Trip reports

MARSHSIDE AND MERESANDS WOOD

Wednesday, 15 October 2008

The October midweek field trip began in the best possible way with good views of one of those species which are fairly common but very difficult to see well. As we entered the Sandgrounders' Hide at Marshside, a beautifully-marked water rail fussed around in a channel not 10 yards away from the Hide window.

On or above the marsh there was an interesting variety of water fowl coming and going - pinkfeet, greylag and Canada geese, wigeon, teal, mallard, pintail, hundreds of lapwing, curlew and a couple of little egrets, not so long ago rarities and now barely given a second glance.

A walk northwards, viewing the saltmarsh, produced sightings of stonehchat, linnet and greenfinch in the low bushes, and snipe arrowed into cover, spooked by some unseen raptor. Eventually, the culprit emerged - a merlin, perched on a dead tree but often sallying forth to create mayhem among the smaller birds on the marsh. Probably the same bird entertained us as we enjoyed lunch at the car park, aided by a kestrel, whose presence went almost unnoticed by all but the small mammals it was obviously hunting.

Nel's Hide gave good views of redshank, black-tailed godwits flashing their bold white wing bars as they planed in, and three skulking snipe; similar birds were seen later at the platform overlooking the Fairclough Pool, where a great black-backed gull added its menacing presence.

The decision to go on to Mere Sands Wood, partly to seek shelter from the cool breeze, was rewarded by the sight of a kingfisher which was the highlight for some of the 12 members who supported the trip.

Article by Allan Rimmer
Our Library photograph is of a water rail feeding at the water's edge