The Lincolnshire Bird Club

I have to agree with Steve. I feel lucky to live so close to so much nature. I suppose if its just "megas" you are after or another "tick" you may not get lucky but if you just enjoy whatever nature puts your way then its a great place to be. I tend to have brief episodes in the hides then a wander round. You never quite know what you are going to see or experience which is what I love and if I dont see anything unusual I still come away happy.
Some of my most magical and memorable nature moments have occured at Far Ings including a face to face ten minutes at dawn with a Tawny Owl, regular close encounters with Weasels at my feet. I never tire of observing our beautiful Kingfishers, and admiring the Marsh Harriers patrolling over the reeds, a fly past by the Bittern, the list is endless and of course not to mention the recent awesome displays by the Osprey. So I would say Katherine, give it a go sometime. I can spend hours there and do so regularly and it never disappoints me even if I come back home with just a memory of a flock of LT Tit hanging like little pom poms in the trees or a close view of a dashing Sparrowhawk!


Mandy

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May very well do, Mandy - it's the 'you never know' that drives me mainly! Oh, and a decent-sized shop on the site for souvenirs!

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Hi Steve,
No im not disagreeing with anything you said(but i never said sitting in hides is boring!!!)my best raptors at msq has been found throu patient and dilingent scanning/searching over 2-3 hours and more in a session,which most birders wouldnt do!!)back to your other points-well done!!just for me,i guees im an unlucky guy anyway,i have spent more hours in the last few years at messingham in spring and autummn than anyone including j,harriman,wayne g,and the rest,and come up with very little considering the hours put in,every spring i say,well surely its my turn to get the mega,either dropping in or flying over,but it aint happened yet excluding raptors which i have an excellent record there,but i want the non raptors,but it usually goes to people who go there a few times a year/or once a twice a year,cest la vie,
hey 2009????
rog.

Mandy,
Graham is obviously not into the Far Ings tradition of pleasant ' serendipity encounters ', and the Reserve with its 8 hides abounds in possibilities (as we know) .....eg. the Hotel Pit hide, literally hidden away in Graham's vegetation. It is a discreet and ideal place for enjoyable encounters of the Bird Chat kind - well away from the public gaze and ear such as one would experience at Lidl's, for example. Without Far Ings Reserve and its hides, for some of us our birding lives could be far less enjoyable. After all, what is this life, if full of care, we have no time to sit and share (our birding chat)?
But shsh, don't tell the wife (or Mick).

..... and to Katherine, I would echo Mandy's recommendations of Far Ings. 'You never know', there could even be a Prince Charming/Mr Right (only if required, of course) sat waiting there in one of the hides at some future date (Ah! " Which hide, which date?" I hear you ask),ready to dazzle you with his top of the range optical kit,etc. and an excellent line in Bird Chat-up. Your 'you never know' optimistic outlook could now drive you there, (as you say) ... although, otherwise, I do appreciate you have occasional chauffeur problems.

Regards,

Freddy
Ps The birdlife at Far Ings is pretty good, too.

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I wondered if Simon would get a mention when a date was mentioned by Freddy,!?