Group trip

Nine of us decided to meet up and slip over the border into Cheshire this morning to visit RSPB Inner Marsh Farm. It's a lovely little reserve, if you've not been you should consider it if you're in the area. We saw lots and lots of Lapwing, 3 or 4 Black-tailed Godwit and a similar number of Dunlin. There were Pink-footed and Greylag Geese and away in the distance some intriguing but unidentifiable swans. We hatched a plan to move on from Inner Marsh and try for a better view of the swans from Shotton but first we went to Burton Marsh for a "raptor-fest". On show were 2 Peregrines, 2 Merlins, Marsh Harrier, 3 HenHarriers and 2 Buzzards. There were also Gadwall and Shoveler to be seen. When we got to Shotton we got excellent views of 65 Bewick and 26 Whooper Swans, a real treat. Then it was on to Pensarn. There were 1,000s of Common Scoter but the tide was well out, they were so far away that picking out their Velvet cousins amongst them proved too difficult. There were also lots of Great-crested Grebes and Red-throated Divers. Finally we moved along to Kinmel Bay where we were treated to superb views of 4 Snow Buntings.