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Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB
Saturday 23rd Feb
Mild Sunny with slight breeze
A party of 17 members met one of the wardens plus a volunteer in the car park of Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB Nature Reserve on Saturday the 23rd of February. It was a fine day but there was a breeze.
A donation of £4.00 per person was collected for the RSPB.
The Reserve had been purchased in 2006 the section to the east being purchased later.
We set off west to the site of the screen, that got blown away last year when the beast from the east occurred, where we viewed the area.
We next started walking east along an embankment, that was not open to the public, to gain access to another embankment going out towards the Ribble Estuary.
At the end of embankment we went to the left to a gate. The embankment had been breached here to allow the Ribble ingress to flood the Marsh.
As it wasn't high tide we sat behind the embankment out of he wind to eat our lunch. This gave us a lovely views across the Ribble to Warton.
A female Merlin was seen perched just out on the Marsh, then it flew right in front of us and gave us fantastic views. It finally perched in the top of a tree in the inner Marsh. A male flew over the car park and perched on a hedge.
There was another embankment breach further along the embankment to the east so both sections of Marsh were seen to flooded at high tides.
After high tide at 13.45 we set of back along the embankment going south. Both sections of the embankment were now covered in water. It was a spectacular sight.
On the way back could see small birds perched in the flooded bushes and hedge alongside the return path. Reed Bunting, Tree Sparrow and Stonechat.
Back in the car park a lone Marsh Harrier flew over as a climax to a lovely and enjoyable day.
Thank you Alex the Warden and Rob for making the day really enjoyable with lots of wildlife to view.
Thank you for images from
Sheila Roseman
Kevin Livesey
Graham Thomas Feb2019
Saturday 23rd Feb
Mild Sunny with slight breeze
A party of 17 members met one of the wardens plus a volunteer in the car park of Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB Nature Reserve on Saturday the 23rd of February. It was a fine day but there was a breeze.
A donation of £4.00 per person was collected for the RSPB.
The Reserve had been purchased in 2006 the section to the east being purchased later.
We set off west to the site of the screen, that got blown away last year when the beast from the east occurred, where we viewed the area.
We next started walking east along an embankment, that was not open to the public, to gain access to another embankment going out towards the Ribble Estuary.
At the end of embankment we went to the left to a gate. The embankment had been breached here to allow the Ribble ingress to flood the Marsh.
As it wasn't high tide we sat behind the embankment out of he wind to eat our lunch. This gave us a lovely views across the Ribble to Warton.
A female Merlin was seen perched just out on the Marsh, then it flew right in front of us and gave us fantastic views. It finally perched in the top of a tree in the inner Marsh. A male flew over the car park and perched on a hedge.
There was another embankment breach further along the embankment to the east so both sections of Marsh were seen to flooded at high tides.
After high tide at 13.45 we set of back along the embankment going south. Both sections of the embankment were now covered in water. It was a spectacular sight.
On the way back could see small birds perched in the flooded bushes and hedge alongside the return path. Reed Bunting, Tree Sparrow and Stonechat.
Back in the car park a lone Marsh Harrier flew over as a climax to a lovely and enjoyable day.
Thank you Alex the Warden and Rob for making the day really enjoyable with lots of wildlife to view.
Thank you for images from
Sheila Roseman
Kevin Livesey
Graham Thomas Feb2019
| Mute Swan pr Canada Goose 50+ Shelduck 30+ Mallard Shoveller 6+ Wigeon 1000+ Teal 4+ Pheasent Cormorant 5+ Little Egret 5+ Grey Heron 2 Marsh Harrier 1 Com Buzzard 1 Merlin pr Coot 50+ Oystercatcher 200+ Redshank 50+ Curlew 10+ Golden Plover 8+ Lapwing 200+ | Black Hd Gull 50+ Herring Gull 10+ Lesser Blk Bk Gull 5+ Grt Blk Bk Gull 2 Wood Pigeon Carrion Crow 10+ Jackdaw 10+ Magpie 2 Skylark 10+ Starling 500+ Blackbird 1 Stonechat 2m Tree Sparrow 1 Meadow Pipit 10+ Linnet 1 Reed Bunting 4 Brown Hare |