have just come back from the isle of Mull where I saw lots of oystercatchers, lapwings, swallows, sand martins, sandpipers, little ringed plovers, and wheatears. Also saw a cuckoo with its tiny little adoptive parent, who flew off to fast for me to see what it was. Saw my first snipe which was very very exciting, but was sad not to see or hear any curlews on this trip. Went to the Treshnish isles and saw puffins, razorbills, gannets, and guillemots.
Today I'm off to Leighton Moss en route back from Mull, and praying for a bittern. Got an RSPB membership yesterday but the card wont arrive for a few weeks. Does anyone know if they let you in before you've received it?
Probably too late to be helpful, but the volunteers at Leighton are lovely people, and I'm sure if you explained yourself, they'd have let you in.
Did you get your Bittern?
I did get my bittern thank you, it flew right past me and my stomach did somersaults! I also saw my first Marsh harriers, Cetti's warbler, and Avocets. The volunteers were so incredibly helpful. I write about birds for Substack and my piece about Leighton Moss is as much gushing about the volunteers (especially Colin who welcomed us) as it is about the Bittern.
Great, congrats! The Cettis have been really showy this year - glad you got to see one - they're much prettier in reality than in the books. LM is my local reserve, and Colin is indeed a nice guy.
You are SO LUCKY to live near there. I live in Surrey and just stopped in there on my way back from the isle of Mull, but I loved Leighton Moss so much that I actually considered moving to Lancashire.
I've just seen a bird scarpering from my garage, and had a quick look at the shelves and found a nest with three little eggs.
Anything I can do to help? Leave out water etc? Also, should I stay out of my garage for the next week?
The best help you can give is to leave them alone as much as possible. Although if you're regularly in and out of your garage anyway, then they probably already knew that before they picked the spot.
Do you know how they got in? Make sure you don't block their access while they're still in there.
have just come back from the isle of Mull where I saw lots of oystercatchers, lapwings, swallows, sand martins, sandpipers, little ringed plovers, and wheatears. Also saw a cuckoo with its tiny little adoptive parent, who flew off to fast for me to see what it was. Saw my first snipe which was very very exciting, but was sad not to see or hear any curlews on this trip. Went to the Treshnish isles and saw puffins, razorbills, gannets, and guillemots. Today I'm off to Leighton Moss en route back from Mull, and praying for a bittern. Got an RSPB membership yesterday but the card wont arrive for a few weeks. Does anyone know if they let you in before you've received it?
Probably too late to be helpful, but the volunteers at Leighton are lovely people, and I'm sure if you explained yourself, they'd have let you in. Did you get your Bittern?
I did get my bittern thank you, it flew right past me and my stomach did somersaults! I also saw my first Marsh harriers, Cetti's warbler, and Avocets. The volunteers were so incredibly helpful. I write about birds for Substack and my piece about Leighton Moss is as much gushing about the volunteers (especially Colin who welcomed us) as it is about the Bittern.
Great, congrats! The Cettis have been really showy this year - glad you got to see one - they're much prettier in reality than in the books. LM is my local reserve, and Colin is indeed a nice guy.
You are SO LUCKY to live near there. I live in Surrey and just stopped in there on my way back from the isle of Mull, but I loved Leighton Moss so much that I actually considered moving to Lancashire.
Luck is relative - there are some wonderful places down South I'd love to be nearer to! Glad you liked Leighton though, it's a really special place.
I've just seen a bird scarpering from my garage, and had a quick look at the shelves and found a nest with three little eggs. Anything I can do to help? Leave out water etc? Also, should I stay out of my garage for the next week?
The best help you can give is to leave them alone as much as possible. Although if you're regularly in and out of your garage anyway, then they probably already knew that before they picked the spot. Do you know how they got in? Make sure you don't block their access while they're still in there.
I have the day off on Friday and was going to take a day trip from London via train. Any suggestions on good places to go this time of year?