as it happens but these usual suspects looked good in the sunshine:

We walked on over the canal to Bumble Hole, it was quite busy with a small flotilla of Tufted Duck:

There were also a few Little Grebe about:

A Grey Heron put in a brief visit but quickly disappeared.

We continued our walk but birds were in short supply! We did come across some Coal Tit, but apart from them it was mostly Pigeon and Magpie, with the odd Crow thrown in. We started heading back and stopped for a final coffee by the fishing lake, just to enjoy the sunshine and watch the Moorhens and Coots going about their business.

At this point a Buzzard turned up always a welcome sight:

He lingered for a while circling as they do before heading off over the trees behind us. So we walked back along the canal heading home, with only a Robin and House Sparrows bothering the scoreboard.

That is until we were only a 100 yards from home when this chap came out of nowhere and flew off just as quickly, I did manage to point the camera in the air and bang off a couple of shots as it flew through, oh forgot to say it's a Sparrowhawk:

So a nice couple of hour spent strolling in the early Autumn sunshine, just think we could have been it at work!

Where are the birds in the Baltics!

It's been a while since posting anything, as we have been away on a whirlwind 10 day non-birding trip starting in Stockholm, then on to Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn and Helsinki, so 5 countries and capitals with 2 nights in each.

We didn't take our bins on this trip as we would mostly be in towns and didn't want the additional weight, but my 500mm lens for the camera came just in case!

However it wasn't really needed for birds as they were few and far between, as per David Lindo we were always looking up just in case, but apart from clouds and buildings there was nothing, with exception of Feral Pigeons and Hooded Crows. We did get one first in Stockholm although it was a sub-species and that was Baltic Gull, really a Lesser Black-backed Gull in my eyes:

Another abundant species in most places, although I didn't get a photo, never changed the lens in time were White Wagtail, so another sub-species.  Around the harbours of Stockholm, Tallinn and Helsinki there were plenty of Cormorant about. Also a boat trip around the islands of Helsinki did show up Red-breasted Merganser, some Wigeon and Mute Swan.

One highlight was a large flock of Barnacle Geese that we came across when visiting the Drottningholm Palace just outside Stockholm:

The only other common bird in the Stockholm and Helsinki Archipelagos were Great Crested Grebe, there were tons about, especially juveniles.

So from a birding point of view very disappointing, but from every other point of view; History, Culture and most importantly Beer and Food it was a great trip! We learnt so much about what the Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians have had to put up with over the last hundred years at the hands of  firstly Tsarist Russia, then the Germans and finally the Soviets, you have to admire their spirit and courage.

Here are a few other snaps from the trip, birds only, nothing exciting!

Ayr Airshow

Another chance was taken to see the Vulcan before she retires. As we were in Scotland anyway even though we were on the east coast, we hauled ourselves over to the west coast on Saturday morning and plonked ourselves down on the beach for the Scottish Airshow at Ayr. We sat down just in time for the RAF Typhoon to start its display. Sadly I was eating a bacon sandwich, well not sad at all really as I was starving and the bacon sandwich was delicious! What I mean is with my hands full of sandwich I was in no position to take photos. So in this case the priority was food!

So here are some photos that I did take:

For the rest go to:
All the pics!

We did see some birds as well, of course plenty of Gulls about (Herring, Lesser Black Backed, Black Headed, some Oystercatcher on the distant shoreline, a flock of Brent Geese passed through and a flight of Eider which surprised me. There were some small waders about but at the time to distant to identify.

Water of Leith again!

We were up in Edinburgh last week for our fantastic daughter's birthday and took the opportunity for a walk along the Water of Leith again, we went to the stretch where we have seen Dippers in the past, but they weren't showing this time, we did get this Heron:

and at least 4 Grey Wagtails:

We explored a part of the river that we hadn't been to before, you wouldn't believe that you are in the middle of Edinburgh:

A great walk, with still more to explore on our next visit.