I revisited Pennington Flash with only two hours available, so divided my time between the Bunting Hide (with feeders) and the Teal and Tom Edmondson hides (for water fowl).

The Bunting hide was lavish in its food offerings, with perhaps the cheekiest little bird being this cute long-tailed tit.

Long-tailed Tit

In fact there were lots of these tiny little birds – they really are delicate little things, and very attractive.

Long-tailed Tits on feeder

Food tables were also well attended:

Blackbird (male)

Pair of bullfinches (male at left)

And even a moorhen had hopped onto a food table

Moorhen, unusually at food table

Other passerines were around the feeding area: chaffinches …

Chaffinch (female)

Chaffinch (male)

… a nuthatch …

Nuthatch

.. a cheeeky reed bunting …

Reed Bunting (male)

… and a Blue tit.

Blue Tit

Water fowl seen included: shovellers

Male and female shovellers

… teal …

a teal

.. and, skulking in the undergrowth, a water rail …

Water Rail (half hidden}

… who eventually revealed himself

Water rail out in the open

Finally, as I was leaving, I saw a male gadwall swimming on the big lake at the entrance.

Gadwall (male)

I went with the Stockport local RSPB group to Tophill Low, south of Scarborough on the Eastern Yorkshire coast. It was a pleasant outing but very overcast and it rained all day. In between the rain showers I was able to take one or two photos.

Tophill Low nature Reserve

This was a mixed site – woodland and wetland – but I only really saw water birds. Here’s a male goldeneye taking to the skies.

Goldeneye taking to the air

And here again, with a lady friend

Male and juv female Goldeneye

A Greylag Goose, one of many we saw ..

Greylag goose

Plenty of curlew around today …

Curlew at the water side

The highlight of the day was a pair of scaup on one of the reservoirs – we knew they were there, but were also –with the aid of spotting scopes– actually able to find them. Here’s a male scaup quacking up a storm about something.

Scaup in the distance

There were plenty of teal on the water – here are a few on a mudbank, with other assorted ducks and swans.

Mixed waterfowl on a mud bank – mainly teal

Swans a plenty too – here’s a Mute Swan cygnet from last year in juvenile plumage and black beak.

A juvenile mute swan

And to finish off, a bit or mallard woohoo – clearly they thought it was spring already.

A pair of mallards engaged in a little woohoo

It was a sunny day and I decided to take the train up to Silverdale, to visit RSPB Leighton Moss. I spent a few hours there and took one or two pictures (see below).

Nothing special, and this is just a photographic record of the some of the birds I photographed on this day (I saw many more species which I did not record).

Great Tit

Black-tailed Godwit (in foreground) with Redshank in rear

Again, Black-tailed Godwit (in foreground) with Redshank in rear. This time the Godwit has something to say for himself.

Redshank

Redshank again

Marsh Tit

Marsh Tit again

Tufted ducks on the prowl – the second from the right is a bit manky, probably a hybrid.

As always, click on a photo to see in slide format, or scroll down for normal view.

My first birding outing back in the UK was to Martin Mere, near Southport. I suppose the plat du jour was the recently hatched Grey-crown Crane:

Juvenile Grey-crowned Crane, Martin Mere

Here’s a reminder of what mother crane looked like, with a close up below of the colourful plumage.

Grey-crowned crane – adult

detail of feathers, grey crowned crane

Here’s a Northern Pintail – looking crisp as the weather I experienced on this visit …

Northern pintail

… and a few friends from Argentina, first the Southern Screamer …

Southern screamer

and below, the Chilean Flamingo …..

Chilean flamingo

… and finally some Muscovy Ducks.

Muscovy ducks

Moving outside the collections area, I didn’t stay very long on this visit as I mistimed train connections, but I did attend feeding time for the Whooper Swans, a main feature of Martin Mere. Below a close-up.

Whooper Swans

Whooper Swan, close up

Other wild birds I saw included a snipe  about his business …

Snipe

A glorious robin singing his heart out ….

Robin

A shelduck …

Common Shelduck

A greenfinch …

Greenfinch

Quite a few reed buntings

Reed Bunting (female)

Reed Bunting (male)

And, back on the shoreside, a lapwing

[Northern] lapwing

Grey Heron

And a ruff, sadly not in breeding plumage but I’ll be back!

Ruff