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Campfield Marsh is quite a spectacle in May with its covering of Sea Pinks - not to mention the Gorse and May blossom along the fringes. Back to farm and estuary - we continue along the coastal road round the Cardurnock Peninsula. Within a few hundred yards of North Plain farm we arrive at the lay...

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...

Black-tailed Godwit. After lunch, Judith said to me,”I'll have to get into the garden. These last two days of sunshine and rain have brought everything on. “OK,” I said, “I need a walk. I'll go down the Lonning and see what's there.” Unusually there was very...

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...

Newly arrived male Siskin - 30 3 13 We have to admit that over the past several weeks we have been near to hibernating. Those awful Siberian winds have been battering across the Pennines, sweeping the snowfields of the western slopes and withering the benign Solway Basin. Even the two tides per day...

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...

This is a test posting as we are having trouble getting our Homepage to update when new blogs are posted. Resident Moorhen in orchard - 27 3 13

Across the Meadow Pools towards the snow clad Lakeland Fells - 20 3 13 10th March. Small flocks of Curlew are regularly appearing on the tideline. Watched this Kestrel hunting along the wetlands in front of the hide. It kept dropping down amongst the rushes but rapidly re-emerged...

Checking out the saltmarsh for safe grazing.

25 11 12 - Flock fly in low over the saltmarsh as they round Scargavel Point.

25th November - high tides, coupled with gale force winds, brought what seemed like the whole of the Barnacle flock from their inner estuary pastures to the outer estuary pastures of the Cardurnock Peninsula. Here they can be seen off Scargavel Point on Campfield Marsh.

photostream

Having grazed for a while this small group took off in a westerly direction.

These two became restless due the the activity of nearby Merlin and Hen Harrier and took off for a fly around. They were part of the mixed flock of Pinkfeet and Barnacles grazing on the wetland pastures at North Plain Farm.

Small groups of Barnacles could be seen flying low along the tideline facing into the strong westerly gale.

A digital oil-style painting of Barnacles coming in at dusk over the Meadow Pools, with Skiddaw in the distance - by John Rogers

Today was hot and sunny. It obviously suited the numerous Azure Damselflies in evidence on vegetation in and surrounding the pond next to the hide.