Hawfinch

Thought I better try and see some of this winter's Hawfinch explosion before they leave. Went to Rufford CP and saw 3 birds in flight in windy difficult conditions. Had much better views of a flock of up to 15 in a Darley Dale churchyard.

Ring necked Parakeet

Short winter day birding produced good view of Hawfinch at Sizergh Castle, Ring necked Parakeet at Lytham cemetery and Scaup at Farehaven Lake

Shorelark at Fleetwood

Great to see again the long staying Shorelark at Rossall Point Fleetwood. Other highlights of the day were Corn Bunting at Eagland Hill and Hawfinch at a new site in Cumbria Witherslack seen only by Dave ( I believe you!!)

Cumbria

Excellent day out yesterday in Cumbira. First off was Sizergh castle with good views of a couple of Hawfinch. Then onto Leighton Moss where we had the best views ever of a Great White Egret. Also seen were Marsh Tit, Greenshank, 5 Red breasted Mergansers Spotted Redshank Marsh Harrier and Tree Sparrow

Hawfinch and more

Great day out in Cumbria and Lancashire. First stop Sizergh castle for Hawfinch

Next it was Leighton Moss where we had brief views of Bearded Tit on the path to the grit trays and excellent views of Marsh Tit on the feeders.

We then went onto Heysham where we had the best views of Twite I've had in 30 years mixed in with other finches

We also had nice views of a Mediterranean Gull

We finished off at Marshside Marsh RSPB and saw a Great White Egret and the Ross's Goose that's been around for over a week

South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire

We went to Rufford country park this morning in search of Lesser Spotted Wood today but no look. We were straight onto a nice Hawfinch though. Then onto Old Moor for a Bittern but again no show. I took some pics of a pair of Bullfinch and best of all was the arrival of a male Sparrowhawk.  We finished this short day at Pugneys for a Smew but again no luck. Over the road at Calder Wetlands we managed a male Scaup and a Long tailed duck

Red Breasted Goose

Myself and Dave Evans went up to Dumfries on Saturday 25th. Feb on a wild goose chase. We stopped off at Sizergh castle first and had rubbish views of several Hawfinch. Up in Scotland we had a look for the Ross's Goose at Caerlaverock WWT but failed. What a great reserve though. Fantastic to see so many wintering Barnacle Geese and the hides were all superb. We had good views of Whooper Swans, Pintail and Wigeon.

We then headed to Southerness point and spent hours staring at thousands of barnacle geese before locating the Red Breasted Goose. What a fabulous looking goose. We also saw a Red Kite. Overall we were impressed with the Solway Firth and its also pretty quick to get to so I'm sure we will be back again soon.