Follow in Eric Morecambe's footsteps and see what the area has to offer (Birdwatching Walks Around Morecambe Bay - John Wilson)

Member Name: markos9

Product:	Birdwatching Walks Around Morecambe Bay - John Wilson
Date:	23/10/09 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Huge number of varied walks carefully described for the walker to enjoy.

Disadvantages: Maps are hand drawn. Some photos are blurred.

Morecambe Bay is an amazing area. With the Lakeland Mountains on the horizon, the bay consists of 310 square kilometres of tidal sand flats which are covered by the restless waters of the Irish Sea twice every day.

The surrounding area contains the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the seaside town of Morecambe, and has five rivers emptying into it, including the beautiful River Lune.

Because of the spectacular and varied scenery, the area is a haven for walkers. The rich sands of the bay are also home to one of the largest concentrations of birds in Europe. Tens of thousands of wading birds and wildfowl breed or winter here making the bay an internationally important conservation area.

The two pastimes of walking and birdwatching can obviously be combined in and around Morecambe Bay and this book has been specially written for people visiting the area to watch birds.

The book contains forty walks; from the Wyre estuary in the South and Walney Island in the north. The walks cover all of the best areas and with many different habitats and scenery including salt marsh, woodland, sand flats, farmland and heather moorland, it's easy to find a walk that suits your mood and the weather.

At the start of each walk is a summary section showing the length of each walk, the difficulty, parking places, as well as toilet and eating facilities. Any relevant accessibility information is also shown here.

Many walking books are very dry and simply contain a list of directions for the walker. This book does not follow that boring style at all. Each walk is carefully described, with the wildlife, scenery, and history all laid out for the reader. By delivering this information in an interesting and enthusiastic style, the authors enhance the walker's journey as each feature is discovered in turn.

Directions are given for the walker to follow and these are detailed enough to help ensure that he or she does not get lost. Accompanying the description is a route map. Here, the book shows its only real weakness. Hand drawn, and reproduced in monochrome, the maps are quite well detailed, but do not have the wealth of information that other books, utilising OS maps are able to deliver.

I have been on several of the walks shown in the book and can report that the maps and directions are accurate and easy to follow (if I can follow them, anyone can!). The book is just about small enough to carry in a large pocket, but I prefer to photocopy the walk and print it out on an A4 sheet.

The centre 34 pages are in colour and describe the bird species that can be found in and around Morecambe Bay. The photographs are of reasonable quality, but would not win any photographic competitions as some are slightly blurred. Birds to be found include the very rare bittern and bearded tit, as well as the hawfinch, marsh harrier, twite, and little terns.

Not all birds will be present all year round, not all birds will be seen on all the walks, and some are really difficult to see at all! An excellent feature of the book is, therefore, the seasonal occurrence chart at the back highlighting which birds can be seen where, and when. With the chart, it's easy to plan a walk to hunt down, for example, the elusive hawfinch.

This is an unusual, but extremely useful little book. Trips out to fabulous places such as Leighton Moss, Gaitbarrows, Foulney Island, and Flookborough can all be planned, maximising the chance of encountering some wonderful wildlife along the way. The authors clearly know and love the area and seem keen to share their knowledge with the new visitor.

Any birdwatchers, or walkers interested in the area should pick up a copy of this book.

By the way, is anyone confused by the title? Eric Morecambe was a keen birdwatcher and spent much of his spare time walking the area in search of birds. His widow Joan has written the foreword to this book.

The book is available from Amazon for £7.95.

Summary: An excellent guide for walkers and birdwatchers.