DONNA NOOK
What a fantastic experience this proved to be following weeks of planning and preparation, for accomadation we can definitely recommend Cloddygates farm Bed and Breakfast which can be found on the internet. Donna Nook is on the Lincolnshire coast and is used as a bombing range mid week by the R.A.F.(not joking) At this time of year hundreds of female seals come up onto the sand dunes to have their pups, after just three weeks the mothers will leave the pups to fend for themselves as they go back out to sea and begin the mating season again. Its very important to make sure all your gear is waterproof and protected from the sand. The Seal pups are within 2 minutes walk of the car park where its easy to get good photos although it does get very busy, the adult males and some of the females are more likely to be seen after a forty minute walk out to sea, BUT watch the tide. We found that the Seals were easily approachable but please please dont try to touch them , infact with a telephoto lens we were able to keep quite a few feet between us and them so as not to make them nervous.
September and October
We both had the best part of a week off work so off to the caravan for a few good days birding starting with a trip to Marshide nr Southport. We saw plenty of Pink footed Geese, Wigeon, Teal, Black tailed Godwits and Heron. We had heard that a Glossy Ibis had been spotted over the last few days but not today as yet, although there was plenty of people looking. After a good few hours we set off back to the car resigning ourselves to the fact that we had missed out on seeing it and were a bit disappointed as this would have been a life first for us both. Martin stopped to pan around with his binns for a final time and there it was, The Glossy Ibis in all its glory flying over the road in front of us, alas by this stage cameras had been put away so we just settled for enjoying the sight of this rarity. The moral to this story has to be. Always keep your camera to hand.
Another trip was to Leighton Moss RSPB reserve, where we heard that the Bittern had been showing well in front of Tim Jackson hide, though we only got a brief glimpse of it before dusk. We had really good views of Red Deer, 4 Stags , two of them were antler to antler, then we saw another Stag with 3 Hinds and we could hear the stags bellowing all around us and very close. We watched a Kingfisher fishing and devouring its catch right in front of Morecambe hide for a good ten to fifteen minutes, fantastic photo opportunity. The Great White Egret was also parading up and down in front of the hide at the same time and we were torn as to which way to point the camera.
We ended the week with a trip to the bird fair at Martin Mere WWT as we had not made it down to Rutland this year, we picked up the New 6 disc DVD The Birds of Britain and Europe by Paul Doherty and we can definately recommend it. We were told that a Great Grey Shrike was viewable from Ronnie Barker hide although it was a long way off , so off we went to see if we could see another first and sure enough there it was, too far off to take a photo but clearly visible and identifiable through the scopes.
The last few months has brought us five new lifers, White Tail Plover, Great White Egret, A pair of Spoonbills, Glossy Ibis and the Great Grey Shrike.
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