Martin Mere Whoopers

From Sunday 30th October
 We spent most of the day at Martin Mere near Ormskirk in Lancashire which is
run by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, it was a nice sunny day with the temperature
at 14°C. We saw many birds here but the stars of the reserve for us were the c500
Whooper Swans which have arrived to spend the winter here. They come in large
numbers from their breeding grounds in Russia to escape the northern Europe harsh
winters.

Whooper Swan

Martin Mere

Marshside

Sunday 30th October a.m.
 We arrived at Marshside RSPB Reserve on the West coast near Southport early this
morning, it was fine and the temperature was 10°C. There was plenty of birds to see,
these were mainly wildfowl and waders. The ducks we saw were Mallards,Pintail,Wigeon,
Teal,Shoveler and Goldeneye. The main wader we saw was the Black-tailed Godwit, c100,
I was also shown Snipe by some fellow birder who let me look through their scope,they also
showed me the Goldeneye which was some distance away. There was a flock of several
hundred Starlings which put on a show every time they took to the sky. We also saw some
Geese fly past in the distance,our best guess was Pink-footed.
 After a short stay here we moved inland to Martin Mere where we spent the rest of the day,
and as usual we took far too many pics, so that will have to wait for another day.

Teal

Shoveler

Pintail and Wigeon

Shoveler and Wigeon

Black-tailed Godwit

Geese fly over

Marshside Ducks

    

Redcar Tarn

Saturday 29th October a.m.
 A dry sunny start to the day,a little chilly with a temperature of 8°C as we arrived
at Redcar Tarn. All the usual birds here including the Goosander and Tufted Ducks,
plenty of BH Gulls and a few LBB with young birds among them.
c125 - Mallards
c125 - BH Gull
c100 - Lapwings
25 - Coot
8 - Tufted Ducks
4 - LBB Gulls
5 - Goosander
4 - Moorhen
3 - Muscovy
2 - Common Gulls
1 - Canada

Common Gull

Tufted Duck

Tufted Duck

Goosander

Bolton Abbey 3

Finally from our visit to Bolton Abbey on Monday 24th October our snaps of the
Goosanders we saw. All together we counted 11 along the River Wharfe with one
group of five together. They shared this stretch of the river with the Mandarin Ducks.

Goosander

Goosander and Mandarin Ducks

Bolton Abbey 2

From Monday 24th October p.m.
 We counted 41 Mandarin Ducks on the River Wharfe which was a much bigger number
than we expected to see,almost beating the number of Mallards.Below are some of the
snaps we took.

Mandarin Drake

Bolton Abbey 1

Monday 24th October p.m.
 Making use of half term we had a family afternoon at Bolton Abbey where they
had organised a Halloween event where we had to find clues to solve puzzles and
also count the number of Pumpkin pictures in the woods. It was a nice afternoon with
some hazy sunshine and a temperature of 13°C, we had our dog pulling us everywhere
as usual as I helped my sister spot the pumpkins and solve the clues. Being a birder now
I of course had my eyes on the River Wharfe as well spotting Mallards,Mandarin Ducks
and Goosander. I left my dad in charge of taking snaps and keeping count as I was
helping my sister and keeping hold of the dog. When we got to the Strid part of the river
I was hoping to see a Dipper,we saw one here earlier this year on our last visit, but no
luck today. We completed our puzzles and headed back down river stopping to take some
snaps on the way, when we suddenly spotted a Dipper on a rock where it stayed for a while.
Happy now we went back to the Cavendish Pavilion where we all had an ice cream and sat
looking at the river where another Dipper appeared on a rock quite close to us. So we got
some good snaps, we also saw another Dipper at the far side of the river just out of range
of my camera.Snaps below of the Dipper,other birds to follow later.
c50 - Mallards
41 - Mandarin Ducks
11 - Goosander
10 - BH Gulls
3 - Dippers

Dipper

St.Ives

Sunday 23rd October a.m.
 After our visit to Redcar Tarn we went to St. Ives near Bingley where the temperature
has dropped slightly to 12°C even though the sun was starting to break through. Here
we saw Mallards,Canadas,Coots and Moorhen all resident for most of the year. There
were BH Gulls on the water and a Grey Heron landed on top of a tree on the island. At
the hide a couple of Nuthatches were on the bird feeders regularly along with Coal Tits
and a Robin made a brief appearance.
c100 - Mallards
30 - BH Gulls
28 - Canadas
12 - Coot
10 - Moorhen
2 - Nuthatch
2 - Coal Tits
1 - Robin
1 - Grey Heron

Nuthatch 1

Nuthatch 2

Coal Tit

Grey Heron

Moorhen

Canada Goose

 

Redcar Tarn

Sunday 23rd October a.m.
A brief local walk this morning with only crows and  a couple of Blackbirds about but a
reasonable dawn sky looking towards Wilsden and Hewenden. We went back to Redcar
Tarn where it was quite windy and dull with a temperature of 12°C. We saw Mallards,Coots,
Moorhen,Gulls,Tufted Duck and Goosander on the water.The Lapwing flock was still in a
nearby field taking to the skies and changing field from time to time. The Canadas were in the
field as well.
c200 - Lapwing
c125 - BH Gulls
c100 - Mallards
25 - Canadas
22 - Coot
12 - Pied Wagtail
10 - Tufted Duck
6 - Moorhen
5 - Goosander
3 - Muscovy Ducks
2 - LBB Gull

Tufted Duck

LBB Gull

Goosander

Local sky from Cullingworth

Lapwings and Gulls over Redcar Tarn