Out and About

Managed to get out and about one afternoon this week.I visited a couple of local nature reserves.My first port of call was to Longton Brickcroft where I was hoping to see the great crested grebes displaying.The pair of grebes on the main lake were sleeping and did not appear to have started nest building.On the smaller lake there was a lonesome grebe calling for a mate but no other grebes were in sight.What was nice to see were two pairs of goldeneye but I think they are just passing through.

Later I visited Mere Sands nature reserve at Rufford.Again there was no sign of displaying grebes so maybe I am too early at these two locations.Again a nice surprise was a group of little egrets,not a common sight at Mere Sands.They were preening and enjoying the afternoon sun.There is still a lot of disturbance at Mere Sands with workmen cutting down and burning big swathes of woodland.No sign of the kingfishers but a couple of herons and the egrets gave me some opportunities for the camera.I hope for more action in the coming weeks as temperatures rise and nature responds.Thanks for looking in and hope you enjoy this week's images.

An Excellent Week

I managed three trips out last week and am posting above a few images from the week.The highlight was the appearance of a red throated diver on the lake at Fairhaven.This lovely bird was in immaculate winter plumage and it swam and dived very close to the many photographers and observers present at the lakeside.Two of the many images I took of this super bird head this post.

Another highlight from last week were some very high tides over ten metres.I visited one of my favourite locations near to Southport with Mike. We enjoyed wonderful views of thousands of birds which had been dispersed from the feeding grounds by the very high tides.I was kept very busy with the camera trying to capture the magic that is one of these spectacular wader roosts.

Earlier in the week I visited a well known feeding station close to the River Brock at Brock Bottoms picnic site.This is very handy as you can sit comfortably in your car and photograph the birds which come readily to seed and nuts. It is a particularly good spot to photograph nuthatches and many other common birds.I have shown above a couple of the nuthatch and a hard to resist robin.

Hope you enjoy some of the images above from a busy week with the camera.I will post more from the wader roost in due course.Thanks for looking in and stay tuned for more when the currently very stormy weather settles down again.

Wader Roost

A couple of weeks ago there was a ten metre tide.The big tides are always good for watching wader roosts as the birds are pushed up the beach within range of the big lens.I went to the Southport area to one of my favourite wader watching spots.Mike accompanied me on this occasion and we were to enjoy a fabulous spectacle as the thousands of birds came into the roost.A bonus was the fact that there was very little disturbance from people or dogs and the flocks of birds performed well for the camera.

The usual knots and dunlin were well represented as were many oystercatchers.What was good was the numbers of bar tailed godwits and grey plover present, I was very pleased with the godwit flock shots.I have shown above action shots from the day, which was bright and sunny, giving ideal conditions for flight photography. I hope to return to the same area in a couple of weeks when ten metre high tides again should provide more opportunities for the camera.Thanks for looking in and keep tuned for more accounts of Lancashire's wildlife.

A Golden Week

This last week has been very wintry with snow showers and very strong north westerly winds.The coastal parts of Lancashire escaped the worst of the weather. East Lancashire bore the brunt with many schools closed and disruption to traffic.I spent time in the Glasson Dock,Pilling and Cockerham areas and did all my photography from the comfort of the car.

The highlight of the week for me was the presence of over fifty goldeneye duck on Glasson Dock basin.This is the most goldeneye I have seen together.I took advantage of the opportunity to take many images of the birds as they fed along the sides of the canal basin.The wind was very strong and frequent wintry showers peppered the birds as they battled the waves.This made for some interesting action shots from these handsome birds.I have shown above a few images of the goldeneye but will probably post more at a later date.

Another golden bird delighted me as I discovered good numbers feeding alongside a busy road between Cockerham and Pilling.I was able to pull in at the side of the road and grab some images as lovely golden plovers fed alongside lapwings,curlews and redshanks.The roadside fields held hundreds of waders and I will post more images of these waders in due course.I hope you enjoy the above images of the goldeneye and golden plovers and thanks for looking in.

Nice and Icy

This last week or so has seen a spell of cold wintry weather throughout the country.There has been snowfall in some parts but Lancashire has escaped the worst of the weather.I have managed a couple of trips out with the camera.The first one was on a nice sunny crisp afternoon when I toured the lanes and backroads around Cockerham and Pilling photographing the scenery and wildlife from the comfort of the car.The following day I visited Leighton Moss hoping for a sighting of the otters on the ice.

The drive around the lanes was fruitful with nice views of brown hare, kestrel,lapwing and late on my first sighting for a while of a barn owl.The barn owl was returning to it's barn with a vole and I managed a few images as the light was fading.There were good numbers of fieldfare and redwing in the fields but they were very skittish and I couldn't get near enough for a decent shot.

The trip to Leighton Moss was less fruitful but still enjoyable.The otters had been seen early on but didn't show themselves whilst I was there.There was hardly any open water and consequently few birds on show.I amused myself with the birds visiting the feeders by the main buildings.On the way to and from the Public Hide there were a few very friendly robins which would come readily onto your hand for seed.On the ice at the Public Hide a waterhen looking for some open water slithered and slipped across the ice providing nice opportunities for the camera.All in all a good week with crisp and bright weather and good to get out and about again.

Shown above the robin and waterhen from a frozen Leighton Moss and kestrel,lapwing,brown hare and barn owl from the Pilling area.The image heading the blog is a shot across the estuary of the River Lune to Sunderland Point with the snow covered mountains of the Lake District in the background.Thanks for looking in and more hopefully to come soon from my travels through Lancashire.