I decided to go to Bolton Abbey as another birder recommended that it was a good place for Redstart, Pied Flycatcher and Wood Warbler - the famous Oakwood trio. Having scoured the internet Whinchat were around as well as Cuckoo in the past few years. It was an exciting day and a good mix of history, culture and natural beauty. The natural beauty was diverse as well ranging from a fast flowing river, woodland, rough pastures and moorland. It will be a place that I would love to go again but to primarily focus on The Strid, the oak woodland home to the Oakwood trio.
The major highlights of the day were a Cuckoo calling from a post and flying away, Redstarts in the woods, Red Grouse with chicks on the moors, a Merlin, Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher and the number of Grouse with chicks. I was lucky to get my 2nd Cuckoo this year or my 2nd ever! We failed to see any Whinchat sadly. Did we get the target bird, the bird which was the whole point of the trip - the Wood Warbler? I went with a photographer and someone who had just started photography so by the time we had got to the Strid we had very little time. We had to walk through very fast only stopping for the Pied Flycatchers, occasional Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher a bird which I was not expecting to see but managed to get 3. It was not long before I heard a Wood Warbler, sadly the only one. It was not long before I caught a glimpse of it flitting through the trees.
Here is a complete list of birds seen on the trip some may have been forgotten about!
