BIRDING WITH YOUR GROUP LEADER 

 Hello everyone,

                        The Norfolk weekend is fully booked and I hope to have a story for it in the next newsletter.  We would like to expand the weekends away to foreign sites as well as the UK . However, all these events take time, thought and planning. So,  If you think you can help with some of this please let me know?  It would mean that the world could be our oyster, so could many wonderful birds, and wonderful habitats that we can only dream about.

I have to say that it was really good to do the Big Garden Birdwatch in the Palm House in   Sefton  Park  in January.  To see so many of you come along and enjoy it, and offer your help and support to the volunteers who had given up their weekend, was very welcome.  Lots of the public got fabulous views of Nuthatches, various members of the tit family and grey squirrels.  I was slightly disappointed by the warm winter not drawing in more species but the project worked really well and I'm looking forward to you supporting it next year.

                                                                                                                                    Enjoy your birding.

Highlights of Field Trips September to December 2006

Peter and Brenda Beech led a very enjoyable day in September to Hilbre Island .  Unfortunately they saw few passing migrants over the island, but they where invited into the Bird Observatory.  The members gave us an excellent account of their work, stated that very little on the migrant front had been seen during the week.  What had been seen on Saturday had gone through very early....we were on Hilbre before 10am . The large numbers of Turnstone on island made the day.

Four people not from our trip stayed on Middle Eye.  This made observation of the High Tide Roost on this island as distant series of silhouettes without legs!    

I was leading the walk around the Hale duck decoy with the help of Rob the Ranger. We started at Pickerings Pasture and followed the Mersey to the Hale duck decoy checking out the hide.  Built in the 17th Century on the Hale Estate, the Decoy was built as a way of attracting and catching Ducks.  The Salt Marsh surrounding the Decoy and the estuary at low tide gave us good views of large flocks of waders, gulls, ducks and geese on this excellent feeding and roosting site.  On the Decoy itself, the ducks had abandoned the inner pool for the estuary, and all was quiet for a lone moorhen.  In the woodland on the Decoy, our group had good views of gt spotted woodpecker that had nested in the dead trees on site.  Greenfinches and chaffinches flitted through the shrubbery.  The group would like to thank Rob for his enthusiastic and informative talk on the history of the Decoy, it's wildlife, and it's recent restoration and are all sure we'll visit again.

November took the group to the RSPB flagship reserve in the NW.  The largest remaining reedbed in north-west England, famous for bitterns and bearded tits, alas these two eluded us, especially galling when news reaches us of an albino bearded tit in the reeds!!  How elusive can that be?  However we had some good highlights, such as seeing a kingfisher darting past Lilian's hide.  Good views of a dark coloured Pheasant (melanistic escapee) and red breasted merganser.  And let's here it for the mammals a wonderful majestic Stag feeding in the reeds, bathed in the autumn glow...ah.. 

Stormy weather in December meant staying under the covers at home was a cosy option.  The mad ones, four in total went on the trip to Inner Marsh Farm.  We had an over wintering curlew sandpiper which spent sometime next to a dunlin allowing us to appreciate size and shape.  Other waders for company included redshanks, black tailed godwits and lapwings.  Needless to say we didn't hang around to see the little egrets coming into roost.

Sometimes all the planning that goes into a walk can be stopped by the stupidest of things.  Take John Cleggs walk around Dibbinsdale on the Wirral.  Close to the train station, how about we catch the train instead of driving.  I will leave John to explain.  ‘The outing started off with the train running 20 minutes late and then stopping in the tunnel between James Street and Hamilton Square stations for a further 5 minutes with no lights, when the group did arrive at Dibbinsdale a total of 30 minutes late the weather was dull and drizzling’.  Walking around the park wildlife was on the quiet side but a good number of fungi were seen.  Not a fitting way to end a year of wildlife watching!!

TOTAL NUMBER OF SPECIES SEEN BY END OF 2006.                 130

Thanks to  all the field trip leaders for their time and energy in finding new sites and searching for good birds.

A CUMBRIAN SNIPPET

Cumbria was recently voted the best place to live for observing wildlife in the U.K. Also after a recent intensive survey by members of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust, they recorded no fewer than 536 species of wildflowers along 250 miles of the county's roadside verges. This was 100 more than in the last survey carried out in 1994, and follows improved cutting schedules by the county council after discussions with the trust. 

POLECATS

After an absence of almost 100years, Polecats have returned to Sussex. A recent confirmed sighting (the 4th) by the Sussex Wildlife Trust, clearly shows that they are extending their range once again across Central and Southern England, after countless years of persecution. 

The Cheshire Wildlife Trust has been monitoring sighting of both the pure species and of the feral hybrid in Cheshire for some years. To aid our own local survey we are very keen to receive sighting details from anyone who thinks they may have seen either a pure polecat or a hybrid polecat.

 http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cheshire/proj_polecat.htm

Regd charity no 207076