Making the most of my break from work, I went to Mere Sands Wood at Rufford, near Ormskirk (about 8 miles north east of Liverpool)

I'd heard about it many times from fellow birders and from various forums on the internet, and knew that it is a prized birdwatchers paradise.

It would only take 1 hour to travel from my home in Blackpool to Rufford, (which by the way, is a beautifully picturesque village, complete with canal and long boat marina) and then a 30 min walk from...

I paid an early afternoon visit to Marton mere this afternoon in glorious sunshine. The reserve was full of birders, walkers and families all enjoying the good weather.

There were about 6 Mute Swans on the mere along with nesting Greylag geese, lots of Black-headed gulls and about 8 Lesser black-backed gulls and numerous Common gulls.

The Coots were chasing each other whilst the Moorhens preferred the reedbed edges, where they were popping in and out, tending their nests...

I need to get out more - nothing to do with birding, just a fact .

Being a non-driver, I'm back and forth between Marton Mere and Stanley Park, or anywhere walkable or bussable. I've become fond of my local patches - they serve me well.

But I've read about another world out there and had a hankering to go a explorering

Leighton Moss, in the north of Lancashire at Silverdale, near Arnside & Carnforth, had been alluring me for some time....

I've been working over Easter and was feeling a bit jealous of the nice weather people were enjoying here in Blackpool. But what the hey! I've now got 11 days off - hurrah

I was a bit of a whirling dervish yesterday, getting all of my chores done so that I could spent the rest of my holiday birding.

So, this morning I was up bright and early at 7am and strode of to my local park and surrounding area, just in time to get rained on from a great height
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I felt a bit like the Grinch today as I decided to go to my local park, having forgotten that it is Easter half term, and found the place heaving with 'the others' (non-birders) and very noisy

I almost turned back to the house, but decided to go once around the lake - just to check. I was horrified to see two motor boats full of screaming kids that had broken through a barrier and were chasing each other in the conservation area, right next to a Great Crested Grebe nest. In another...