Weather was sunny but the odd breeze blew very cold.  Good views of Stonechat and an early Bumblebee.               

          Total  Species Seen   39  

Leader: Eddie Seal 

Weather was sunny but the odd breeze blew very cold.  The sea was calm close in to shore, but choppy further out. Red Throated & Great Northern Divers present, Divers and grebes stayed quite a distance out; but the highlight of the seawatch was the Peregrine Falcon that flew over our heads and out to sea.  Greenshank's were seen at the Spinnies reserve, this is a good site for them to over-wintering.  The sewage site at Llanfairfechan is always a good site for the odd warbler and we saw Goldcrest, Chiffchaff and a surprising Firecrest.  Conwy was good for views of Water Rail .                   

A very rewarding day despite the overcast conditions.  As usual lots of waterbirds were showing around the Flash’s but really good views of willow tit and bullfinch.               

          Total  Species Seen   40  

Overcast, cool day.  Good views of a Jay and Woodpecker, fleeting sightings of kingfisher from the Rufford hide.               

   Total  Species Seen   36  

Leader: Howard Mills         

A mixed Habitat of Woodland, River, Ponds and Open areas. A very quiet day, but nevertheless we had some good highlights, such as seeing the White Wagtail for the first time. Other notable and excellent sightings were of Nuthatch Treecreeper, Goldcrest and Bullfinch.

   Total Species Seen  26 

 Leader: Howard Mills 

A mixed Habitat of country lanes and  towpaths, open areas. A very quiet day, mainly overcast  with a cold wind. Nevertheless we had some good highlights, such as seeing good flocks of Long Tailed Tits plus enough Blackbirds to make a pie! However the main highlight was a lone cormorant which landed on the top of a electricity pylon, ands just sat there for nearly 10 minutes.

   Total Species Seen  25 

Leader: Stephen Menzie

Conwy RSPB reserve couldn’t be easier to get to.  There’s none of the usual half an hour down tight country lanes to get to this place!  The reserve was formed from waste dumped on the banks of the Conwy Estuary when then Conwy road tunnel was built and is found directly of the junction of the A55.  With a lot of careful management from the RSPB, the new environment created is beginning to establish well and is becoming a haven for wildlife and visitors alike.  The reserve is usually incorporated into a winter visit for the group so it made a nice change to visit on a sunny spring day.  The walk started in the excellently equipped visitor centre from where 4 Black-tailed Godwits were seen.  Outside from the boardwalk, the first migrant Sedge Warblers of the year were singing although viewing them was somewhat more difficult.  Good numbers of Sand Martin were passing overhead with smaller numbers of Swallows and House Martins.  At least 3 Swift were also noted passing over high up – another year tick for the group.

Further round the reserve, more summer visiting warblers were enticed to sing by the warm sunshine:  Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and a Reed Warbler were all seen well.  On the lagoons were all the usual suspects – Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Gadwall, Shelduck and both of the commoner Grebes.  A Little Egret fed along the edge of a small clump of reeds giving the group a good view of this rapidly expanding species.  Only a few years back this would have been a good scarcity on the reserve.  Now they are breeding!  Two Common Sandpipers put on an excellent show from the second hide as they ‘bobbed’ their way around the island.

 A male Reed Bunting gave good views as it sang from its exposed song post.  At the far end of the reserve, a red tail rapidly flying into a thicket was a giveaway sign of a Redstart, but only a few managed to connect with the bird as it disappeared, never to be seen again.  On the estuary salt marsh, close examination of a flock of at least 40 wagtails proved them to be exclusively White Wagtails (The continental race of our own Pied Wagtail and a regular spring migrant through the U.K.).  A quartet of Wheatears was along the breakwater rocks by the coastal path, showing down to a matter of yards at times.

Back at the visitor centre it was time for a well-earned cup of coffee and more time to enjoy superb close views of the reserves commonest species through the panoramic window.

Despite the late arrival of the trip leader (!), the walk was a success with wide variety of species seen, from water birds to migrants, with a day list of at least 50 species.  Conwy reserve more than proved its worth as a summer location as well as a winter hot spot.

   Total Species Seen  50

Leader: Howard Mills 

Red Rocks consist of two main habitats, south towards West Kirby, are Red Rocks Marsh, Reed beds and Sand dunes and to the north Hilbre Point overlooking Bird Rock and East Hoyle sand bank. Red Rocks Marsh is a nature reserve part of which maintained by the Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

Howard led the way on a dry and sunny April day with a cool northerly breeze.

A slow start initially but after lunch events improved dramatically with good sightings of Wheatear and Whitethroats amongst others. A good selection of butterflies were seen especially Orange Tip. Grey Squirrels were out and about. The best event of the day was towards the end of the walk, when we witnessed bit of aerial 'bovver' between a Buzzard and a Raven.

   Total Species Seen  41 

   Total Species Seen  39 

  Total Species Seen  32 

Leader: John Clegg                                            Weather :Hot And Sunny

Excellent weather produced a good variety of species, the main highlight being the superb close up sighting of Spotted Flycatcher. More rewarding than watching England's opening World Cup game!.

   Total Species Seen  30 

Leader: Howard Mills                                      Weather: Dry And Bright

A rewarding return visit to a scenic part of Lancashire. Top of the bill were once again the aerobatic Sand Martins, plus excellent supporting acts, and as a fitting  finale, a superb sighting of a Kingfisher..

   Total Species Seen  40 

Leader: Chris Tynan 

Newborough Warren on the Braint Estuary  is a sand dune system on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. The site includes a large planted forest of some 720ha designated  a national nature reserve.

Chris led the way on a glorious sunny  day.

We started our day with a gentle stroll through the pine woods and  around the lake on the reserve looking for birds and wildlife. The air was alive with grasshopper chirruping and dragonflies and butterflies abound.  Small birds such as  Stonechat and several member of the Tit family flitted through the wood. Buzzard  called over head, dipping down into clearings on the look out for lunch. At the lake we met the ubiquitous Canadian geese but also Little grebe- always a  pleasure, and Tufted duck.

After lunch we moved on towards South Stack, stopping at  Malltraeth an area encompassing a large estuary, river Afon - Cefni, saltmarch and shallow lagoon. Wildfowl and waders can be found here all year round and it is renowned for migrant waders and wildfowl. We weren't disappointed  3 Little Egrets were amongst the collected waders including both Curlew and Whimbrel. There was talk about an Osprey visiting the cob recently, but he/she wasn't around today! A Great place for a picnic and a walk  along the cob.

Saving the best for last we arrived at RSPB South Stack. For our newer members of the group they had their first sighting of Puffin, then  the event of the day -' Chuffed' to see Chough feeding their young on the fields by the cafe.  Although the seabirds had finished breeding there were plenty about  including Razorbill & Guillemots. Chris spotted a hooded Crow, a first for me, and then some spectacular aerial displays by a party of Ravens shearing  through the cliffs faces gave us a great opportunity to appreciate their size...if only we'd seen a Jay in the woods, we could  have then laid claim to having seen all 7 Corvid's on the same day!!

All in all a great day out. More please!

   Total Species Seen  50 

Leader: Chris Tynan                                      Weather: Mixed, one mega downpour!

Well worth the trip just to see the just to see the Tree sparrows  swarming over the feeders in the enclosed bird feeding garden. The kingfisher showed itself to only one of our group, alas not me. Lots of waders especially Lapwings, an old moor speciality. Reserve pathways were alive with the twitterings of finches and tits,  and large charms of goldfinches were feeding on thistles growing on the reserve.

Old Moor has extensive visitor facilities, 5 hides , an RSPB Shop and great food at Gannets Café which  has a veranda looking out over the reserve.

 The landscape includes open water, marsh, reedbeds and grassland.

   Total Species Seen  59 

Leader: Peter Beech                                      Weather: Dry And Bright

A very enjoyable day in even if we saw few passing  migrants over the island; The Observatory, who 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 stranded or staying deliberately on Middle Eye made observation of the High Tide Roost on this island as distant series of silhouettes without legs!)

   Total Species Seen  22 

Leader: Chris Tynan/                                      Weather : Cloudy, Autumn day                    Pickering Pasture Ranger Rob Smith 

Ranger Rob led the way through the Estuary fronted Pickerings Pasture Reserve  to the Hale Duck Decoy. 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 who nest in the dead trees on site. Greenfinches and Chaffinches flitted through the shrubbery. The group would like to thank Ron 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!

   Total Species Seen   29

Leader: Peter Beech                              Weather : Heavy downpours, brighter interludes. 

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 one being spotted on the moss a week later!! However we had some good highlights, such as seeing a Kingfisher darting past lilians 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..

   Total Species Seen  42 

Leader: Chris Tynan                   Weather : Gale Force Wind, squally showers                   

Stormy weather meant staying under the covers at home a cosy option. The mad ones, four in total went on the trip to Inner marsh farm instead; failed to see the foreigner Teal but the Curlew Sandpiper was happy in the company of Redshanks, Godwits and Dunlin. Needless to say didn't hang around to see the Egrets come into roost or battle our way around the quay..  

   Total Species Seen   38                             New Year 06, Total 130

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.             

          Total  Species Seen  14       New Year 06, Total 130