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May blossom and gorse in bloom - Campfield Marsh. Spring was late this year – universally accepted, we think. We might add that here at Campfield, we are used to late Springs! We swear to you folks that the Ash trees at the top end of the Lonning only started to come into leaf 10 days ago! ...

Campfield Marsh. Now we come to the 3rd part of the Blog, having dealt with accommodation issues. We can start to describe the main features of the area which is after all what you will be coming to enjoy, be it Spring, Summer or Winter. In the case of birders, winter in the Solway area is of particular...

Campfield Marsh - early April. 6th April 2013 Sunny all day with a light SW wind. Early morning there were 14 Shelduck with two Mallard pairs out on the mudflats. A small group of Redshank came in with the tide. On the Meadow Pools, Wigeon and Teal were gathering and seemingly pairing up. The two...

Pinkfeet against distant snow-clad Skiddaw. Wall to wall sunshine from dawn, with fluffy Constable-style clouds – completely windless. What a day! We had to go to Kirkbride so set off along the saltmarsh and within a couple of minutes ran into two Little Egrets near Biglands lay-by. They...

Badger routings in the orchard - 24 3 13 Our house, garden and orchard lie slap in the middle of the Campfield Marsh Reserve and we take great joy in all the birds and animals that flow across us in their various pursuits. We gaze out across the meadows and moss at the back, and the saltmarsh and...

Typical senario here over the last few weeks: sunshine and snow clouds! Shelduck are starting to put in an appearance on the mudflats - 22nd February SongThrush and Great Spotted Woodpecker are becoming regular visitors to the Hamlet gardens - 22nd February. Song Thrush with a liking...

New Year's Day was crisp and sunny. Here are a few of the birds which put in an appearance today. Early morning now frequent visitors to the saltmarsh. Oystercatchers had been giving aerial displays as the tide came in at noon. The small Barnacle flock had stayed to graze. A pair...

A Christmas scene 25 th December 2012 A wonderful gift at Christmas! On opening the curtains on Christmas morning, somewhat belatedly I might add, as I had been playing with my new 'toys', namely a new publication about Talbot Kelly – the bird artist. I was greeted with the fantastic...

PHOTOGRAPHIC REVIEW OF EARLY NOVEMBER 1st November 2012 Massed flock of Whooper Swans at Seaville. Close-up of Whoopers at Seaville with Crifell in the background. Whoopers bathing and preening. Looking very relaxed. Further groups were coming in all the time. Fieldfares...

Huge excitement at Campfield! We believe that we have a return visitor to the marsh and wetland. The Great White Egret seems to have remembered us and was first reported on the saltmarsh on 10th October by Norman Holton, our Cumbria Coastal Reserves Manager - at which point the bush telegraph went into...

Anvil Cloud over the Solway estuary. We've definitely passed the Equinox: 12 hours of 'sunlight', 12hours of dark – the jury's still out on the sunlight bit! The equinoctial gales started right on time in the form of the tail-end of Hurricane Nadine which definitely stirred the...

"Summer Solway Estuary and Gulls flying" - a pastel sketch from my studio window. Campfield Marsh Reserve, here on the Solway, is a really nice place to visit at the end of Summer, especially its estuary element. As you may know, inland reserves can be a little quiet at this time of the...

The following images suggest some of the additional things your sharp eyes could see on a visit to the Campfield Marsh Reserve - from mid July to late August. BIRDS House Sparrow in a crevice of the barn wall near the car park . A juvenile Woodpecker possibly using the farm bird feeders...

Early June - Summer has officially arrived … monsoons of rain; tornados of wind; flooding that would frighten even Noah; caravans and tents being swept away; agricultural shows being flattened; seaside promenades under three feet of water and lashed by waves. Hello! but we don’t mind, we’re...

This Spring and early Summer have been a real mixed bag - especially this last week! One minute, glorious sunshine and the next torrential rain and bitter winds. One hardly knows what to do! Have turned into a softie really - should have taken it easier on the cupcakes, blue icing and party sized Eton...

. Not much fear of that. We’re back into winter gear: Wellington boots; padded jackets … the whole kahuna! A fine warm March: temperatures up in the 20’s; water levels falling by the minute; talk of hosepipe bans and compulsory metering! I remember a severe drought a few years...

Not in excess thereof, but merely a sufficiency thereunto! Therefore, let us all join together in gratitude for the celebrities we have received of late: Great White Egret; Little Egret; three Glossy Ibis and ultimately, a wonderful Spoonbill! But as with all celebrity comes the uncertain fickle element...

'Doing the Campfield walk, Hey!' The Great White Egret arrived at Campfield on 1 st November 2011, just in time for the Guy Fawkes celebrations. We began to wonder how long this rare vagrant would stay - and lo and behold, miracle of miracles, it spent Christmas with us. People travelled from...

A noticeable feature of the last two weeks has been the large flocks of Rooks and Jackdaws (up to 80), assembling on Campfield saltmarsh, around the high tide - obviously intent on the debris, both vegetable and animal, left by the recent high tides. Our local Crows, mixing amongst them, strutting...

Whoopers taking off from the hide wetlands. Since Christmas here on the Solway, and by implication, our very own Campfield Marsh, the weather has been very wet and windy. But, surprisingly, in the last few days it has been calm and windless - really rather pleasant. There has been a high tide...

PHOTODIARY - end of November 2011 Winter evening after a stormy day, Solway Estuary 24th November. A midday high tide with a strong gusty wind. At 11.30pm flocks of Oystercatcher, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard and Shoveler with 15 Pintail started to fly west along the, by now, flooding marsh. At...

15th - 23rd November 2011 15th November Cold light easterly wind with misty sunshine. As the tide came in a group of 13 Shoveler crossed the channel in front of the hamlet. A flock of Dunlin landed on the sandbar on the other side. A Reed Bunting showed up on the marsh edge hawthorn bushes and...

Two Woodcock - part of a large number visiting Campfield during the cold spell at the beginning of the year. The gregarious and colourful Wigeon that make the winter reserve so pleasurable. Whoopers, our glorious winter visitors. One of the Lonning’s Sedge Warblers declares his...

There had been great excitement in the local birding community here on the Solway, in recent days: a flock of 76 Bean Geese had presented itself on the flooded stubble fields round the lovely town of Silloth and a stimulating informative controversy was surging to and fro amongst the cognoscente, regarding...

An early November Photo Diary Area round Saltmarsh Pool where the Great White Egret has installed itself 1st November A beautiful sunny windless day with first record of Great White Egret seen on the Reserve at Saltmarsh Pool. 2nd November Cool and breezy. 10.45 - 12.00 am, Great White...