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.

Wednesday 15 April 2015

Afternoon delight

A potter around the local lanes this afternoon turned out to be productive. Five wheatears in ploughed  fields along Mere Lane followed by 77 white wagtails, 10 pied wagtails, a yellow wagtail and another wheatear along Cross Meanygate. Blackcap, chiffchaff and nuthatch singing in the small copses provided a truly spring like soundtrack.

                                             Female wheatear

An initial visit to Lathom farm (on Meadow Lane) produced a copulating pair of oystercatchers, grey partridges and a singing yellowhammer, a singing blackcap and sand martin over. A look further up Meadow Lane produced seven wheatears, two hunting barn owls, a pair of ravens and a pair of curlews.


                                                    Barn owl
On the way home another quick look over Lathom farm from the Eller Brook bridge revealed eight wheatears on the field immediately to the south.
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