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Winter descended very suddenly here on the Solway. One day it was floods and water everywhere; next day, ice and frost – the place was a skating rink! On opening the curtains, we beheld a wonderful winter estuary: a deep hoarfrost; deep blue skies; the whole thing in shades of blue and pink...

Oh dear! it’s got round to August again. The birds down the Lonning have generally fallen silent, busy raising and feeding their young - but if one walks along quickly and quietly, you can run across small parties of young in the hedges waiting to be fed by their industrious parents: Willow Warblers...

Barnacles flighting at dusk, Campfield Marsh Reserve - a digital oil-style painting by John Rogers This winter, as we will all know, started very early with the big freeze-up, snow and ice - the whole deal! The country was in crisis. We thought, "here we are in the middle of an Artic winter,...

Magpies fending off Sparrowhawk - previously reported As is our wont, we sat in front of our picture window having lunch, viewing the various comings and goings on the Estuary – mostly wader activity, when, similarly as I reported in a previous blog, a female Sparrowhawk came scorching by two...

The Magpie family in the garden have been giving us trouble lately - two parents, two young. They have had the absolute run of the place this last two weeks Always on the birdtable and even on the nut and fat hangers… super acrobats, these, but getting too big for their boots, by far. Magpies...

In the last week, even with somewhat changeable weather, there has been plenty of activity on the bird front. Waders seem to be assembling on the estuary now, day on day: Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwits, Golden Plover and Oystercatchers in ever increasing numbers. Black-tailed Godwits on estuary...

End of June is a joyous time of the year with young birds everywhere filling the hedgerows, meadows, woodlands and ponds Loaning Sedge Warblers are still to be heard singing along the track. One was observed on 27th catching insects in the bushes round the hide – presumably feeding young...

This week has seen an explosion of young birds: Tree Sparrows, House Sparrows, Blue and Great Tits and Chaffinches, all tended to by their devoted parents. Mallard ducklings, Lapwing and Moorhen chicks are all growing rapidly out on the Reserve. Tree Sparrow fledgling being fed See also: www...

Had a brisk walk down Campfield Loaning which, on this fine Spring day, was resounding with birdsong. Heard and observed Willow Warblers, Sedge Warblers, Garden Warblers, Lesser Whitethroat, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Hedge Accentor (Dunnock), Tree Sparrows, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, House...

The sun was out, little or no wind to speak of, but on the corner (entrance to North Plain Farm) we detected a slight north westerly flow – we knew that down the Loaning it would be perfect. This was going to be a bird song walk and so it turned out to be. Having taken a look at the notice board...