Introduction
I spent the summer in Europe to complete 2 items on my list of things to do before I'm too old.
Updated list:
• To experience a hangover
• African safari
• To see Polar bears and icebergs
• Whale sharks “Failed”
• Tiger safari
• Whale sharks (second try)
• Koala and Kangaroo adventure in Australia
• Swimming with Humpback whales
• Drinking water from a stream with melting water JUST COMPLEATED
• Wildlife tour in Sweden and Finland to look for Bear, Wolf, Beaver, Moose and Wolverine JUST COMPLEATED
• Kiel - Brunsbüttel - Bicycling along the Kiel Canal JUST COMPLEATED
• Antarctica
• The Amazon in Brazil
I wanted to spend my last week in Europe in Liverpool and I searched the internet for information about bird watching in the Liverpool area. And I booked my hotel so I could live next to the Manchester Canal as I expected a rich birdlife in the Canal area. I looked for flights and from Copenhagen I have to go to Manchester International Airport.
My hotel is pretty much exact between Liverpool and Manchester so I need to spend about one hour in a taxi to get to the hotel. And I´m excited to go bird watching. I spotted the Common Starlings at the taxi stand at Manchester Airport. It was a little chilli and I was happy, 5 weeks in Europe and not much birds and I think it is due to the record breaking heat in Europe this summer. The birds have taking cover in the shadow and I have not been able to see them
Visa
No need for me to have any visa to United Kingdom. If you come from outside European Union it is recommended to visit https://www.gov.uk to see the latest requirement for Standard Visitor visa
Apply from outside the UK online
You must apply online. As part of your online application, you need to book an appointment at a visa application centre. You’ll have your fingerprints and photograph (known as ‘biometric information’) taken at your appointment.
You may be able to get your visa faster or other services depending on what country you’re in - check with your visa application centre.
Guide
Guides. I had sent enquiries to a few companies but no answer. So I sent an e-mail to the The Royal Society for the Protection of Bird - RSPB Liverpool Local Group to ask if they could recommend any Guides.
I got a recommendation but this Guide was in Finland on a bird trip. They offered me a guiding by phone, of course, a hefty price tag. Phone guiding, never heard about this before and it was nothing for me.
I informed RSPB Liverpool Local Group about the situation and one of the volunteers offered to take me for a few days of bird watching. And we would start with
Flights
Scandinavian Airlines flight SK 1422
Kastrup, Copenhagen - Arlanda, Stockholm
10Aug2018 13:25 - 10Aug2018 14:35
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Scandinavian Airlines flight SK 2549
Arlanda, Stockholm - Manchester Intl
10Aug2018 16:20 - 10Aug2018 17:50
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Scandinavian Airlines flight SK 540
Manchester Intl - Kastrup, Copenhagen
17Aug2018 10:10 - 17Aug2018 12:55
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Booked on Scandinavian Airlines web page.
Land transportation
To and from the airport in taxi. The taxi was around 70£ between the airport and the hotel.
Accommodations
Holiday Inn Ellesmere Port - Cheshire Oaks
Centre Island, Waterways, Lower Mersey St, Ellesmere Port CH65 2AL, UK
Equipment
Canon 5D Mk. III
Canon EF 28-300/3,5-5,6 L IS USM
Canon EF 70-200/2,8L IS II USM
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens
Canon Speedlite 600EXII-RT flash
Canon PowerShot G7X Mark II
Panasonic HC-W585 video camera
Sound recorder
ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder
Weather / climate
Manchester, UK - Climate & Temperature
Manchester, UK - Climate & Temperature - Click picture for full size
References/Resources
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds - Homes for nature - Reserves are at the heart of what we do. They're vital to our conservation work and priceless spaces for everyone to get close to nature.
We believe they work best when they connect with wild spaces and habitats in the wider landscape. That's why we'll be working to make bigger, better, more joined up homes.
Coming to UK for bird watching and I really think that RSPB´s web page have all the information you need
Liverpool Local Group - The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds - RSPB - The Liverpool group, founded in 1972 is one of the longest established groups in the country.
Our indoor meetings are held on the third Monday of the month, January to April and September to December. (The December meeting is held the first Monday of the month). There is also a wide variety of field trips. Everybody is welcome at both indoor and outdoor events.
Bird Watching For Beginners - British Bird Lovers If you're looking for a hobby that will stimulate your brain, get you out in the fresh air, give you the opportunity to meet like minded people and make you aware of the world around you, then bird watching could be just the thing for you.
ebird - Find birding hotspots with bird checklists from all over the world
Avibase - is an extensive database information system about all birds of the world, containing over 25 million records about 10,000 species and 22,000 subspecies of birds, including distribution information for 12,000 regions, taxonomy, synonyms in several languages
Cloudbirders - Read birding trip reports from all over the world
Fatbirder - Linking birders worldwide... Wildlife Travellers see their sister site: WAND
Fatbirder is a fantastic web page with information from, I think every country in the world. My first stop when I plan for my bird watching trips. There is information about locations and guides, well, pretty much everything you need to know. Sometimes this is the only place I need to visit to plan my trip.
BirdingPal - find a birding Guide around the world
And the web page you cannot live without. I have been around the world looking for birds. I usually have a Guide, but sometimes it is not possible to find a Guide. So, well, I have lost count on how many times I have had help to ID birds at BirdForum. Joining this forum have been very very good for my bird watching experience.
www.birdforum.net
ClimaTemps.com is the place to learn about the worlds climates with more than 4000 locations documented. Each aspect of the climate is represented using colour enhanced tables and professional graphs so that data can easily be compared by switching between locations in different tabs in your browser.
Collins Bird Guide
The Collins Bird Guide is a field guide to the birds of the Western Palearctic.
Its authors are Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney, Dan Zetterström and Peter J. Grant, and it is illustrated by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterström (with two plates of North American passerines contributed by Larry McQueen). It has been described as "undoubtedly the finest field guide that has ever been produced", and "the last great bird book of the 20th century".
It was originally published in Swedish and Danish in 1999, and in English in hardback in the same year, and later in paperback. A large-format English edition has also been produced, as has a German and Dutch edition. The first edition was translated to 14 European languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch and German.
A second edition, revised and enlarged, was published in January 2010. A series of updates and corrections were made in 2015, with no change to the edition number.
The cover of the first edition, in all formats, depicts a barn owl. On the second edition, this was replaced by an arctic tern.
Cover of the first edition
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15538546
Eleven pages of introductory material are followed by the book's main content: 366 pages of text and colour paintings. The text for each species gives brief status notes, followed by a section detailing identification, and concludes with a section on voice. Accompanying most species accounts is a small colour map showing breeding, wintering and migrant range.
The guide is also available as a paid-for app, for iPhone and Android devices. The app includes all of the text and images from the print edition, as well as audio recordings. Additional data can be bought separately; the first such package being a set of distribution maps for 271 species, from the British Trust for Ornithology's Bird Atlas 2007–11.
All versions cover Europe, North Atlantic islands, much of North Africa and the Middle East.
Most of the species covered in the main part of the guide are regular breeding, wintering or migrant species in its area of coverage, although some vagrants are also included. There are additional sections giving brief accounts of (a) vagrants and (b) introduced breeding species and species recorded only as escapes.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Many bird watchers around the world know this book simply as “The Svensson”
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Places to visit
Hoylake
We started with an outing with RSPB, looking for waders along King´s Gap Road. Before coming here you need to check out the time for the high water. At low water you cannot see the birds as they are far away. You should come here when the tide pushing the birds ashore.
RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands
The gateway to the Dee Estuary reserve, Burton Mere Wetlands straddles the border between England and Wales with a mosaic of freshwater wetland habitats, mixed farmland and woodland. The area is bursting with wildlife, hosting avocets, egrets, harriers, noisy redshanks, swallows and swifts. Read more HERE
Find your way around Burton Mere Wetlands with this trail map and information from RSBP, click HERE The nature reserve is very well worth visiting.
RSPB Dee Estuary nature reserve - Parkgate
We came here for the Hen Harrier Day. Click HERE to read more about the Hen Harrier Day. This is from the BLOG “Wild about Birds” Check it out by clicking HERE
The Parkgate reserve is a vast saltmarsh beside a former seaside promenade. This unique setting provides the perfect combination of stunning landscapes, rich wildlife and excellent eateries. Come at high tide if possible, when you can see the ducks, geese, wading birds and birds of prey up close.
RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve
Leighton Moss boasts the largest reed bed in north-west England and is home to a wide range of spectacular wildlife including otters, bearded tits, marsh harriers, egrets and red deer.
See for yourself! Visit the hides, explore the trails and enjoy amazing views from the Sky Tower. Read more by clicking HERE
Find your way around RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve with this trail map and information from RSBP, click HERE The nature reserve is very well worth visiting.
Sefton Park
Sefton Park is a public park in south Liverpool, England. The park is in a district of the same name, located roughly within the historic bounds of the large area of Toxteth Park. Neighbouring districts include modern-day Toxteth, Aigburth, Mossley Hill, Wavertree and St Michael's Hamlet.
The park is 235 acres (0.95 km2) in area and is designated by English Heritage at Grade I in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Liverpool RSPB is no stranger to Sefton Park; we regularly hold events in the Palm House such as the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch and Feed the birds day. Visits are also included in our annual outdoor field trips.
The Hyde Park of Liverpool is teeming with wildlife. The park, with its large fields, wooded areas, lakes and ponds acts as a haven for wildlife.
The streams, ponds and lake in Sefton Park are home to a variety of water birds. Graceful Mute Swans swim alongside flocks of Canada geese in the main lake. While around the numerous islands and in the smaller ponds found throughout the park, varieties of duck can be found such as mallard and tufted duck, as well as moorhens, coots, herons, gt crested and Little Grebes, cormorant and even mandarin have been seen in the park. Various gulls squabble on the lakes, always worth scanning as rarer gulls such as med gull have been recorded.
Other birds that have made their home in the park include, the house martin which can be seen swooping over the main lake and the surrounding embankments hunting for insects. Numerous woodland & garden birds come to the feeding station and frequent the park, such as robins, sparrows, blackbirds, nuthatches, song and mistle Thrush, treecreeper, goldcrest, blue, gt, coal and long tailed tits and greenfinch, goldfinch and chaffinches.
Larger birds around are magpies, jackdaws, crows, jays, wood pigeons and Woodpeckers. Winter visitors include fieldfare and redwing. Ring neck parakeets are the latest residents and can be seen around the feeding station at the back of the Palm House, listen out for their squeaky dog toy call!
- From RSPB Liverpool Group. Read more at https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/groups/Liverpool/places/341325/#ta9KuiIjAkthbrBh.99
RSPB Marshside Nature Reserve
This fantastic wetland site is located north of Southport town centre and has some of the best wildlife in the region, with amazing year round viewing opportunities. In the summer, you'll spot nesting birds like avocets and lapwings, while the skies fill with pink-footed geese and wigeons in the winter. Read more HERE
Find your way around RSPB Marshside Nature Reserve with this trail map and information from RSBP, click HERE The nature reserve is very well worth visiting.
Ainsdale Beach
The Sefton Coast is one of the largest and most spectacular unspoilt sand dune systems in the country, stretching 20 miles it supports a huge variety of plants and animals. The pine woodlands of Corsican, Austrian, and Scots Pine were planted to protect the dunes and surrounding area in the 19th & 20th centuries by the landowners of the time Charles Weld Blundell and Jonathan Formby.
The habitat ranges from the tidal sand flats, mobile and fixed dunes- ridges and valleys, with wet areas within the dunes or slacks these are low hollows formed by windblown which often fill with fresh water in winter (Formby beach alone has 500 acres of sand dunes) Saltmarsh, and a large area of pine woodland and mixed scrub.
Along the shoreline, particularly during the autumn & winter months, large flocks of several species of waders and gulls can be seen moving and feeding up and down the coast. Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin, Grey, Ringed & Golden Plover, Bar-tailed & Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Curlew, Turnstone, Lapwing, Little Stints, Whimbrel, Ruff, Green, Wood, Common & Curlew Sandpipers. Offshore : Divers, Grebes, Sea-duck, Shearwaters, Auks, Skua & Leach's & Storm Petrels, Fulmar, Gannet, Common & Velvet Scoter, Long-tailed Duck.
In the dunes and woodland, wintering Siskin's, Crossbills, Redpolls, Brambling, Goldcrest, Long Tailed Tit's ,Redwings, Fieldfare and Blackcap. Jack Snipe and Water Rail can be found in the saltmarsh from late October. Snow Buntings, Linnets and Twite are regular winter visitors to the green beach.
- From RSPB Liverpool Group. Read more at https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/groups/Liverpool/places/342566/#cXECui9gglF7GQlt.99
North Wirral coast - Leasowe lighthouse area
The North Wirral Coastal Park, on the Wirral Peninsula, England is a coastal park including public open space, common land, natural foreshore and sand-dunes. The park lies between Dove Point in Meols, and the Kings Parade in New Brighton. From the east end of Meols to New Brighton promenade stretches a large concrete embankment protecting the low lying land behind.
The Leasowe lighthouse conservation area offers a choice for the arriving birdwatcher, a vantage point on the sea wall behind the screens -with great views of the Dee and Mersey estuaries; on a clear day you can scan the waves all the way past the burbo bank wind farm and beyond to the Sefton coast sand dunes.
The embankment gives good viewpoints both at low tide to see the waders and high tide for sea-watching. Or head inland to search through the varied habitat behind the embankment.
The area around Leasowe lighthouse includes scrubland, areas of standing water, a small fishery, wildflower meadows, paddocks and reed beds. Coming out of the car park, to the right of the lighthouse, there is a convergence of 3 paths. Straight ahead takes you down Lingham lane to the popular Lingmere fishery and the river birket -kingfisher and grey wagtail maybe seen here. Furthest right leads down the foot path past the horse paddocks to Park lane and the caravan park. Right follows the coastal embankment/dunes path.
The whole area behind the coastal embankment is a haven for resting migrants and nesting birds. Chiff chaff, willow warbler, whitethroat, spotted flycatcher, blackcap, reed bunting and sedge Warblers are migrants found amongst the more common finches in the shrubs, hedges and reed beds. Swallows, wheatear, whinchat and redstart join linnets, meadow pipits, skylarks and white wagtails, in the paddocks, if you're lucky you may find Ring Ouzel. The Reed bed pools host the usual occupants of coot, moorhen and mallard.
- From RSPB Liverpool Group. Read more at https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/groups/Liverpool/places/345649/#LCdD9EJLL8DqyRfg.99
RSBP South Stack
You'll find South Stack Cliffs on Holy Island in Anglesey, a wonderful reserve made up of heathland and farmland set on a stretch of dramatic sea cliffs which face the islets of South Stack. In spring, guillemots, razorbills and puffins breed on the iconic cliffs. The rare chough can be seen swooping along the cliffs all year round.
Read more HERE
Find your way around RSPB South Stack Cliffs Nature Reserve with this trail map and information from RSBP, click HERE The nature reserve is very well worth visiting.
RSBP Conwy
The Conwy RSPB nature reserve is a wetland on the east bank of the Conwy estuary, created from material dug out during construction of the A55 road tunnel. It is now home to a variety of wildlife, and a great place to introduce families to nature. Read more about RSBP Conwy site HERE
Find your way around RSBP Conwy with this trail map and information from RSBP, click HERE The nature reserve is very well worth visiting if you pass. But don´t bother going here just to go here, then there are much better places.
Bird checklist
I never use any bird lists, but since I try to make it in to Cloudbirders. A very helpful site when planning your birding trips. But they ask for a bird checklist, and if I use their service, of course I want to contribute as well. My two first bird watching trip reports was rejected by Cloudbirders.
So I started to take ideas from the reports I found on Cloudbirders. So I have started to use bird lists, eBird generate one for me and I can post it on Cloudbirders. I will post my birds on eBird and on my different “BIRDS THAT I HAVE OBSERVED” pages.
Check lists can come in handy to find out the local name of the bird etc. And Avibase have a list with pictures and sounds, excellent!
So I will post bird checklists here and if my Guides provide me with checklists I will also post them here.
North West England bird checklist from Avibase, click HERE - eBird version 2018
Avibase is providing you with bird checklists from all over the world. And I´m impressed by their web page. Select country and area and you get the bird checklist. Like the PDF files I got from Avibase on the links above. You also get the checklist with pictures and sounds.
The best part is that you get the local names of the birds and the online checklist gives the names in English plus the language you have selected. But it seems like the PDF cannot handle some alphabet.
For example the Japanese language so it is blank in the PDF checklist. But it worked excellent with Swedish. But you get them in the local language on the online version.
My Guide sent me the RSPB Liverpool field checklist and you find it HERE
Bird list
I only listed birds I have got on picture before I started with eBird in November 2019. Now I record all the birds that I can identify. Before that see the DAY TO DAY reports and my lists of observed birds in different countries.
And you can visit my list of “Birds I have seen in United Kingdom”
My eBird checklists can be found HERE
Itinerary
Click on the links below for daily bird watching results:
Friday 10 Augusti 2018: Flying to Manchester
Saturday 11 Augusti 2018: Outing with RSPB in Hoylake and brid watching at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands
Sunday 12 Augusti 2018: Hen Harrier Day at RSPB Dee Estuary nature reserve
Monday 13 Augusti 2018: Bird watching at RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve
Tuesday 14 Augusti 2018: Bird watching at Sefton Park, RSPB Marshside and Ainsdale Beach
Wednesday 15 Augusti 2018: Bird watching at North Wirral coast - Leasowe lighthouse area
Thursday 16 Augusti 2018: Bird watching at RSBP South Stack and RSBP Conwy
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