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.

Friday, 3 August 2012

Mere insects

Nipped to Martin Mere last night for a couple of hours, well worth it, had a potter around the reedbed walk and hedgerow path and saw two Barn Owls hunting. Nice to hear Yellowhammer singing just off the rerserve and at least eight Pochards and two Green sandpipers on the reedbed pools. Also lots of Gatekeepers, Meadow Brown, Common Darters and Blue-tailed Dameselflies. Nice to see a Broad-bodied Chase too.
Had a meeting this morning at the mere and managed an hour in the hides at lunctime with birding pal Nick Godden, who I hadn't seen for a bit, given that he's currently doing an internship with RSPB in Staffordshire. Nick had seen two Marsh Harriers and Raven before I arrived and together we saw  nine Ruff, c. 70 Black-tailed Godwits, Green Sandpiper, 115 Teal and 140 Swifts. Lapwing numbers building up nicely on the reserve. A probable Osprey over Scarisbrick Hall but very distant and we were scopeless. Oh well.

Common Darters. Martin Mere 02/08/12

Broad-bodied Chaser (left) and Blue-tailed Damselfly (right). Martin Mere 02/08/12

Meadow Bown (above) and Gatekeeper (below). Martin Mere 02/08/12


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1 comment:

  1. cliff6 August 2012 at 19:16

    Love that photo of the 5 Darters on the post, what a great find that was. I think your Broad-bodied chaser is actually a Black-tailed Skimmer.

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