July Chester and Yorkshire Trip

LaughingDove

LaughingDove

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
In July I will be doing my usual summer trip to the UK to see relatives in London, but this year at the end of the month I will also be doing a short side-trip up north. Because I have never been to any UK zoos much north of the Cotswolds, there will be lots of new and interesting things for me to see. I will be staying in Chester for four nights followed by another four nights in the town of Hornsea in Yorkshire giving me three days in each place and a day in the middle.

I don't think I need to explain my reasoning for wanting to visit Chester. Should I allow two full days in order to do the zoo completely and thoroughly or will one be enough? And even if I do give Chester two full days I'll still have a day left over, do you think Blue Planet Aquarium would be a good option? Being school holidays I know it will be busy, but I don't really have a choice. My days in Chester will be the 25th, 26th and 27th of July.

In Yorkshire I'm intending to do some birding as well as possibly some zoos. I know it will be a bit late in the year, but I plan to visit Bempton Cliffs/Flamborough Heads and hopefully there will still be some auks about because I've not seen any other than puffins many years ago. Other than that, what particular zoos or birding locations should I be sure not to miss? I know some of the collections in Leeds, The Deep aquarium or Yorkshire Wildlife Park would be options.

Any comments, thoughts or advice welcomed!
 
When I first did Chester I took two days. One day to get acquainted with the layout/meet other zoochatters, and the other to actually visit the parts of the zoo I really enjoyed/didn't get time for.
 
Personally speaking Blue Planet only needs a half day,so you could spend the other half day at Chester,and then only have a full day in Chester its self,which would be plenty to see it all.Might what to think about doing some birding at RSPB Burton Mere which is getting better and better over the last few years,believe at present they have a small colony of Cattle Egrets which have bred their this year for the first time!

Worth bearing in mind that Yorkshire as a county is bigger than you may think,and some of what you suggest may not be practical.
 
Birding in the uk is usually at its worst at that time of year other than seawatching off the southwest coast. However you should certainly get guillemot and razorbill, gannet, manx and possibly sooty shearwaters plus the possibility of all four skuas. Divers and scoters may also be possible. There is also a small chance of something really rare being found at one of the hotspots. An american wader at spurn would be most likely but anything is possible. There are also a couple of good falconry centres within an hour and a half drive of hornsea and they're only 30 mins apart so both doable in a day unless you want to see all flying displays at both which would be pointless to me.
 
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Great White Egret is looking pretty promising too - only a small smattering of breedings across the UK, but there are more and more vagrants popping up every year. Little Bittern and Purple Heron are somewhat less promising - having more specialised habitat needs and fewer confirmed UK breedings - but are still possible.
 
Pertinax said:
Cattle Egret is now taking over the UK as Little Egret did before them. Wonder what will be next....
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White stork would be nice.... :P No reintroduction programme needed if they recolonise by themselves.
To get back to the main subject of the thread, personally i'd rather spend the full two days at Chester than half a day at Blue Planet; I don't believe the collection has anything that remarkable.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Great White Egret is looking pretty promising too - only a small smattering of breedings across the UK, but there are more and more vagrants popping up every year. Little Bittern and Purple Heron are somewhat less promising - having more specialised habitat needs and fewer confirmed UK breedings - but are still possible.
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Black-winged stilts are also breeding anually in small numbers and to a lesser extent bee-eaters are atemping to breed more regularly. Night heron and glossy ibis are likely future candidates.
 
I would have to agree that Burton Mere RSPB can be a pretty good place for bird watching but unfortunately this is the wrong time of year to see many of the good species around the site but you could be lucky and see a few rarer species from the watch point for the estuary this can be reached by taking the path to the right of the visitor centre and walking over the Railway Bridge and walking through the sheep field directly in front of you walk to the top and look over the old dry wall can give great views of the species in this area.

Also on your back to the visitor centre just after coming back over the Railway bridge take the path to the bottom of the hill (short walk) and take the path down through a small coppice this leads to a great little hide with possible Med Gulls and others just take a few minutes to get settled and you won’t be disappointed.

Species seen on my last visit to Burton Mere were –

Avocet, Black headed gull, Black tailed godwit, Blackbird, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Canada goose, Canada (hybrid) goose, Carrion crow, Cattle egret, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great white egret, Grey wagtail, Greylag goose, Herring gull, House sparrow, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser black backed gull, Little egret, Little grebe, Little gull, Magpie, Mallard, Mediterranean gull, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine falcon, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pintail, Raven, Redshank, Robin, Rook, Ruff, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Song thrush, Spotted redshank, Starling, Teal, Tufted duck, Wigeon, Wood pigeon & Wren

Then you could pop over to Park Gate Rspb this is a great little place for birds of prey and waterfowl it only stretches for around three quarters of a mile a long a small street which as some great shops and food places you over look a marsh and wetland area from the main path, when you get to the end by the large pub walk across the car park and just beyond and you could be lucky and pick up a couple of owl species including the Short-eared owl.

Park gate species seen on my last visit –

Little egret, Black headed gull, Lesser black backed gull, Feral pigeon, Greylag goose, Pink footed goose, Canada goose, Mallard, Teal, Moorhen, Redshank, Starling, Wood pigeon, Kestrel, Hobby, Curlew, Cormorant, Chaffinch, Mistle thrush, Fieldfare, Linnet, Jay, Meadow pipit, Oystercatcher, Goldfinch, Grey wagtail, Blue tit, Merlin, Carrion crow, Marsh harrier, Redshank, Collared dove, Rook, Hen harrier, Great black backed gull, Little grebe, Blackbird, Buzzard, Short eared owl & Green woodpecker.
 
Thanks for all the replies and suggestions of things to do. I'll leave it with just Chester with firm dates of all day the 25th and half or all day depending on how things go of the 26th for now, and decide what other things to do closer to the time.

@AdrianW1963, what do you think my chances of seeing the Short-eared Owl are? It would be a lifer so if I have a reasonable chance on a half day visit I'd be quite tempted to give it a shot.
 
LaughingDove said:
what do you think my chances of seeing the Short-eared Owl are? It would be a lifer so if I have a reasonable chance on a half day visit I'd be quite tempted to give it a shot.
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Quite low I'd say; though i've seen short-eared owls multiple times at Parkgate during autumn and winter, I don't recall ever seeing one there during the summer.
 
LaughingDove said:
Thanks for all the replies and suggestions of things to do. I'll leave it with just Chester with firm dates of all day the 25th and half or all day depending on how things go of the 26th for now, and decide what other things to do closer to the time.

@AdrianW1963, what do you think my chances of seeing the Short-eared Owl are? It would be a lifer so if I have a reasonable chance on a half day visit I'd be quite tempted to give it a shot.
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I've seen a SEO at Bempton Cliffs before, they are certainly regular in winter, I'm not sure about summer. I don't think there will be any spots close by in Yorkshire where you could see one (in summer). I would certainly recommend Bempton Cliffs and Flamborough Head for places to go at this time of the year.

There are three collections in Leeds of note (excluding Pudsey Park, which is small and the opposite side of Leeds):

- Harewood House (Bird Garden); not too much there anymore (zootierliste is badly out of date), also it is very expensive in comparison to the others.
- Lotherton Hall (Bird Garden); has a few rarities, some of which you may not have seen before (Southern Helmeted Curassow).
- Tropical World; has a few rarities, which I presume you'll have seen before.

The Deep is an interesting aquarium, with one or two more unusual/ rare species, the most notable being Green Sawfish and Lake Zacapu Gartersnakes. It may be somewhere worth going if the weather is awful.

Askham Bryan Wildlife and Conservation Park just outside of York has a few rarities, although I think the most notable are off-show. Check the opening times before you go, because it is part of a college.

YWP may be a bit out of the way and has nothing much of note. As others have said travelling can be slow and with bad traffic all of the time, so don't underestimate.
 
If you are at Flamborough Head and Bempton cliffs you could easily also visit the small zoos at Sewerby Hall and Gardens a couple of miles away, and Filey Bird Garden and Animal Park which has been awarded a zoo licence this year. If you go to The Deep (I never have!) you could also have a look at the collections in the Hull parks, the largest being in East Park (I presume it is still called the Animal Education Centre). Flamingo Land is my larger zoo of choice in Yorkshire, but I appreciate the theme park price deters zoo enthusiasts during the season (I have been 21 times this year, but I have a season ticket purchased at the winter discount rate which is less than the price of two visits during the season).
 
I'll be in Chester Zoo on Tuesday (25th). @Nisha has kindly offered to show me around the zoo but if anyone else is in the zoo then, feel free to say hello.
 
I'm considering a visit to the Welsh Mountain Zoo tomorrow (weather permitting - the forecast at the moment is looking poor though), roughly how large is the zoo and how long is needed to see it? (Hoping to stop at RSPB Burton Mere on the way back to where I'm staying in Chester.)
 
LaughingDove said:
I'm considering a visit to the Welsh Mountain Zoo tomorrow (weather permitting - the forecast at the moment is looking poor though), roughly how large is the zoo and how long is needed to see it? (Hoping to stop at RSPB Burton Mere on the way back to where I'm staying in Chester.)
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You could probably see it in a few hours, it isn't terribly large, but it is hilly. I haven't visited Burton Mere, but it may be possible to visit somewhere else after WMZ, if you arrive at opening (I visited the Great Orme, RSPB Conwy is a possibility). Be warned, the catering is awful!
 
If you go early and have a couple of hours to spare after your visit why not visit RSPB Conwy a nice reserve with a few good hides.
 
I think on my only visit 2 years ago, I spent over 5 hours there, but that was going around most of the zoo more than once and watching the Sealion, Penguin and Chimp feeds.

For a first visit I'd say 3 hours minimum, 4 if you want to return to missed species. Really nice zoo though!
 
Thanks for the info.

Quick question: RSPB reserve websites say the car park closes at 5:30, does that mean you can still be in the reserve if you park somewhere else or does it mean you have to leave by 5:30.
 
The reserves I have visited over the years tend to stay open 24hrs but the car parks and visitor centres do close at around 5/5.30pm each day.
 
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