Chorley and South Ribble History Pages

 I am a strictly casual birdwatcher. I own an ornithologist’s telescope and occasionally spend time in hides, but not for long and not with much success – I have to rely on others to identify most sightings. I am certainly not a ‘twitcher’, and was not even tempted by the recent appearanceof a rare belted kingfisher at Brockholes nature reserve . But I like spotting birds, and for years have taken my binoculars with me on my many walks around Whittle-le-Woods and have maintained a bird feeding station outside my living room window. I have seen and appreciated a wide range of birds, and have noticed the changes in bird populations that have occurred over the thirty-five years that I have lived in Whittle. In this article, I will set out the results of my years of casual ornithology.   My musings were inspired by a recent article by the writer Stephen Moss, who remarked that he had seen 100 bird species within a mile ofhis home . Now Stephen Moss is a professional naturalist and seri