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This typifies Campfield Marsh on a late April afternoon - sun coming in at a low angle under storm clouds. A wonderful colour combination: dark grey April skies and blazing gorse. Male Great Spotted Woodpecker seems to be hording a small delicacy in hole in the tree trunk. He is already in pristine...

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...

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...

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...

Today, I was in pensive mood after yesterday's events. It was a day for garden birds. Yesterday, I'd speculated about the identity of parties of small birds moving along the saltmarsh. But, whilst into my third cup of coffee, I had a minor triumph: a small party came swanning down the saltmarsh...

'Conversation piece' Oh dear! An early hospital appointment, first thing Monday morning! The weather was dull, raining and bitterly cold. Things could only get better . . . and so they did! Coming through Drumburgh at 8 o'clock, a flock of about 1500 Barnacles were just coming in...

As the tide was coming in at 15.20 a flock of about 500 Barnacles dropped in onto the mudflats in front of West Common. They were probably seeking shelter from the cold strong southerly wind, as they settled down in the lee of the saltmarsh. As the tide pushed them in further, some came up onto the marsh...

Checking out the saltmarsh for safe grazing.

Estimated about 200 geese in the flock

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.

A small group of Barnacles flew onto the saltmarsh from a SW direction at 13.00 pm. They grazed for a while along the edge of the marsh and then flew off west again.

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.

Hi Steve, Nice sighting, that one! You’ve been really lucky. We have never actually seen one on the Farm, in all the time it has been a Reserve - although I don’t know if Norman(RSPB Cumbria Coastal Reserves Manager) or Dave(RSPB Campfield Marsh Reserve Manager) have ever seen any? ...

The tide had started to fall back here on Campfield Marsh, I casually glanced out towards the viaduct and saw what appeared, at fist glance, to be 2 people- but not quite. My curiosity was aroused. So I focussed up the scope and they surprisingly turned out to be two Roe Deer. Had previously never seen...