Newsletter August 2025
RSPB Wigan Local Group
Newsletter
August 2025
Contact details for Wigan Local RSPB group
Membership and newsletter distribution
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Minutes Secretary and Treasurer
Christine Burrows
Email: caburrows29@gmail.com
Mobile: 07871 195280
Home: 01257 422238
Saturday full day outings and Group Contact
Neil Martin
Email: neimaz07@yahoo.co.uk
Mobile: 07950 137165
Website and newsletter managers
David Johnson
Email: David.johnson9192@gmail.com
Mobile: 07485 690118
Home: 01257 473009
Indoor Meetings
Anne Wooff
Mobile: 07891 965615
Other outdoor event leaders
Doreen Marriot
Mobile: 07707 036479
Home: 01942 712766
Kath Jones
Home: 01695 624860
Mike Towey
Mobile: 07518 789539
Duncan Turner
Mobile 07906 6638554
If you change your email address, mobile phone number or home phone number then please contact one of the committee members, detail above, so that we can update our records.
Web: Rspb.org.uk/groups/wigan,
If you no longer wish to hear from the Wigan RSPB Local Group, please contact a committee member, confirming your name and address and stating that you wish to unsubscribe from the Wigan RSPB Local Group’s communications
Editorial 1
As I look back now in June 2025, the club has continued, albeit with a reduced membership but we have managed to increase the funds available thanks to the work of Ann Woolf in finding speakers who have covered a variety of subjects, and not necessarily just related to birds and birding. This coming programme follows a similar vein . We are still looking for people to help out in the club, from being on the committee to just helping out at indoor meetings. It has been decided that due to the lack of people attending the Wednesday walks these will be dropped from the programme but if people are still interested in going out on the Wednesday then speak to Doreen at the meetings to see if anything could/can be arranged at the last minute.
The weekend outdoor meetings have attracted more members and in some cases has reached double figures, something not seen for many years. The one thing that has constantly be said by people attending is that they have benefited from being with experienced people who have helped them to identify birds more easily, increasing their enjoyment but also giving them confidence on holidays to look for new birds to identify.
Note from Christine Burrows – Treasurer
Hello members,
I am pleased to advise that our Speaker Secretary, Anne Wooff has put together another great indoor programme for 2025/26.
9th September – Isabella Donohue – From Weasel to Badger
14th October – Dennis Atherton – Birding in the Outer Hebrides
11th November – Harold Dauby – Bats
13th January – Nike Taylor – Back into Birding
10th February – Alan Bedford – How Esturies work for Birds
10th March – Paul Hill – Seabirds and Cetaceans
We have a few new speakers this coming year together with Isabella Donohue from the Wildlife Trust who gave us a talk on peatlands last year. Dennis Atherton, an old favourite speaker is giving a talk on birding in the Outer Hebrides and finally Harold Dauby on bats. Do not expect any fancy photographs. Harold lives and breathes bats and fully engages with his audience to give fascinating facts about bats.
I will be available to take cash or cheques at meetings or members can pay their membership subscription of £10 for single membership and £15 for joint by bank transfer:
RSPB Wigan Local Group Lloyds Bank 30-90-79 Account No. 34339860
Or, send a cheque to payable to: RSPB Wigan Local Group to:
C. Burrows, 29 Brookside Road, Standish, Wigan, WN1 2TZ.
We thank members for their continued support without which we cannot hold indoor meetings. As usual we will continue to hold a raffle and offer tea/coffee and biscuits at meetings.
Outdoor monthly Saturday meetings are currently well supported but no monthly Wednesday meetings have been arranged this year on a regular basis. However we will be holding an outdoor meeting on a Wednesday in December at Borsdane Wood followed by a light lunch at the Gerrard. Details will be sent out by email in November.
Neil’s newsletter will be available on line prior to our first meeting in September and a few printed copies will be available at the first meeting.
Please assist if possible to set up chairs for meetings and sign in for safety reasons.
We look forward to welcoming members old and new at our evening meetings.
Christine Burrows – Treasurer
Editorial 2
As we do not know how many newsletters will be produced this coming season, please forgive us for covering the whole indoor and outdoor meetings in this one newsletter. I had hoped last year to produce 2 but following my car breaking down in January I had to work from home for 3 months and with it attempting to balance 4 computers on a desk made for one this became a non-starter.
The outdoor programme will follow a similar pattern to previous years, but as the tides are not as favourable for 2026 there will be more emphasis on inland sites to be visited.
Resume of the 2024/25 outdoor trips.
The season kicked off with a visit to Burton Marsh and returning waders such as Curlew Sandpiper along with both Little and Great Egret, the Cattle Egret were having an away day so were missed.
As autumn progressed into early Winter the bad weather continued but Pink Feet Geese and Whooper Swans arrived providing good views and light relief.
As we moved into the new year the weather did not improve, but a trip to Marshside provided close views of Snow Bunting (quite a regular over the last few years and quite tame) along with Juvenile Spoonbill and Kingfisher.
The Welsh coast was not as obliging as previous years but did provide both Red and Black Throated divers along with Guillemots and at Rhos-on-Sea Purple Sandpipers sat back and allowed photographers prime views, numbers were up this year to 11.
Although the Wyre and Fylde Coast did not provide any Bewick’s Swans, winter visitors migrated back to the north early, there were plenty of Whoopers and Mute Swans along with a large flock of Golden Plover, a couple of Sand Martins and a Spotted Redshank at Condor Green and some Eider on the estuary.
As the weather started to improve so did the birding and Leasowe provided some good birds, including close views of 4 Whinchats. Migration appeared to be a bit sporadic but was a reflection of the early weather. By the time May arrived the weather had improved considerably and Lower Borrowdale did not disappoint, Pied Flycatchers feeding young, Redstarts and Tree Pipits. The Green Woodpecker was calling in the distance but was being shy. Barbondale gave up Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher but the Pied Flycatchers appear to have fledged young and left by late June. Early fledging would appear to have been the norm this year, the warm spring followed by hot weather into Summer increased the number of insects and the birds took advantage of this.
Foulshaw now hosts 2 pairs of Osprey with the second pair being a lot closer to a viewing platform. St.Aidens was another considerably hot day and by this time the pools were drying up, as a result the Black Necked Grebes were hiding in the reeds, though one was eventually found, along with a Garganey, the low water levels did mean that the Bittern had to fly a considerable distance between it’s nest and pools for feeding and therefore provided great views. The weather at St Aidens was so hot that the Little Owl spent the day in the shade and so only his back was visible.
Cornwall October 2024
In October myself and Kath decided to have a week down in Cornwall, a part of the country neither of us had visited for more years than we could remember. We stayed just outside St Austell in an old church ministers house on the coast, with the obligatory smugglers tunnel in the cellar, currently blocked off, which the owners are hoping to restore and re-open. This was to be a combination of birding, gardens and visiting a friend who moved down to Cornwall about 15years earlier.
Although October can be good for birding there were not many sightings when we set off, the Booted Eagle, which had been around for most of the summer had disappeared, Black Redstarts seemed to be non-existent and the weather forecast was not particularly brilliant.
On the first day a report of a Red-flanked Bluetail not far from the Lizard had us driving to the end of the peninsular, along with a number of other birders. A very brief view was afforded before it also disappeared and disappointed a number of people. As we were in the area we decided to go down to the Lizard and a National Trust car park, passing through the village on the way, which gave up a Rosy Starling. At the car park the day was progressing and we only originally intended stopping for a look and a cup of coffee, but as we looked over the sea we could see a number of birds diving and feeding, around 3-400 yards off shore. The scope soon revealed the presence of Manx, Cory’s and Great Shearwaters, along with Gannets and other sea birds and so time slipped by as we were entertained picking the individual birds out and watching what they were doing.
One of the key reasons for visiting Cornwall was to visit both the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligoland, and so we allocated a day for each one. For those into gardening they are a must and provide a full-days viewing and learning, as well as retail therapy. Both of these places are owned by the same person and so there is some cross-over where possible. Although late in the season the Gardens at Heligoland were still spectacular. A further place to visit is the Church at St Just in Roseland, the graveyard is rated as one of the top gardens in the UK and well worth a visit. There is only a small car park with a nominal charge with the monies going to it’s upkeep but the added bonus is that if you walk past the church to the coastal path then it is possible to find Cirl Buntings and at the time of the year Yellow-Browed Warblers. A small café is being built at the Church so the potential is increased.
As stated above one of Kath’s friends moved to Cornwall around 15 years previously and so on one day she decided to go and visit her at Looe and also this gave me a day to myself. She had a day of glorious sunshine whist I visited Crowdy Reservoir, on the north coast, and had a day of fog, rain, snow and sunshine!!!
Why Crowdy Reservoir? Great Grey Shrike have been known to be found there and on that particular day was easily visible, along with the large number of birders. Parking was along the Roadside and in amongst a conifer forest, so as well as the shrike Crossbills constantly crossed from one side of the road to the other, providing clear views. Further on from the reservoir there is an abandoned airfield and so I moved on to see if there were any Golden Plover, of which there were none, but I did manage to locate the Olive-Backed Pipit that had just been found that morning.
Deciding to cross back across the peninsular via the country lanes it soon became clear that narrow roads were the norm and, in some cases hair-raising. Meeting an articulated HGV meant having to reverse for around 100 yards to find a suitable space to pull into and the number of tractors were incalculable. Eventually I decided it was time for a late lunch and so managed to find a side road up to a restaurant with flat areas to pull off onto to park. Just as I was finishing lunch a bird starting to flycatch from a nearby tree and so intrigued decided to take a closer look. Eventually the bird sat for a short while providing a clear view of a Red-Breasted Flycatcher.
Returning to Looe and to pick up Kath I had a chance to do some sea watching, well they were still chatting, and managed to pick up both Mediterranean and Sabine’s Gull.
On the last day we decided to do the tourist thing and go down to Land’s End. Thick fog along with high winds prevailed and although a Black Redstart had been reported it was definitely not in sight, though a pair of Chough did show. As the crowds began to grow we decided to go to the small village of Porthgwarra. The road down was again narrow but at the end there is a small car park, enterprising locals have set up a café and is also a good place to seawatch, and both Manx and Cory’s Shearwaters passed by. We were hoping to find a Yellow-Browed Warbler but found a Siberian Stonechat instead.
Next time we will probably go down in Spring/Early Summer to see the gardens at the best, but not in school holiday time.
Bird-Finder
Manx Shearwater
Cemlyn Bay is re-knowned for it’s tern colony, but early morning can also provide close views of Manx Shearwaters. By walking to the headland and settling down either by the wall or in one of the inlets on some days even a pair of binoculars will be sufficient to get close views. In June, when all the terns are present, then viewing, up to around 11.00 will provide several hundred birds, and close inspection might reveal Sooty and Balearic Shearwaters, plenty of Gannets and a possible skua species.
European Storm Petrel & Leachs Petrel
A high tide in September and October at Point of Ayr, if possible combined with strong on shore winds are likely to provide close views of both European Storm Petrel and Leach’s Petrel.
Lesser White-fronted Geese
There has been a re-introduction programme in Sweden for this rare species, and last winter saw large numbers winter on Ken Hill Marshes, if the birds feel that the habitat is for them it is likely they will return next and continuing years.
Firecrest
This diminutive cousin of our Goldcrest is normally looked for in winter, at a couple of known locations, mostly in the south, but it is thought there are around 2,000 pairs breeding in this country. They have also adapted to look for protection, and the best way to find them, again mostly in the south, is to find a Goshawk nest then to check the surrounding area, up to 200yrds, for the Firecrests. A Goshawk will not allow any other predators in is area and so drives out those that would prey on the Firecrest, ie Sparrowhawk etc. The Firecrest is too small for a Goshawk so is safe. Some Firecrest have been found to use the underside of a Goshawks nest for it’s own nest.
Pallid Harrier
Although a male has been found a couple of time in the Dunsop Valley over previous years they have not stayed around, however, a female has started over-wintering not far from Wells-next-to-the-sea in Norfolk and can often be found travelling up and down the coast during the day, including a couple of years ago at Titchwell.
Purple Sandpiper
New Brighton (Wirral) and Rhos-on-Sea (North Wales) are both good places to see these winter visitors. High tide is the best time, when they will be driven up to perches which can be easily seen and photographed.
Little Tern
Gronant beach is the closest and best place to see these diminutive terns. Parking is in the village of Gronant followed by a walk of around 1 mile across a dune system which hosts Skylark, Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warblers and Linnets. The site is watched over by an RSPB volunteer throughout the breeding time so are able to provide a great deal of information, there are several viewing platforms and a hide.
Roseate Tern
Although the bulk of the Roseate Terns that breed in the UK are on Coquet Island in Northumberland, one or two pairs have started using Cemlyn Bay on Anglesey. Volunteers at the site are always happy to help find these birds amongst the Sandwich, Common, and Artic Terms, along with normally around 2-3 pairs of Mediterranean Gull.