Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve

A super early alarm set for last weekend, had me out in the car by 5am. In these times of social distancing it makes good sense to beat the dog walkers, joggers, and generally others. Not that this has ever been a problem for me in the past, as I always like to go out early when the Spring and Summer is here. I've been social distancing for many years now😄

It's a great reserve with a good mix of wetland habitat, reedbeds, scrapes and grassland. Next to the reserve there is a lot of farmland, so it attracts many different species. Plenty of waders in the form of Black-tailed Godwit, Little Ringed Plover and Ringed Plover.

There was a Corn Bunting singing from the power lines as I got out of the car. Not a bird I see very often, so this was a good start.

Corn Bunting

There were a few pairs of Avocet on the scrapes, with a couple of freshly hatched chicks being closely monitored.

Avocet

Probably one of the most numerous birds around the reserve was the Sedge Warbler. I had not seen one so far this year, so it was good to get it ticked and great to hear them singing again. Things I usually take for granted as the summer roles on, it was nice to just stand and watch these birds going for it full throttle.

Sedge Warbler

Lapwing

Little Egret

Shelduck

Shoveler

Burton Mere

A nice Spring time visit to Burton Mere is always a good trip out. The sun was shining and the birds were nice and active on the reserve just by the Dee Estuary. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary this day, but it was nice to be out with no rain, snow or wind and good light.

I managed to add a few year ticks too, in the shape of Curlew, Pintail, Marsh Harrier and Oystercatcher. The elusive Cetti's Warbler was once again added to my 'Heard Only' list for the year.

This Dunnock was in fine voice in the warm sunshine.

A Little Egret on a fly past.

A Little Grebe with a fish almost as big as itself.

Some soon to be departed Pink-footed Geese flying over the marsh.

A very good looking Shelduck.

A Teal in the fantastic light.

Autumn in the North West

A nice bright day on the north west coast always lends itself to a good opportunity to take the camera out. It was busy on the Wirral coast as the tide came in, with plenty of waders, gulls and seabirds. The weather had certainly turned more Autumn like and there was cold bite in the air. Here's what I saw.

A Curlew just above the sand at New Brighton

A lone Pink-footed Goose proving that Autumn had really arrived.

Good numbers of Shelduck were at Hoylake and Meols.

A Common Gull resting on the sand before high tide.

The very elusive Water Rail made an unexpected appearance. Never easy to sea these birds, as they usually stick to the reeds. This was a real bonus.

Coastal Wonders

I'm getting a longing for waders and sea birds. I've not been to the coast for a while, and I'm missing the birds found there. So tomorrow I am heading to the Farne Islands and the Northumberland coast for a few days. I'm hoping for lots of Puffins, Terns, Guillemots and waders. These will all be feeding young at the moment, so there should be oodles of activity.
I really can't wait. It's been a few months in the planning, and now I just want to get there. I hope to be able to share plenty of pictures with you, so fingers crossed the weather holds out.

In the meantime, here are some birds I found on the Norfolk coast a few months back.

Black-tailed Godwit.

Shelduck.

Mr and Mrs Teal

Mr Teal.

Woolston Eyes Nature Reserve

Woolston is such a large reserve that you never really know what you might see. There could be literally anything lurking anywhere. There are the site usuals that you would expect to see at certain times of the year, and then you get something quite out of this world like the White-crowned Sparrow that turned up a few weeks back.
One of the highlights of the spring and summer are the Black-necked Grebes. Very small birds, but what they lack in size they make up for in colour. They tend to stay away from the shore line and therefore the hides, but with a scope, they are great to watch.
Here are some of the regulars and the not so common Black-necked Grebes.

Shelduck in front of the Morgan hide.

Willow Warbler in song.

Black-necked Grebe in it's fine breeding plumage.

A well hidden male Blackcap.

Wirral

Birding on the Wirral is always good. Always a good variety of stuff to see. Unfortunately you cannot guarantee the weather, which seems to becoming a recurring them in my posts of late.
The rain abated, but not for long. I stopped at various locations on a whistle stop trip. Hoylake, West Kirby, New Brighton and Starbucks to keep my daughter sweet and moan free. It seemed to do the trick as we both enjoyed a mint hot chocolate to warm us up.

Knot (on the left) and two Redshank (on the right)

Knot

Oystercatcher in the gloom.

Redshank taking shelter at West Kirby.

Shelduck on the beach at Hoylake.

Shelduck

Shelducks remind me of Norfolk and Snettisham in particular. This was where I first remember seeing hundreds of them on every piece of water I looked at one winter. Great looking birds and so very colourful. These shots were taken at Martin Mere this Autumn. Look what a difference the light makes to the colour. It's been a very frustrating Autumn/Winter this year. Just not enough light at the weekends for good pictures.

Here's to a brighter year ahead, and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you to all of you who visit my blog. I'll do my best to bring you some decent bird shots in the year to come.

 

On the sea shore......

Salthouse Shingle Ridge in Norfolk was cold but bright. Shelducks were appearing quite frequently.
Very nice in flight, and here below you can see the lovely colours in all their glory.

The larger gull in the centre is a Common Gull, while the two to the left are Black headed gulls. Turnstones are foraging around beneath them.

A nice close up of a Turnstone