washington (1 Viewer)

[smithyjo]

Hi all, has anyone been to the Washington nature reserve?

a few people had told me it was good for bird photography, just wondered if anyone new what birds to expect.

Smithyjo

 

[deansmith]

im guessing you mean the wildfowl and wetlands trust, you do get a selections of 'wild' birds there and some can be close enough for taking some nice photographs the feeding station i seem to remember last time i visited was really good for bullfinches up close.

this time of year you'd get the herons and oyster catchers nesting/with young which would provide nice photo's i dont know if they have avocets this year

in my own opinion i havent been for a while and would rather visit other places as its very focused on conservation of the worlds threatened bird species most of the birds youl see there are collections for breeding ect a bit like a zoo, for example nene's eating seed from your hand isnt really my thing although there helping a worthy cause id rather see 'wildlife'

DS

 

[smithyjo]

Thanks Dean

 

[fieldtreker]

barmston pond might be worth a look its near

 

[Marmot]

The feeding station at Washington WWWT is good for Bullfinch and GS Woodpeckers. The Avocets are there and Gargeney on one of the ponds they did nothing to... but to me the rest of the place went down hill when they decided to do all the alterations to the ponds. It looked like a bomb site when we went the back end of last year and we were so disappointed with these so called improvements we cancelled our membership a few months ago.

It is a bit pricy as well
http://www.wwt.org.uk/text/223/visitor_information.html

 

[Quacker]

barmston pond might be worth a look its near

Splendidly named Barmston Mere these days. Avocet & Garganey the star attraction when I last visited a few weeks back.

Always a nice place to visit, especially early spring (my first Chiffchaff is usually there) and as well as the 4th year breeding Avocet, the feeding station is worth the annual membership on its own - especially in Winter.

Less than a fiver a month for family membership (3 visits a year and it's paid for) the kids can play and run riot and "feed the Ne-ne's" while I can watch the Avocets/Heronry and hopefully get a few passage waders.

Combining the WWT & Barmston is handy for me - local patch really. But looking back at the DBC Annual reports at what these sites have produced has one yearning for just one more rarity lol.

Not as good as it once was, but then not very much is:-C

 

[colincarter]

Last month some "brain dead yobs" broke into washington Wetlands and burned the woodland hide down to the ground. They have erected a temporary hide until a new one can be built soon.