Eccleston Mere

Swift 50
Whitethroat 4
Blackcap 4
Kingfisher 1
Coal Tit 1
Bullfinch 2 male and female
Lesser Redpoll 2 displaying

Doxey Marshes, Staffordshire

Wood Sandpiper 1
Whimbrel 1
Little Ringed Plover 3
Dunlin 10
Common Tern 1
Reed Warbler 5
Sedge Warbler 5

Revised year 191 (Wood Sandpiper)


This was my first visit to this reserve which is just off junction 14 on the M6, on the outskirts of Stafford.


I had a go at digiscoping today. Neither my camera or my telescope are ideal for this type of photography, but anyway, here are the results. One photo of the Whimbrel and three of the Wood Sandpiper.

Pennington Flash

Turnstone 1 adult summer plumage
Dunlin 4
Ringed Plover 3
Common Tern 5
Redshank 2

Sankey Valley

Reed Warbler 3 singing
Sedge Warbler 1 singing
Blackcap 3 singing
Whitethroat 3 singing
Willow Tit 1

Year 189 (Reed Warbler)

I met the Sankey Valley Ranger Dawn Chorus duo (Foggy and Compo) and walked back to the visitor centre with them.

Eccleston Mere

Common Tern 1
Mandarin 1 male
Kingfisher 1
Whitethroat 4 singing
Chiffchaff 2 singing
Blackcap 2 singing
Swallow 100 mainly roosting in a Poplar tree
House Martin 20 in the same Poplar tree

Martin Mere

Little Egret 2
Dunlin 20
Ringed Plover 8
Little Ringed Plover 1
Avocet 40


I spotted this Moorhen on its nest with 3 chicks.


Later I was passing the same spot and two of the youngsters were on the path.

Eccleston Mere

Common Tern 1
Peregrine 1 adult over west at 15:30
Sedge Warbler 1 singing in hedge on west side of mere
Pink-footed Goose on the water
Greylag 2
Whitethroat 4 singing
Chiffchaff 1 singing
Willow Warbler 4 singing
Swift 30
Swallow 200
House Martin 40
Sand Martin 10
Mute Swan 2 adults
Lesser Redpoll 5 displaying

Revised Eccleston Mere 2013 list - 99 (Peregrine)


Great crested Grebe with chicks


Common Tern and Bluebells.

Eccleston Mere

Common Tern 1
Swallow 100
Sand Martin 10
House Martin 20
Swift 5
Kingfisher 1

A few days surveying newts, birds, bats and hedgerows

Great Diving Beetle Dytiscus marginalis. A formidable predator in any pond!


Two female Great Crested Newts in a bottle trap. All surveys fully licensed of course.

Carr Lane Pools, Hale

Garganey 2 males

Year 188


This was only my second ever visit to this site, following the Pectoral Sandpiper on Saturday. I called in on my way home from work, to see two cracking Garganey. Ok, I know the photo of the ducks is awful, but bear with me, it keeps me entertained!

While I was up in the loft getting the camping gear down for the weekend just gone, I came across my old Bushnell Spacemaster telescope. I decided that it was wasted up there and that it would be better spending it's time in the boot of my car just in case I ever needed a scope unexpectedly. Today that decision paid off, and the Garganey were the first birds I had seen through the Spacemaster for several years! A decent quality view as well, not bad at all for the £140 or so I paid for it back in 1983.

Riggindale Crag and High Street

Golden Eagle 1
Whinchat 1 singing male
Redstart 1 singing male
Common Sandpiper 5

Year 187 (Golden Eagle, Whinchat)

A day of great extremes. We set out from the car park at Haweswater wrapped up in several layers of clothing and wooly hats and gloves, to face the cold, almost gale force wind. In truth it was touch and go if we could face the slog up Riggindale Crag in these conditions. However, by the time we reached the summit of High Street, the sun was out and it was roasting hot, so much so that we were walking in t-shirts and Skylarks were singing all around us!. Our return route took us over Kidsty Pike and Kidsty Howes, where for the third year running we saw Englands only Golden Eagle. We completed a truly beautiful day in the beer garden of the Haweswater Hotel, with only distant memories of the bad weather earlier in the day.


Harter Fell from Riggindale Crag, and Riggindale Crag and High Street from Kidsty Howes.