Trip reports

Arnside and the Kent Estuary

Saturday, 16 February 2008

It was an early morning very frosty start on the trip to Arnside. The coach was full. Many kestrels were spotted on the journey and is it my imagination or are molehills covering the earth this year? Early lambs were in the fields and daffodils were appearing at the roadside. Graham is surely the right man for the job as he seems to have the weather under control. We arrived to blue skies and bright sunshine. Although it was still very cold there was no wind. The walk along the shore produced good sightings of Heron, Goldeneye, Redshank, Mallard, Cormorant, Tufted Duck, various Gulls and even an Egret. We had decided not to go on the long walk but thought we would return to Arnside through the woods. The route we chose turned out to be a dead end and we had to retrace our footsteps so by the time we returned to the village we had probably walked as far as the main body of the party. They saw Ravens on the hillside, while the woodland was very quiet with only a Robin and a Blue Tit showing but a Woodpecker was heard. When we finally got back to the village we just had time for an excellent meal in a cafe aptly named The Heron before we joined the coach for the ride home. The scenery both on the journey and at Arnside was at its best. A good day was had by all - a tonic for the stressed.
Jean Fox.
Blackbird
Black-headed Gull
Blue Tit
Bullfinch
Buzzard
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Coal Tit
Cormorant
Curlew
Dunnock
Goldeneye
Goosander
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit
Greenfinch
Grey Heron
House Sparrow
Jackdaw
Kestrel
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Little Egret
Long-tailed Tit
Mallard
Marsh Tit
Nuthatch
Oystercatcher
Pheasant
Raven
Redshank
Robin
Rook
Shelduck
Starling
Wigeon
Wren