Had a superb day there! Wasn't sure if we would make it as we woke to an inch of snow which got deeper the further north up the M6 we went! The exit slip was treacherous but as we came down the hill towards Burscough it became thinner again!
Saw lots of birds of course: whooper swans, greylags, pink feet and barnacle geese, shelduck, wigeon, teal, pochard, pintail, mallard, moorhen and coots, fieldfare, blackbird, song thrush, mistle thrush, wren, dunnock, chaffinch, reed bunting, robin, blue tit, great tit, long tailed tit, wood pigeon, collared dove, rock/feral pigeon, house sparrow and tree sparrow, snipe, heron and my first ever ruff! We visited 4 of the 5 hides as we ran out of time before making it to the last one! I took 1007 photos..... and of those, I've deleted over 200 blurred / near misses! Here is a (very small) selection:
Pinkfeet and a handfull of barnacle geese
Juvenile whooper swan
Displaying whoopers - they don't half make a noise!!
male and female pintail
Tree sparrow
Spring song from a blue tit
A plum pudding blackbird!
Dunnock
Foraging wren
A cormorant fly-by spooked the wigeon
Gathering nesting material or foraging for grubs?
A ruff (there were about 12 of them - all different with different coloured legs!!)
Redshank
Some greylags
A grey heron made the most of a bird which had succumbed to the cold....
and we had a nice bit of colour in the sky to finish the day off!
All in all a very enjoyable day! Shall definitely be returning one day! :-)
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr
MarJus, what absolutely brilliant photgraphs! They are fantastic and I have too many favourites to pick any single one out. WOW!!!
It sounds like you had a super day out, lucky you. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.
Best wishes,
SB
There is something new to learn everyday...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/skylark58/
Fabulous photos MarJus and it sounds a great day out. I hope that "plum pudding" blackbird was okay in the end as my resident (here nearly all day nearly every day for over a year and a half) Mrs Chaffinch was ballooned up like that on 9th January and I haven't seen her since.........
The necessity of bird-watching is a really good reason for avoiding all forms of housework.
The dust will still be there tomorrow - the birds may not be!
Hi MarJus, brilliant photgraphs! sounds like you had a great day out.
Thanks for sharing them with us.
Regards Buzzard
Nature Is Amazing - Let Us Keep It That Way
Cracking day and set MarJus, esp like the swans in flight, and the Redshank!
Well done:)
Jimbob
Hi MarJus, Quality stuff! It looks like a great day, once you get past the snow! :-) The Pintail, the bottom Ruff and that silhouette at the very end deserve a special word....er.....yes!.. STONKING. I need to find an excuse to go and see family down in the north west so I can call in. Thanks for sharing, nice one.
For viewing or photography right place right time is everything. I'd rather be in the right place with poor kit than have the best kit and be in the wrong place.
Thank you all for your comments! I forgot to write redshank so now done! Also forgot to add a pic of a leucistic ruff that was there:
Unknown said: Hi MarJus, Quality stuff! It looks like a great day, once you get past the snow! :-) The Pintail, the bottom Ruff and that silhouette at the very end deserve a special word....er.....yes!.. STONKING. I need to find an excuse to go and see family down in the north west so I can call in. Thanks for sharing, nice one.
Thank you very much John! :-) Isn't there a birthday/wedding/christening coming up with the family there?
Rockwolf said:Thank you very much John! :-) Isn't there a birthday/wedding/christening coming up with the family there?
Mmm.. They all seem to be in the summer, June mostly. I want to see that Marton Mere at the same time. I will mull it over. thanks again.
Marjus, I am stunned into silence. Your photos are fantastic. Thank you for posting them. I can't pick a favourite, they are all so good.
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
MarJus, absolutely fantastic photographs. I remember telling you that it is a brilliant place and that you would really enjoy it, but then worrying afterwards, in case you didn't agree. I will not be going untill end of March this time (visit family) so not too sure what we will see then.