LANCASHIRE and THE WIRRAL

MON 16 OCTOBER – SUN 22 OCTOBER 2023

MON 21 OCTOBER – SUN 27 OCTOBER 2024

PRICES: from £1645pp

Single supplement: £195 Deposit: £300pp. Max 14 clients. Leader Holly Page, joined by another from our team with more than 7 clients.

Autumn sees a fascinating and often spectacular migration of wintering birds to the wetlands and grasslands of north-west England. Wildfowl and waders will be moving around and passing through as we visit Leighton Moss, Morecambe Bay, the Ribble Estuary, Martin Mere and The Wirral peninsula. The variety and sheer numbers of waders and wildfowl will give us constantly changing birdlife at the larger reserves, with plenty of opportunity for grey winter-plumage wader identification.

Whooper Swan, Ruff, Black- and Bar-tailed Godwit, Great and Little Egret, Pink-footed and Greylag Goose, Gadwall, Pintail, flocks of Wigeon and Teal, and maybe an occasional rarity such as American Wigeon graze on the saltmarshes, and Red-breasted Merganser and Eider may be drifting offshore. Water Rail, Bittern and Bearded Tit are also found. Raptors include both Barn and Short-eared Owl, Peregrine, Merlin and both Marsh and Hen Harrier, and a range of wintering woodland passerines include Marsh Tit, Nuthatch, Tree Sparrow, Lesser Redpoll and Siskin. Fieldfare and Redwing will be exploiting winter berry crops, and we may find Waxwing or other Scandinavian migrants including Brambling. Twite, Cetti’s Warbler and Kingfisher in exposed stretches or marginal wetland, and we may encounter Red Deer, Roe Deer and Otter too.

You will visit reserves managed by RSPB, WWT and Lancashire Wildlife Trust, and all are supported by our visits, as your entry fee is included if you are not already a member.

This is a two-centre holiday. Our first base is located at a lovely hotel on The Wirral, with views over the Dee estuary to North Wales. Both Marsh and Hen Harrier can be seen from the hotel balcony and we are within easy reach of RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands and the northern coast of The Wirral.

In Lancashire we stay in a comfortable hotel just south of Lancaster, offering lovely accommodation and excellent food inspired by traditional Lancashire recipes. This quiet backwater is a great base to head north or south to Lancashire's nature reserves. We are directly on the towpath of Lancaster Canal’s Glasson Branch, and within easy walking distance of the River Conder, a small river which winds its way towards the mouth of the much larger River Lune, a few hundred yards away from our hotel. Greenshank, Shelduck and a range of other ducks and waders change places daily here, previous rarities on this trip include Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher and Glossy Ibis!

A relaxing and rewarding break as autumn turns to winter, featuring many of the migrant and resident birds which characterise this part of the UK.