Wednesday 12 October 2016

Booted and Suited

Lesley and me don't really do twitching the early morning starts and long drives do not fit in with having a five year old daughter and it all seems like a lot of stress, although it also does look fun at the same time.
But we do try and at least see a few new species of birds each year and with a Booted Warbler turning up on the Great Orme which is not too far to travel and means we could take Gem to Conwy after we gave it a go.

We soon located the area mainly due to the group of birds staring at a patch of Gorse giving the game away, and so we joined the group and almost straight away the bird appeared and then commenced to perform circuits around the patches of Gorse putting on a great show for everyone present.



Thursday 6 October 2016

Hoylake

Back in mid September on the 17th we headed off to the Wirral coast to watch the tide come in and enjoy the wader spectacle that often unfolds before at this time of year.
Heading for the Lifeboat station at Hoylake we took up position before the tide was due in giving Gem plenty of time to collect shells and basically enjoy playing in the sand, and to be honest so did Lesley and me.

Even early on we had plenty of waders to watch through the bins and scope Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Knot, Grey Plover were all fairly close in.

Eventually the tide came in and so did the birds bring with it a couple of additions to our wader list Oystercatcher, Black Tailed Godwit, Curlew and Sanderling.

It was fantastic watching the waders dashing around ahead of the tide and finally taking to the air in large masses.

Around the Lifeboat station itself was a single Wheatear.

We ended the day at Burton Mere Wetlands seeing the long staying Cattle Egret and a few basking lizards.