This is our latest newsletter to keep everyone abreast of all that’s happening in our Society. Our season carried on in December with a morning’s birding at Marbury (bird news later in the newsletter) followed by a Christmas lunch at the Spinner & Bergamot in Comberbach.

Indoor Meetings

On Friday 13th December Paul Hill talked about ‘Tarifa – Gateway to Africa’. Tarifa in Southern Spain is famous for the numbers of birds that pass through on their way to and from North Africa during migration, both in spring and autumn but Paul had made a few visits, primarily in the autumn.

He talked about the huge numbers of birds which pass through – up to half a million with great numbers of White Stork, Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, Booted and Short Toed Eagle. There are a few vantage points along the coast between Tarifa and Algeciras where you can watch the spectacle of these birds rising on the thermals to drift slowly across to Africa and the best time is usually between 10.00am and 1.00pm. The rest of the day can be spent at other birdwatching sites close to the town, including saltpans with birds like Greater Flamingo, Black Winged Stilt and other waders, a hilly area inland with nesting Griffon Vulture, reclaimed agricultural land with Cattle Egret, Fan Tailed Warbler, Wheatears, Wagtails and up to 6 species of larks, a coastal area with Sanderling, Ringed & Kentish Plover plus lots of gulls including the very sought after Audouin’s Gull, and rice fields with Little & Great Egrets plus Squacco Heron. 

On one of his trips out there, Paul also took a trip out to sea to look for cetaceans and ended up with one of the highlights of his trips, a Sperm Whale. Paul gave a really entertaining talk with great photographs.

Unfortunately, our December (10th) talk on ‘Shetland’ by David Tolliday had to be cancelled due to adverse weather – with lying snow and freezing conditions. We are hoping to reschedule David to come at a later date.

Our February talk (14th) is John Gardner on ‘Dalmatian Pelicans in Greece’. Photographing wildlife is how John got started in photography and he spent a few days in Northern Greece at Lake Kerkini National Park photographing over-wintering Dalmatian Pelicans, the largest of the pelicans.

The March talk (14th) is ‘What’s That Raptor’ by Keith Offord. Raptors are some of the most exciting but elusive of our bird groups and the views we get are quite often fleeting or distant specks. They pose some of the greatest identification challenges. This talk takes a close look at raptor identification and all the clues that can help pinpoint the species accurately. All the major groups are studied with the help of a wealth of images.

Mid-week GroupTrips

After a few sadly had to dropout, only 7 sturdy souls turned up on 10th December for the trip to Marbury, pre the Christmas lunch, ably led by Ged. All were well wrapped up against a chilly wind blowing across the mere. The highlight was an unexpected juvenile Marsh Harrier over the reed bed with a few Great Crested Grebes and Cormorants on the mere. They also had good views of Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Jay, Bullfinch and Treecreeper on the woodland walk. Sadly the Hawfinch, present for a few weeks, stayed hidden but 36 species were seen in total.

The January (14th) trip was to RSPB Burton Mere on the Dee estuary led by Stephen. A bumper crowd of 15 turned up for the trip and the snow & ice of the previous week had all cleared. One of the first birds was a Kingfisher from the visitor centre along with a Great White Egret on the main scrape. There were hundreds of Pink-footed Geese on the outlying fields. Other birds seen were Cetti’s Warbler, Stonechat and a small group moved on to Burton Marsh where the highlights were Kestrel, Marsh and Hen Harrier. 

A group total of 52 birds was an excellent start to the year.

The February (18th) trip is to Pennington Flash which is led by Ged. Pennington is one of the best sites in the north-west for Willow Tit and there is also a good chance of Water Rail & Kingfisher along with a variety of woodland birds at the feeding station and an array of waterfowl on the flash. There’s also a new cafe for those suitably inclined!

The trip in March (18th) is to Leasowe and the leader is Stephen where there will hopefully be hundreds of waders on the shoreline including Grey Plover, Knot and Godwits. There will also be a chance of early migrants around the paddocks by the lighthouse in the form of wheatears, hirundines and pipits.

Weekend GroupTrips

The December (15th) trip was to the Dee Estuary and led by Graham, when 8 members started off at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands, moving to Denhall Lane and ending up at Parkgate. 

There were big numbers of wildfowl at BMW including Pink Footed and Egyptian Goose, Wigeon, Teal & Pintail plus waders with a big flock of Black Tailed Godwits along with Lapwing, Ruff and Curlew. As is usual on the Dee these days there were numerous Great and Little Egrets and passerines included Kingfisher, Cetti’s Warbler, Redpoll and Siskin. 

Further Egrets were seen at Denhall Lane plus Water Rail and Peregrine. Highlights of the day were male & female Hen Harriers plus numerous Marsh Harriers coming in to the roost at Parkgate plus Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and another Peregrine. The day stayed dry with the sun peeping out in the afternoon and we left as the light faded, an enjoyable day with 64 species seen.

The January 12th trip to North Wales was cancelled because of the weather and has now been rearranged for Sunday 2nd February and will be led by Ray. We are meeting on the front at Llanfairfechan and birding at various points along the coast. Hopefully we will see divers, some of the rarer grebes, sea-duck like Common, Velvet & Surf Scoters, Long- tailed Duck and Purple Sandpiper plus Dipper & Grey Wagtail.

The February (16th) trip is to RSPB Leighton Moss up near Carnforth and will be led by Graham. The reserve has extensive waterways and reedbeds and there is a great chance of seeing Bittern, Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit, Marsh Tit and great numbers of wildfowl and waders, plus Otter!

The March (20th – 23rd) trip is a weekend in Norfolk for members only, led by Ray. Fourteen of us are booked on the trip and will be staying at a hotel in King’s Lynn. We will visit many different sites, and Norfolk in winter/spring has a great number of wildfowl, geese & ducks. We have a great chance of many specialties – Hawfinch, Shorelark, Dartford Warbler, Woodlark, Corn Bunting, Marsh & Hen Harrier plus many others.

So we look forward to seeing you all again at Hartford Village Hall, and/or one of our field trips. Wishing you all a wonderful New Year, and we hope your 2025 birding exploits are all that you wish them to be.

Ray and Andrew on behalf of the MCOS Committee

Have A Happy Warm Winter’s Birding!