I went on holiday to the Island of Djerba, Tunisia last September 15th to 28th. I thought it worth sharing the birds seen as it was quite productive. All the main hotels are along a strip of the North East coast and are conveniently situated between two rather good coastal salt-flats, one of which remai...
We have 5 pairs of Kestrels breeding this year fledging 21 young. Details below - Site A - 5 young this year. Total young from this site since 2003 - 54. Site B - 5 young this year. Total young from this site since 2009 - 24. Site C - 6 young this year. Total young from this site since 2006 - 46. Site D - 5 young thi...
Hi folks, I'm the Chat Moss Project officer for the Wildlife Trust, working on the 3 Trust reserves of Astley Moss, Cadishead Moss and Little Woolden Moss. As most of you will be aware, there is fantastic birding in the Chat Moss area, and we are working to develop and enhance the exciting and diverse ha...
Recent non-birding holiday in Annecy, on the edge of the French Alps. Black Redstarts Serin 1 singing in hotel grounds. Black Kite 5+ seen on a couple of boat trips. Tufted Duck 1m Yellow-legged Gulls Black-headed Gulls Mute Swans Coots Mallards Goosander 4 f/imms. White Wagtails Day trip to Chamon...
Day trip to Geneva from our holiday base in Annecy, France. 3/7/14. All seen from a bridge crossing the Rhone as it leaves Lake Geneva. Black Kite 5+ Yellow-legged Gulls Black-headed Gulls Tufted Duck 1f Pochard 1m Coots Mute Swans Mallards Great-crested Grebe 1 Red-crested Pochard 1f 1m Goosander...
EVENT DETAILS: POMONA URBAN SAFARI Sunday 6th July 2014 @ 10:30am-3:30pm The Manchester Ship Canal World Heritage Group & Clean Up Salford are inviting friends and families to come to Pomona Island on Sunday 6 July, to embark on the Pomona Island Urban Safari The often forgotten island - somewh...
The Wonder of Birds: Nature, Art, Culture. Came across a review by Derwent May of this exhibition tucked away at the back of Saturdays Times newspaper, it had a positive review so thought it might be of interest to anybody with some spare time visiting Norfolk in the next few months, (a birder, visitin...
The BTO Garden BirdWatch project is launching a Garden Rook Survey today. This will be open to anyone, not just Garden BirdWatcher members, and will run from July to December. The survey will collect records of Rook behaviour in gardens (Feeding, Caching, Tolerance, Object Play, Social and Vocali...
Help needed Since we had all the work done on No.3 bed, our problem with Himalayan Balsam, an invasive"alien" plant has increased dramatically (due to the seed stocks uncovered by the contractors). Every Thursday between now and the end of July we'll be holding working parties to hand-p...
This Wednesday night at 8pm at The United Reform Church in Marple i am giving an Illustrated talk from my many adventures in Africa, The Gambia, the address is Hibbert lane Marple SK67NN, proceeds going towards Marple Naturalists Society, everyone is welcome, loads of my Photography work that you h...
Clifton Country Park has a old Arboretum attached to the old house. In part overgrown and fresh planting continues. Some really good trees are hidden in here including huge English Yews, Irish Yew, Cut Leaved Beech, Katsura Tree, another Dawn Redwood, Italian Popular, Norway Maple, Meddler, Sawa...
I am selling my trusty Canon 40D as I now have upgaded to a 60D so this body will now be spare to my needs and its shame for it sit around unused. It is BODY ONLY and is in original box with all the extras. There is a spare battery and I will also inckude a Hahnel battery grip. The camera is in VERY good condition a...
A family holiday spent at the Sahara Beach Hotel in Skanes, Monastir, Tunisia. It was our fifth visit to the area so I already knew where to go birding. Managed to do some birding every day, but mainly in the morning, usually around 6-15am as it became very warm around 9-30am. The area around this hotel i...
The Mosses Summer Of Love This summer, discover & explore the Mosses with the Lancashire Wildlife Trust & the Manchester Ship Canal World Heritage Group You are invited to Love YOUR Moss with a series of events walks, workshops, green safaris, volunteering events & surveys throughou...
RSPB are reporting that the first Black Winged Stilts have hatched in the UK for the first time in nearly 30 years. Presumably they've forgot about the two at Neumann's flash back in 2009?
Just a quickie to say that at the moment we have had a few sightings worth noting from the Shop window whilst showing Scopes & Bins to customers. Today I have been watching a Spotted Flycatcher (or perhaps a pair) collecting food and taking it back to a nest Always a brilliant species to see and to hav...
Day trip for Bolton RSPB Local Group on 10 May '09 Gilfach WTNR (3 miles north of Rhayader on A470) Cracking site in a superb location. Really well managed with a great visitor centre and the friendliest and most helpful warden we have ever met. Hen Harrier(1 male), Wood Warbler(1), Pied Flycatcher(a...
Hi all - massive long shot but does anyone have a scope they might be interested in selling? I have a £30 Lidl special offer that isn't bad at 20x but is pretty hopeless beyond that.... am looking to spend around £200 if I can, though can up that a bit.... Mike S
This is a good condition lens, it is the Sigma APO DG 70-300mm. It has not dust or marks on the optics, I have just upgraded to a nikon lens and also the sigma 500mm. £60.00 In box or reply with any questions Thank Kev
The classic field guide for this region covering no less than 950 species. This is the complete field guide to all the birds recorded from the Antarctic to the Zambezi, incorporating even the rarest vagrants to the region. With well over 200 colour plates by the reknown Kenneth Newman this is in lovel...
This came originally as an email from Dr. Mark Avery and was kindly passed to me by Ken Haydock: Thank you for expressing an interest in Hen Harrier Day - 10 August 2014. This email is about Hen Harrier Day events in the Peak District (Derbyshire). If you wish to attend a Hen Harrier Day event in Northumbe...
Sunday 8th June Was on a Bird of Prey photography course but got 30 mins before and 30 mins at lunch for a mooch. 3 grey wagtails on river, 1 pair and a single bird. Mallard (m&f) with 4 young Spooked a grey squirrel up a tree only for it to be physically attacked by 2 spotted flycatchers (which I managed...
I had the privilege of being a member of a successful landing trip from the North Berwick Seabird Centre on Monday June 2nd. Only about 50% of the trips succeed in landing, because there is no harbour, and the boat somply pulls alongside a steep, slippery set of steps! An awesome experience to visit the...
A local cat has taken to hiding at the bottom of a neighbours fence. It waits for birds to land on our fence then pounces. Its had quite a lot of success recently with all the young inexperienced birds about. After watching the distressing sight of it killing a Great Tit. I went round to the owners house to...
I can't find a comprehensive map online of where the border actually lies for GM. I am working in Handforth at the moment and I'm trying to work out if I'm in GM or Cheshire???
Thursday 22nd May saw me manning a polling station. In quieter moments during the fifteen hours I read through quite a lot of the systematic list on the website - a fascinating part of the site to dip in to for anybody who's not looked at it, plus a great guide to what records to submit. I read Ian's comment...
