UKC

Leighton Moss. Watched an otter fishing, marsh harrier quartering and a male Sparrowhawk with prey fly real close. Loads warblers (Cetti’s, reed, sedge, willow, chiffchaff, blackcap and heard garden) and five species tit. Then later in saw this spoonbill. Think it had just arrived, saw it a looong way off but luckily it made its way towards me. Saw an Osprey and finished off the day with a red kite!  Heard bitterns as well. Great day out, stunning weather. 

In reply to Bottom Clinger:

Black headed gulls kept having a go at the avocet chicks, so they took shelter. 

In reply to Bottom Clinger:

Female marsh landed on that post for a preen. 

In reply to Bottom Clinger:

Lovely pics as always Bottom Clinger.  Thank you!  My birding highlight of the week was finally seeing a goldcrest in the tree outside my office windows.  I've been trying to do that for about five years now so was very pleased.

In reply to Bobling:

Thanks. Nice one on the goldcrest. Once you get your ear tuned to their call and sing, it’s surprising how many goldcrests you will pick up.

Im currently at work, drying out and warming up after getting lost a few times, getting totally soaked, but seeing a White Tailed Plover !!!!! Only a few miles from my work.  Got a few photos in between the downpours, will post this evening. Also 4 reeling grasshopper warblers. 

In reply to Bottom Clinger:

Can't post pics because my Rockfax subscription has lapsed but one of the only highlights of my (so far) disappointingly wet and windy NW Scotland trip has been the birds. Went out to Handa and saw puffins last week and I've enjoyed seeing the shags on Lewis. Also spotted loads of oystercatchers and identified the birds I've seen intermittently on the coastal grassland as ringed plovers. Happily I get good phone signal here so I can make extensive use of the RSPB bird identification website! My boyfriend got me some really nice binoculars last Xmas and this trip has been the first time I've been able to really put them to use.

In reply to climbingpixie:

Oystercatchers turn up all over the place often where you'd not expect them. For example, coming back down the M6 towards Manchester last Friday, an oystercatcher just sat on the wooden motorway boundary fence, nowhere near any obvious water or marsh.

In reply to Bobling:

You'll hear far more goldcrests than you see but they're not actually shy birds, it's just that where they like to be isn't often where it's easy to see, and they're very rarely still for long enough to get a really good look.

Other birds that you discover are more prevalent when you learn the calls are great spotted woodpecker and nuthatch.

If I could learn warblers I bet I'd find loads more of them too.

In reply to Bottom Clinger:

Been enjoying snapping a few birds in the garden. We get lots of Goldfinches, but the Bullfinch is a much less common visitor.

In reply to Michael Hood:

> If I could learn warblers I bet I'd find loads more of them too.

I’ve only seen 3 Goldcrests so far and all were too busy finding food to be singing!

I’ve yet to remember/learn enough bird songs/calls though to try and id them so maybe have heard more!
Just been listening to a Sedge warbler interesting song via the RSPB website. One has apparently been at their Loch Leven reserve today.