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River Resident to Blackpool Breeding Bird – the interesting case of the roof nesting Grey Wagtails
Above is the view from where I park on East Topping Street in Blackpool on workdays. There are three of four bays which are arranged so that you are unlikely to get hit by stray car doors, and there’s the bonus of this fantastic street art. Quite often there’s also the sharp call of a…
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Out Skerries – 2021 In Review
I’m not normally a big fan of annual reviews before Auld Lang Syne has been sung. There’s no birding being done on Skerries though so it seems pretty safe to say stumps have been drawn. If any of the residents turn up a Bittern or Glossy Ibis on the burn in the next few days…
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Geese – Full Colour And Monochrome
I wasn’t expecting to blog about today’s birding simply because I wasn’t expecting to do any birding today given other commitments. But on our way between staging a junior parkrun and Afternoon Tea at Morecambe’s Midland Hotel I spied geese by the A586. Jane was kind enough to let me pull in at Larbreck Gardens…
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Patch Profile – Kincraig Lake
Kincraig Lake is a body of water in the middle of a Council housing estate in Blackpool. If you were driving past you probably wouldn’t even know it was there, and it isn’t particularly well watched. But I watch it more than most and over the years I have had some memorable moments. Whilst it…
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Danes On The Docks
Preston Dock is a popular place for people to take in the views across the water whilst eating their fast food. Gulls with similar tastes loiter during the day, before their numbers are swelled by others coming in to roost or bathe pre-roost. Over the years many Black-headed Gulls have been caught by hand and…
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Book Review – Confessions Of A Scilly Birdman
On nature writing courses I attended earlier in the year I was told it was good practice to review the efforts of other authors. Light hearted tomes from 1985 may be an unorthodox place to start book reviews on this blog but I’ve just read David Hunt’s autobiography so here goes. The titles of each…
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‘Seagulls’ in Blackpool and Blackpool Culture
Excerpts from a ‘fragmented’ essay I wrote earlier in the year. 1 – In May 2020 a Herring Gull was photographed at a Blackpool KFC drive through with a crossbow bolt through its body. It survived at least nine months despite the trauma and was regularly seen by customers and the general public. The bird…
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Late To The Party
I’ve not blogged in the past, but having got involved with creative writing about nature over the last year I’ve decided to set something up where I can share this as well as bird and wildlife news and views. I may as well start with something of wider interest. In mid October I went to…