A Nightingale sang....

Yellow Wagtail, Grafham Water

Nightingale, Paxton Pits

On of the Paxton Pit pools

Grey Heron perched in a Cormorant colony, Paxton Pits

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Paxton Pits

Wheatear, Seaforth

White Wagtail, Seaforth

Little Tern, Seaforth

Little Gulls, Seaforth

Shoveler, Seaforth

Goldeneye, Seaforth

Bar-tailed Godwits with a group of Black-tailed Godwits, Seaforth

Common Terns, Seaforth

Alt Estuary at Hightown

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Last weekend our sleep was rudely interrupted in the early hours by a pair of amorous Tawny Owls which descended upon the roof just above the bedroom window which was open. At least one of the birds kept doing the xylophone call (http://www.xeno-canto.org/europe/browse.php?query=tawny+owl XC30618) which although does not carry is still bloody loud when just a few feet away. One of the birds also did a deep grunting sort of noise - like a chug, chug, chug which I have never heard before and put down to them bonking!

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I managed a trip to Seaforth before heading for points south due to work. It was a nice, sunny and breezy morning at Seaforth and the Common Terns were in full voice - you can hear them well before you see them. While they were mostly settled they would all fly up now and then before returning to the causeway. Each time they returned there were more birds - there were 30 or so to start with and in excess of 80 by the time I left. I wonder if the continual flying up and wheeling around the pool is in part some sort of welcome to incoming birds? Two Arctic Terns were also present and after a while I found a Little Tern - cracking little bird that sort of sneaked in.

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Other birds around included both speciesof godwit, Dunlin and Turnstones, Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers and six cracking adult Little Gulls. Around the banking were a sprinkling of Wheatears and White Wagtails plus the usual waterfowl which included three late staying Goldeneye. I left and headed up to Hightown Dunes where I failed to connect with any groppers. The mud flats at the Alt Estuary were exposed though and covered in waders. In amongst them I also found two dark-bellied Brent Geese.

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Last weekend I also made a late evening visit to the Silver Lane pools at Risley. Nothing unusual - lots of warblers including 5 Willow, 3 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff and 2 Whitethroats. On the pools were the usual Coots and Tufted Ducks - and also 8 Mallard ducklings - the first I have seen this year. A Grey Partridge called nearby and a few Meadow Pipits flitted around but I soon headed home. I also had a Jay at HGF - a rare sighting at this time of year.

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I was working in Milton Keynes this week so I managed an evening visit to Paxton Pits which is not too far away. Certainly beats being stuck in a hotel room alone. This place blew me away for the sheer density of bird life. I only travelled a few hundred yards all evening, however I saw dozens of birds - every bush seemed to be alive! The star of the show were the Nightingles - all in all I detected 13 and saw at least 9 of them including some very showy birds. They were singing everywhere (the song is marvellous) and I watched one tree where three birds continually chased each other around it. Superb birding!

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At one point I simply plonked down on a bench and kep watching one particular male going back to his favourite perch to sing. He chased everything away including Robins! Once while scanning his perch a Whitethroat settled onto branch, and then a Willow Warbler above it and then a Garden Warbler above that. Triple stacker! In that few hundred yard stretch I saw at least 25 Blackcaps, 15+ Willow Warblers, 5 Garden Warblers and a few Whitethroats and Chiffhcaffs. Plus 4 Green Woodpeckers, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Treecreeper and loads of tits! Simply amazing. The time flew by and I had to leave but this is one place I can't wait to revisit!

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The following evening I also managed a brief visit to Grafham Water while on my travels. This was more in the realms of exploring rather than birding. The place is quite large and it takes a bit to figure out where the best birding bits are - fortunately there is a good road around most of it and plenty of parking spaces. Best birds here were 4 Yellow Wagtails flitting around on the grass and distant Black Tern and Great Northern Diver.

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Wednesday night and back home. I bumped into Ian Woosey at Astley Moss. He kindly refound the male Ring Ouzel which had been present during the day - very elusive little bugger. A few Whimbrel were feeding here and a Cuckoo flew over calling. A late trip to HGF found the place dead. 3 Coots, 1 Black-necked Grebe and 2 Mute Swans -that's it! Where has everything gone? The place is also resembling a landfill site with litter everywhere. On the plus side n the lawn were three little balls of fluff - young Lapwings! There were still there this morning. That reminds me - last weekend I stood near that plce and watched two Mistle Thrushes fighting. They were absolutely vicious. The loser flew off while the winner turned and seemed to glare at me before spitting out a beak full of feathers. Mistle Thrush agro!

Swallows and Amazons

Orange-winged Amazon, Houghton Green Flash

Pied Flycatcher, Pennington Flash

Difficult to lay a glove on this bird with the digiscoping kit so here are a couple of shots from the maestro - John Tymon

Very dodgy digiscoped shots of a very odd looking Yellow Wagtail in fading light. Taken at HGF

White Wagtail, Waterworks Lane, Winwick

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Wednesday I got a bit of a surprise at HGF - no fewer than TEN Common Sandpipers there. Amazing! Approximately 200 Sand Martins were dancing over the water - no Swallows however. When I came back in the evening the Martins had passed through. Six Little Ringed Plovers had joined the sandpipers though and on the lawn in the south field, just as the sun was setting, I found two Yellow Wagtails. One was an adult male - the other was a very grey individual which I first thought might be a Citrine Wag. Closer views put paid to that theory, however it still has me stumped! I asked both John Tymon and Ian McKerchar for their opinions. Ian's thinking is that this is a young bird which, for some odd reason, still hasn't moulted out of juvenile plumage!

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I also checked the ploughed field in Waterworks Lane in the evening and found 6 Wheatears and 9 White Wagtails - nice one! In the garden this evening a Willow Warbler was feeding in the Silver Birch outside the conservatory - we always seem to get an odd one visiting in early Spring. Two visits to PF finally resulted in good views of the first summer Pied Flycatcher. John Tymon and I finally caught up with it on th track past New Hide - in retrospect we were the last people to see it. Superb bird for this place.

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Thursday we were back up to four Black-necked Grebes at HGF with 9 Common Sandpipers still present and 3 Little Ringed Plovers in the evening. I had a trawl around Rixton at lunch - just 5 Wheatears today and little else except for the Crow flock - around 185 of these birds were feeding in a field. A Sparrowhawk spiralled over Moat Lane pool and 2 Whitethroats were showy. Six Grey Partridges and eight Stock Doves in Waterworks Lane this evening.

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Friday and an evening trip to HGF produced 4 Common Sandpipers, 3 Little Ringed Plovers and a Wheatear. Still 4 BNG's and not much else. As I walked back to the car I heard a bird calling that had me completely stumped. I saw a Kestrel leave a tree opposite Midhops with a similar sized bird in the next tree. I though this would probably be a second Kestrel, however when I got the scope out I realised it was a parrot. I later identified it as an Orange-winged Amazon - a slightly bizarre record for HGF!

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Saturday morning early and at HGF just 1 Common Sandpiper left. The BNG's were back down to a pair and not much else about. I did pick up a couple of Swallows around Midhops (the first birds back on territory) and a Swift passed through. I then headed off to Farndon to look for the Dotterel reported there. Unfortuantely the said bird was long gone by the time I arrived, however a pair of Lesser Whitethroats showed very well along with several other warbler species.

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In the garden today, as per usual, a couple of Reed Buntings and 4 Tree Sparrows. The male Sparrowhawk arrived late on. An evening walk along Waterworks Lane produced 5 pairs of Grey Partridges and 3 Yellowhammers. I then noticed some birds perched in the trees at the entrance to the farm track. At least two species - when I got close I realised they were Corn Buntings and 4 Yellow Wagtails. The Yellow Wags flew into the cattle field to feed and soon vamooshed. The CB's flew into the ploughed field to feed - I eventually counted 11 birds. A Swallow was also back on territory here.

Ring Ouzel

Ring Ouzel, Leasowe

Wheatear, Houghton Green Flash

Common Sandpiper, Houghton Green Flash

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Typical - just over a week ago I walked up Langden Valley and saw only a fly over Ring Ouzel while this morning I found two in a field on the way to work on the Wirral. I had briefly spotted a male in front of a hedge - it then disappeared. I thought that was it, however a bit of persistence and I located this female in a nearby horse paddock where it was badgered by a Blackbird. Cracking birds!

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HGF this evening was sunny but with an extremely cold and strong wind. Over the water tonight were 80+ Swallows, 400+ Sand Martins and a single House Martin. These birds swarmed over the choppy water and many seemed to just hang over the waves when caught by a gust of wind. A number of the Swallows were engaged in hedge hopping over the south hedge - I stood on the path and watched almost mesmerised as they continously flew past me! Four Common Sandpipers were still present and the same number of Black-necked Grebes. A single Wheatear was flitting around on the lawn in the south field. In the garden tonight were 2 Reed Buntings and 3 Tree Sparrows.

Vismig

Ropey digiscoped shots of Little Ringed Plover late evening at HGF

Common Sandpiper, HGF

Wheatear, Rixton Moss

Linnets, Rixton Moss

Black-necked Grebe, HGF

BNG in threat display - falling out with another pair

Redstart, Heysham Nature Reserve (still having problems getting my digiscoping camera to focus properly)

Reed Buntings and a Tree Sparrow in the garden

Dozy young rabbit, Crook O'Lune

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Saturday morning and the usual HGF morning visit. There were five Black-necked Grebes present this morning and the remaining five Wigeon but little else of note. The BNG's had split into 2 pairs which didn't seem to get on and threat displays were observed when the birds got too close. In the garden were 4 Reed Buntings, 3 Tree Sparrows and a pair of Bullfinches. Also had a quick mooch around Newton Lake this morning. No hoped for Common Sandpiper, however 5 Teal were still present along with two Mute Swans and 10 Tufted Ducks. A Willow Warbler sang from the bushes on the far bank, a Sparrowhawk joined a Buzzard spiralling up on thermals over the pool and a Jay screamed as it flew over.

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After a day of jobs we managed to get up to the van late evening. When we arrived the usual flock of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were present in the field behind the van. Sunday morning I didn't have too much time to play with so I headed off to Langden Valley to have a look at the Redpolls. Along the way I spotted five Roe Deer grazing in a field outside Caton. When I arrived at Langden there was just one other birder present and we stood on the far bank and scanned the larches for the little blighters. From the buzz-buzz-buzz sounds there were plenty of birds around, however they were pretty elusive to start with. Eventually birds started to visit the trees by the beck to feed and we managed to start scanning through them.

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I managed to get onto only one nailed on Common Redpoll during the morning - a pale greyish bird with white tramlines down its back and a white (streaked) rump. The wing bars also appeared to be broader and whiter than the Lesser Redpolls. I got good views of this bird for approx five minutes and didn't see it again. I also saw two other interesting birds. One had extensive and very white patches on the upper plumage (contrasting strikingly with brown plumage) and white unmarked underparts. Both Common and Lesser Redpolls can show these characteristics so god knows what it was. The other bird was very similar but more pale cream instead of white markings. All told I would guess at least 25 Lesser Redpolls were present - it was an interesting experience seeing the great variation in this species. The only other bird of note that morning was a Dipper flying down the beck.

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Early evening on Sunday I managed to escape for an hour or so and headed off to Heysham. The Hoopoe that had been found earlier in the day was long gone (apparently flushed by a car alarm), however three male Redstarts provided some entertainment, hawking for insects around the nature reserve. When I got back to the van the flock of LBBG's was in the field - there were 179 and a couple of Herring Gulls.

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This morning HGF was interesting for a change. Five Common Sandpipers were lined up along the south shoreline with a Little Ringed Plover. Can't remember seeing so many here before. On the water it was dead - no Wigeon (looks like no summering drake this year), no Tufted Ducks and only one Black-necked Grebe. The surface of the water was, however, buzzing with hirundines - at least 35 Swallows and 85+ Sand Martins. A Sparrowhawk flew over the pool while in the ploughed field by Midhops were 2 male Greenland race Wheatears. I returned late evening for another visit and found three Little Ringed Plovers together and the Common Sandpipers still present. This was a surprise - I had thought the endless stream of dog walkers would have flushed them. Perhaps more surprising was that four Black-necked Grebes were now present. I have noted that these birds do move around during the day time - more evidence of this today. The Wheatears had moved from Midhops to the lawn in the south field, however there has been no further sign of a Yellow Wagtail since last week.

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I had a mooch around Rixton mosses today too. In the first ploughed field on the left were 13 Wheatears together with 6 White Wagtails and a male Yellow Wagtail. 18 Linnets and a pair of Grey Partridges and a few Stock Doves completed the line up - a very busy field! Trawling round the various ploughed fields I found a further 9 Wheatears, a second male Yellow Wagtail (in a ploughed section behind a caravan nr the top of Holly Bush Lane), 6 more Grey Partridges, 4 Buzzards and a flock of 17 Skylarks feeding together. The usual big flock of Crows was also hanging around. In the garden today were 3 Reed Buntings, 2 Tree Sparrows and a male Bullfinch. Spring migration is definitely underway!!!

Yellow Wag

Very ropey digiscoped shot of a Yellow Wagtail - another of my welcome back shots!
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Started this morning with a walk around HGF as usual. Nice to see two pairs of Black-necked Grebes this morning - both displaying. The new pair takes the total to at least 11 so far this Spring. Nothing much else to report on the pool though - not even any hirundines. I then had a wander over to Midhops to see if I could relocate yesterday's Wheatear. I couldn't, however a male Yellow Wagtail was present at the far end - again good to see them back. Also here were 11 Linnets and 2 Grey Partridges.
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At lunch a quick wander around Rixton Mosses produced a Wheatear in a field opposite the farm on Prospect Lane (looked like a male Greenland type) and a couple of singing Whitethroats - one on Woodend Lane and another by the compressor station on Moat Lane. A couple of Grey Partridges were also around and two Buzzards flew over.
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This evening I took Bill for a wander around PF. Not much of interest to start with - then I picked up a Common Sandpiper from Horrocks Hide. To be honest I was more interested in walking round and didn't really attempt birding to start with. I arrived back at Horrocks as the sun descended and I spotted a tern on one of the buoys. Looking at it thorugh the scope I was convinced it was an Arctic and reported it onto the Manchester website using my phone. A LBBG shifted the tern and the ranger shifted me as she shut the hide. Outside I picked up the tern on a nearer buoy and realised it was definitely a Common Tern. Well I buggered that up, didn't I!

On the road again

Shapwick Heath

Ham Wall RSPB - with Glastonbury Tor in the background

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Monday morning and a quick visit to HGF. Nothing much new except for a new and distinctively marked Black-necked Grebe to join the resident bird. By my reckoning this makes at least 9 birds through this Spring.
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Working in Somerset on Tuesday and I managed to get down on Monday early enough for an evening walk around Shapwick Heath. I parked up as usual at Ashcott Corner and walked down to Noah’s Hide and then across the drainage ditch to Meare Heath Hide. I then wandered back to the car park and over to the identical reserve next door – Ham Wall RSPB.
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There was lots of noise on the way to the hides – mainly from warblers. In all I counted the following (all singing males):
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9 Cetti’s Warblers
7 Willow Warblers
6 Chiffchaffs
3 Blackcaps
2 Reed Warblers
1 Garden Warbler
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It was a superb, sunny and warm evening and just walking along by the drainage ditch with reedbeds and pools on either side was uplifting. On the wader scrape on the opposite pools (Meare Heath) were 19 Black-tailed Godwits, frantically feeding. There were lots of the usual wildfowl with Wigeon, Pochard, Teal, Tufted Duck, Shoveler and Gadwall everywhere.
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In Noah’s Hide, unfortunately, I was joined by two women who were there to see the Otters. They made so much noise it was unbelievable and then left in disappointment that the Otters had not shown! It was interesting to see the Long-tailed Duck which had wintered there was still present. A couple of Little Egrets flew over and all the Cormorants were nesting. Interestingly there were no hirundines around – I saw 1 Swallow all evening.
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When I left Noah’s Hide I got my best ever views of a Cettis Warbler when a male landed in the top of some brambles approx 20 feet away, completely out in the open, and burst into song. I knew I wouldn’t get a chance to digiscope it so I simply watched through the bins. I was struck by how smart these birds are in the open with the contrasting rusty red/brown and grey plumage and also how large they are. It makes you wonder how they manage to skulk so effectively. I got about 10 seconds worth of Cetti’s before it vanished.
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On the path to Meare Heath hide I spotted a Nuthatch quickly followed by a female Great Spotted Woodpecker. The pool in front of the hide was relatively quiet – the only interest was a male Marsh Harrier which I watched quartering the reed bed for around 10 minutes. On the way back to the car park I heard 2 booming Bitterns, one from the reed bed nr Noah’s Hide and another from Meare Heath reed bed and also a Tawny Owl calling. 2 Buzzards were also seen.
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Ham Wall is very similar to Shapwick/Meare Heath though it is not as large. I walked down to a viewing platform and remained there for a while and didn’t explore the far end of the reserve. Along the way I detected 2 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackcaps, a Willow Warbler and a further five Cetti’s Warblers – again all singing birds. There were fewer birds on the pools here, however there were at least five booming Bitterns in the various reed beds. I had a natter with a local birder and then called it quits and headed off to my digs for the evening.
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Tuesday evening I drove up to Droitwich were I was working the following day. Unfortunately an overturned caravan on the M5 resulted in me sitting on the motorway for nearly 2 hours and killed any hopes of an evening birding session at Upton Warren near where I was staying. I did give it ten minutes before dusk, however it was cold, grey, wet and windy and no decent birds were around. A few Snipe, Curlews, Avocets and Redshanks were all that was present. Hopefully the Hoopoe which spent the day a few miles down the road will linger until after work tomorrow……
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The Hoopoe didn’t stay and I didn’t have a chance to see it anyway. Thursday birding started with my usual morning trip to HGF. It was dead – 3 Coots, 7 Tufties, 5 Wigeon and a few grebes including 2 BNG’s. Hardly any hirundines either though an evening visit produced a few Sand Martins, a Wheatear nr Midhops and a small flock of Linnets. In the garden today were 10+ Tree Sparrows and a Reed Bunting while a rare walk along Waterworks Lane this evening produced 5 Yellowhammers, a Sparrowhawk, a small flock of unidentified brown jobs (probably Linnets) and a couple of Grey Partridges.
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The two best best birds today were a Cuckoo and a Yellow Wagtail. The former was observed on some telegraph lines over a field while I was stuck behind a HGV on a minor road somewhere near Stoke. The latter flew past my car while parked on Hollybush Lane in Rixton early evening – not much else around though.

Touring the Trough!

Langden Valley

Meadow Pipit, Langden Valley

Wheatear, LV

Tawny Owl, Halton

Roe Deer, Caton

Common Sandpiper, Halton

Snipe, PF

Little Ringed Plover, PF

Little Owl, Croft. My digiscoping camera started mis-focusing again when both owls were perched up side by side - it suddenly fixed itself just in time to capture the second owl returning to its hole. Bloody technology!

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Saturday was technically a non-birding day though I did see some good stuff. In the afternoon I walked along the prom from Heysham village to Morecambe (lots of money spent on the prom - it's a bit good) at low tide. Around one of the rocky outcrops around 95 Eiders had congregated while just off shore a single Sandwich Tern was fishing. At the van the usual stuff was in evidence - a flock of around 40 mixed finches flew over and disappeared before I could determine what was there!

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Late evening I had a wander with Billy down by the Lune at Halton. I love this stretch of river - always something to see and very pleasant to walk around. There is something very calming about this kind of river. The usual Chiffchaffs had been joined by a Willow Warbler while an immature Heron fished a small pool at the side of the river. A drake Goosander was loafing around nearby while on the opposite shoreline were 2 Common Sandpipers. I wandered up to the small wood and was immediately struck by the racket from several thrush species. I knew they had to be mobbing something - the something turned out to be a Tawny Owl. The owl eventually tired of the racket and moved - curiously to a more visisble perch though the thrushes then left it alone.

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Wandering back down the river I spotted five Goosanders flying up river, the usual Grey Wags and then a pair of Dippers that were preening on rocks just below the weir. It was a very pleasant walk - when I got back to the van the resident Tawny Owl flew over - my second of the evening!

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This morning I woke up, looked out of the window and saw a small flock of Meadow Pipits in the field behind the van. I trawled through them looking for something rarer but to no avail. I then loaded Bill into the car and headed off for the Trough, collecting a Roe buck and several Red Grouse along the way.

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First stop was Marshaw. A single Lesser Redpoll was climbing around in a tree by the car park. I then walked up through the small conifer stand and stood by the gate to the grazing land. It was deserted at first - then a Raven started cronking so I stood there for a while to see what would turn up. A few Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff began singing, then three Lesser Redpolls landed in the nearest conifer. I watched them and followed them through the bins as they flew off -scanning right of their tree I noticed a bird perched in the top of the next tree. It was a cracking male Redstart. I watched this bird for about a minute before the option of digiscoping occurred to me. By the time I had set my scope up it had gone and I couldn't relocate it.

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A female Sparrowhawk flew over shortly afterwards and then four pipits began flying around. Curiously they were not calling. They eventually landed on a distant fenceline and I managed to scope them and confirmed they were Tree Pipits. Marvellous start to the day!

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I then headed off to my main destination for the day - Langden Valley. It was a beautiful morning by the time I arrived. I walked down the path through the larches and at least 10 Lesser Redpolls were buzzing around the tops of the trees. I also found a Goldcrest and a Kestrel flew over. Eventually the path emerged out into the valley - the place is stunning! I watched a Wheatear on some rocks by the stream, a male Stonechat showing off and a Coal Tit building a nest in a dry stone wall. Meadow Pipits were everywhere and at least 6 Willow Warblers were singing. On the way up I saw no sign of my target bird, Ring Ouzel, though at the "castle" I found quite a few birders already line up and watching something.

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The something in this case turned out to be a pair of Hen Harriers. They had disappeared by the time I arrived, however a Peregrine (probable male) flew over and then a male Hen Harrier gave a good flying display at the head of the valley. One lady called a Kestrel flying along the hillside. I got onto it and immediately thought Merlin - the little falcon came closer and the ID was confirmed. I had a natter with a nice bloke from Accrington called Andrew Bates and headed back down the valley with him. Andrew had seen two male Ring Ouzels on the way up.

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Approx half way down a larger Peregrine (probable female) flew low over and then I heard an unfamiliar call and we both turned round to see a male Ring Ouzel fly over and then round the hillside in front. It appeared to drop into the gulley where Andrew had seen the birds earlier so we were both optimistic on re-finding it. Unfortunately the mountain Blackbirds had other ideas and that was my only sighting for the day. Beautiful day and breathtaking countryside - can't wait to go back up there for another mooch!