On a fine Autumn morning, 14 of us set off from the car park in Marles Wood to the sound of woodland birds calling in the treetops above us. Upon reaching the 'Sale Wheel' bend in the River Ribble we saw a Grey Heron braving the flow of the river in search of his breakfast, whilst Black-headed Gulls and Carrion Crows occupied the fields beyond. A calling Buzzard had us all searching above the treeline with us all getting great views of the bird. Carrying on along the River Ribble, the views of the autumnal colours in the trees were fantastic. Both Pied and Grey wagtails were spotted hunting together along the rocky edge of the river, blending in very well. 
A highlight of the walk was the many female Goosanders that we saw congregating together, a very nice bird to have seen. We had lunch at Dinkley Bridge, watching  a Jay fly between trees across the river, before retracing our steps back to the car park. A Kingfisher was briefly seen and heard at the Sale Wheel but unfortunately had flown on before many of us had gotten to see it. A full list of species seen can be found below:

​Mallard 10+
Goosander 4+ (female)
Grey Heron
Common Buzzard
Moorhen
Black Headed Gull
Herring Gull 2
Wood Pigeon 5+
Kingfisher 1
Carrion Crow 30+
Jackdaw 30+
Rook 10+
Magpie 2
Jay 1
Blue Tit h
Nuthatch h
Wren h
Robin h
Blackbird 1
Pied Wagtail 4+
Grey Wagtail 1
Chaffinch h
Grey Squirrel 1
Red Admiral 1
h=heard only

Six of us gathered on a lovely, sunny autumnal day. Knowing that bearded tits had been regularly seen over the last couple of weeks, we made our way first to the causeway. Alas, despite waiting patiently we didn’t see any! We carried on into the hide, where we saw plenty of shoveler, gadwall & coots. We also had cracking views of both male and female marsh harrier as they flew over the hide. We then made our way back to the Lillian hide where we saw more waterfowl. Most of us had our lunch there, as we sat surveying the peaceful scene. From there we went to the Grizedale hide, stopping on the way at another clearing for bearded tits – but again, none were seen. Just after we entered the hide a female marsh harrier flew over, flushing out about 10 common snipe which flew round twice before settling down into the greenery out of sight. From the Tim Jackson hide we had good views of 5 red deer lying down in the grass enjoying the sunshine and both great white egret and little egret almost side by side. We then drove down to the estuary hides and saw many waders, though the sun in the west sometimes made viewing difficult.
We had a flock of about 30 common snipe, some in the open quite close to the hide, greenshank, and one green sandpiper, amongst many others. A most enjoyable day – despite the lack of bearded tits!
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Species: Marsh Harrier, Shoveler, Gadwall, Coot, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Little Grebe, Black-headed
Gull, Teal, Mallard, Buzzard, Grey Heron, Lesser Black-back, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Robin,
Pheasant, Common Snipe, Little Egret, Great White Egret, Avocet, Lapwing, Starling, Green Sandpiper,
Redshank, Red Breasted Merganser, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Greenshank
Red Deer