Southport again

This time, my main aim was to get some pictures of a bird i have not seen before, Cattle Egrets, so with map, bins, scope, camerabag and backpack in hand and bike elsewhere, i boarded the Southport bound train and then the connection to Ainsdale, so far so good, my map reading skills didn't let me down and as i crested the hill on plex moss lane i spotted a couple of birders in a lay bye and i knew i was in the right place.

As i placed my bike on the ground, i saw two white birds flying off towards the farm and disappear behind a water trough, out of sight, typical, but ten minutes later they were back in view and eventually in range for a half decent digiscoped shot







Another first arrived minutes later with views of three whimbrel, i won't bore you with the terrible pictures of that one.
After lunch in town, i headed to Marshside, in nels hide i quickly found the Curlew Sandpiper








and then another first for me, my third of the day with this Little Stint








and finally, even though i missed out on the Garganey, Spotted Redshank, and the Whinchat, i think three new birds in one day is pretty good, and this morning i saw my first Whitethroat of the year, so now i am looking forward to next weeks trip to scotland and i hope for a trip half as good as that, one last pic of avery interesting Redshank confrontation

Yarrow Valley Country Park

My third visit in just over a week, this beautiful place is becoming a firm favourite with me. My main aim was to improve on my pictures of the resident Dipper and anything else would be a bonus, the park itself consists of bodies of water called Lodges and has the River Yarrow running through the heart of it. But my day started with an hour on two trains and a short 10 minutes cycle from the railway station at chorley, the park itself, has a visitors centre and can be very busy on weekends, with dog walkers, and families, but you can always find a quiet spot as it covers a large area.
I walked to the weir and fish pass, taking in the views and stopping now and then to watch any birds for opportunities to photograph, plenty of the garden variety and quite a few warblers around, my first pics were of the dipper investigating a pipe in the weir but they were too far away, but i managed to find an Orange tipped white butterfly.I was also lucky enough to find a pair, matingthen the Dipper turned up in a better position
Time for a change of view before lunch, so i walked up the hill in hopes, more than expectation, of a Grasshopper Warbler, no luck, but plenty of Chiffchaffs and Willow, after lunch i sat down in a quiet spot by the river for an hour or two and let the world go by.
The, a final walk back to the weir, and my best picture yet
And the Wagtails obliged too, cannot recommend this place highly enough and will be returning in the not too distant future

Frank

Sunny Southport

This being my first post, i thought i would start gently with a trip to Marshside. My intentions were to try and get some pictures of Short Eared Owls, in this endeavour, i failed miserably, still, there were some successes, Avocets a plenty, doing what Avocets do.

This was followed by a walk down to Crossens out marsh with some distant views of a male Marsh Harrier, no pics that were any good, but a nice one of a linnet along the sea wall.

The best of the Marsh Harrier shots were of interest because i managed to get three different birds into one shot
Next time, i will post some of the pics i took over the weekend