About Graham Clarkson

Born & brought up in Marshside, I started birding there in the mid 1970s & made my first birding trip to Martin Mere in 1977. I've lived, worked & birdied in Abu Dhabi, Northern Ireland & Gloucestershire & I've spent time working in Kazakhstan & Madagascar. I enjoy birding my various West Lancashire patches, making frequent birding visits throughout the north-west of England and North Wales. I stray elsewhere in the UK & enjoy birding abroad from time to time. I'm particularly interested in wildfowl (especially pink-footed geese) with an interest in waders & raptors, bird counts & surveys & conservation. I'm trying to get the hang of photography & digiscoping - I'll get there eventually.

My degree from Edge Hill University is in conservation biology. I've guided on numerous birding days out & trips & guided birding holidays to Lesvos, Andalucia, Extremedura, Majorca, Camargue, Hungary, Finland & Florida. I enjoy showing people birds & habitats & helping them learn more about birds & enjoy birding. I'm currently involved with the Birdwatching and Beyond course at Edge Hill and a brand new venture; Skein Birding.

As well as birding I'm interested in captive breeding & reintroduction projects & zoos, how they're managed & how they contribute to conservation. I'm a proud Lancastrian & love the Lancashire countryside & landscapes. I'm an Evertonian & also keep up with what's happening at Southport, PNE & Bristol Rovers. Gardening, dogs (I have a Labrador & a Tibetan Terrier) and keeping chickens (especially Marsh Daisys & Scots Dumpy Bantams). Ruth & I have two marvellous boys who both love nature too. I hope you find the blog and subjects covered interesting; please feel free to leave a comment.

Sunday, 21 October 2012

Playful & YBW join forces in no show

As arranged I went to pick Playful Pete up from Albert Road early this morning but he didn't show. He later let me know that he'd go himself into a bit of a mess celebrating his teams 1.0 demolition of some relegation rivals or other. Peteless, I proceeding on to Marshside where it was a misty and cold start followed by warm sunshine. Lots of geese to look through and I also enjoyed raptor searching, seeing; x3 Merlin, x2 Sparrowhawk (see photo below), x1 Kestrel and x1 Peregrine. As usual Crossens and Marshside were both packed full of flocks of waterbirds. I nipped to Lytham Road for a spot of breakfast, where I got a message from Colin Bushell that he'd found a Yellow-browed Warbler in Birkdale. I downed my brew, scoffed my bacon and met up with Colin and spent an hour or so with him failing to see the YBW, but enjoying some decent conversation and equisite sunshine. Nice to see The Brick, Neill Hunt and Mikey Boy Stocker there too. I nipped back to Marshside to gaze at geese (a pair of Barnacles with the pinks were the only new thing) and soak up the bird-filled ambience.

2SB or is it B2S? a Danish ringed pink-foot that Colin Bushell and I have both seen recently was on Crossens outer this morning. A paired male with no youngsters.

A couple of Sparrowhawks catching a few rays on Marshside saltmarsh this morning
 
Sunrise over Rimmer's marsh at Marshside

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