Trip reports
Coach Trip - Priory Marina and Marston Vale, Bedford.
Saturday, 14 November 2009
The fist two trips of the season had blessed us with wonderful weather but the forecast for Saturday was far from promising with storms forecast.
Our first call was Priory Marina which we reached in sunny weather although there was a strong wind, there was a large lake to be scanned, this provided us with good views of Kingfisher and some saw Little Egret along with the usual lake inhabitants and in the trees along the lake Goldcrest.
As the end of our time at Priory started to loom so did the clouds and rain, with a few getting caught in the rain as we returned to the bus.
Our second port of call was Marston Vale, a modern reserve with a large visitors centre.
During the drive from Priory to Marston the rain came down, but by the time we reached Marston the weather had improved ... but not for long.
Among the birds seen at Marston were Redwing, Fieldfare, Sparrowhawk, Green Woodpecker, Common Gull, Greater Spotted Woodpecker which entertained us by feeding on peanuts outside one of the hides.
The hope for gull roost unfortunately did not happen, probably due to the weather.
Although the weather played a large part in the days birding it did not distract from another great day out.