Friday Breakfast Club visits RSPB Fairburn Ings this week after starting the day with a bacon butty. In November, numbers of winter wildfowl are growing and visiting thrush flock numbers should rising. We may also be able to get our first winter waxwing. Using the Cut Road entrance to Fairburn
Continue readingWinter can bring some surprise visitors to the Farnley balancing reservoir. We’ll check the water and mud for wildfowl and wading birds before moving off to Farnley Hall Park for woodland birds. Price: £15 per person including refreshments. Transport Transport is available by arrangement from the Moor Allerton Centre on the
Continue readingThis amazing Yorkshire Water reserve in the Yorkshire Wolds is a haven for winter wildfowl, barn owl, kingfisher and wading birds. Otter and water vole have also been seen regularly on the reserve. Work through a host of birds on the man-made ‘O’ and ‘D’ reservoirs via a range of
Continue readingThe autumn months are a good time to start learning bird song. In November it is possible to hear the songs of robin and wren and possibly great tit and mistle thrush. There’s also the chance we might get winter visiting thrushes as well as dipper, grey wagtail and kingfisher
Continue readingVisit the extensive flood plain at Alkborough Flats where the rivers Ouse and Trent join to form the Humber. For those of you who know RSPB Blacktoft well, we’ll be standing on the distant hillside that is visible to the east of the Singleton hide. At Alkborough, we’ll check the reedbeds
Continue readingAfter optional breakfast at 9am at Rivers Meet Cafe we’ll take a walk along a section of Fleet Lane to look for flocks of visiting thrushes. We’ll also check the surrounding fields and woodland for resident birds before heading back via Lemonroyd Marina and St Aidan’s to take in some water birds.
Continue readingOur autumn visit to this little known nature area close to Golden Acre Park gives us the opportunity to explore a fantastic mixture of woodland and scrub adjacent to farmland. Listen for the calls of yellowhammer, reed bunting, willow tit, treecreeper, nuthatch and great spotted woodpecker. Price: £15 per person
Continue readingListing days are high energy birding days with the emphasis on finding as many species as possible. Earlier in the year we clocked up 77 species across RSPB St Aidan’s and RSPB Fairburn Ings. Will we get more species this time? We’ll check the hillside, fences, ridge and furrow, reedbeds and
Continue readingThis week’s Friday birdwatching will take us to Woodlesford Lock. After an optional breakfast from 9am we’ll visit a variety of habitats including river, canal, woodland and surrounding scrub. Our target birds will be goosander, goldeneye, buzzard, kingfisher and winter thrushes. We’ll also listen for early songsters such as robin and
Continue readingIt’s a long while since Pennington Flash Country Park was last on my winter calendar. This Lancashire reserve, run by Wigan Council, gives us the opportunity to explore lakes, pools, scrubland and woodland for winter wildfowl, waders and roaming flocks of tits and finches. Price £55 per person including refreshments
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