Grey, grim and cold

Water Pipit, No. 4 tank Frodsham Marsh

Wigeon and Starlings at Elton Hall Flash, Sandbach

xxxx

Not had much opportunity for birding recently due to work. Probably the best bit was while driving back from Slough on Thursday where I counted 18 Red Kites along the M4/M40. To be fair I have counted more birds down here before, however the difference this time was that they were evenly spaced along a 35 mile stretch suggesting the kites are spreading. Some had the good grace to fly low over the car too.

xxxx

I managed to get a quick spell just before dusk at Elton Hall Flash later that afternoon where a single adult Yellow-legged Gull and an iffy candidate for a female Caspian Gull (looked good in the field, not so good in the record shots) were the best sightings. Lots of birds were coming to the feeders here - loads of tits, three Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a few Tree Sparrows. Seven Goosanders were on the water plus loads of Wigeon, three Ruff, a few Pintail and a few thousand gulls. The one thing that I notice here is that, unlike Moore, there are large numbers of other species besides Herring Gulls - a pretty good mix.

xxxx

HGF on Friday morning and the Wigeon flock had increased to 13 birds and the first couple of Coots were also back. A quick look at the feeding station produced a male Spar perched in the hedge and, surprise surprise, nothing else. Rixton pool was still frozen.

xxxx

Saturday and the Wigeon flock had increased at HGF to 66 birds. 7 Pochard were welcome visitors and a flock of 60 or so Lapwings were present in the field nr Myddleton Farm. At the feeding station it was quite busy from morning and afternoon visits. Best bird was a Merlin which flew over the field opposite though unfortunately it kept going in the direction of Burton Wood. At least 75 Tree Sparrows plus good number of Chaffinches and Yellowhammers. At dusk 26 Grey Partridges were squabbling - there are at least two pairs which seem to have split from the coveys. A male Sparrowhawk visited the garden - the pale Collared Dove is also still present.

xxxx

Sunday and a quick visit to HGF - the wintering Redshank was back! A Snipe flushed from the south field and 64 Wigeon were still present. At the feeding station in the afternoon I got the highest Yellowhammer count of the winter with 36 birds all perched together in the hedge and then feeding. 69 Tree Sparrows were counted, however more were coming in so I suspect the count was probably much higher. They were flushed, unfortunately. 19 Grey Partridges also appeared while in the garden single Tree Sparrow and Reed Bunting were seen.

xxxx

Mid afternoon I managed a quick trip to Frodsham Marsh. Below is the list of birds seen. Unfortunately most of the birds on 5 and 6 tanks were flushed by a couple of dick heads on quad bikes. On No. 4 tank I took half an hour to find the Water Pipit - shortly after it appeared it was flushed by a Kestrel!

xxx

No 5 tank

180+ Dunlin

1500+ Lapwing

75+ Curlew

140+ Golden Plover

1 Ruff

1 Black-tailed Godwit

120+ Goldfinch (with a few Linnets tagging along)

3 Skylarks

No 6 tank

580+ Teal

140+ Wigeon

100+ Tufted Duck

90+ Pochard

9 Shoveler

4 Gadwall

3 Pintail

9 Shelduck

1 Raven

No 4 tank

1 Water Pipit

4 Meadow Pipits

5 Pied Wagtails

plus 4 Kestrels and 3 Buzzards
xxxx

This morning the Wigeon flock at HGF was the same, however 80+ Pink-footed Geese flew over heading east. While driving to work I spotted a second flock of around 110 heading NW. In fields off the A57 in Rixton were around 80 Fieldfares and at Glazebrook (in fields north of the village) 380 Lapwings were feeding with 27 Stock Doves.