Greenshank, Meols
Redshank, Meols
Black-tailed Godwits, LM
Red Deer, Leighton Moss
Drake Teal
Redshanks, LM
Pintails at Leighton Moss
Warton Crag Peregrines
Lune valley Whoopers from Lloyn Bridge
Wigeon at HGF shortly before they left - bon voyage!
Lloyn Bridge at Hornby
The Lune from Lloyn Bridge
The Lune through Lancaster
View of Lancaster from Ashton Memorial!
Halton Weir
Twite at Heysham - just for comparison with the other finches!
Pair of Siskins
Another Lesser Redpoll - there were at least eight
Lesser Redpoll on the feeders
Greenfinch on the feeders - they tend to bully the other finches and hog the feeder
Goldfinch on the feeders
Chaffinch on the feeders
The dry stone wall is literally right outside the van. 
View from van window!
First summer Glaucous Gull at Meols - honest!xxxx
Am struggling to keep up to speed with the blog at the moment so a brief summary of the last 2 weeks.
Xxxx
Spent last week at the van on holiday though the reality was that I was recovering again from illness so I did little birding. A lot of the birds I did see were from the van itself – the windows overlook a couple of large fields which slope upwards towards the moorland. On any given day a couple of Oystercatchers and two or three Curlews are present in the field with various other birds. There are usually a few Buzzards around – one day I saw 12 in the air in various directions. Every evening a flock of up to 200+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls appears in the field – it seems to be the last feeding stop on a circuit before they fly off east to their roost site. Also plenty of rabbits, the odd Hare and three or four Roe Deer which ambled across the field from time to time.
xxxxx
On the feeders I have put up were the world’s supply of Goldfinches and also 3 Siskins and 8 Lesser Redpolls. The latter two species were present daily until April 1st – after this date they disappeared. A few walks down by the Lune at Halton Weir towards CO’L produced the usual wagtails, Goosander, Dipper and plenty of Sand Martins and the odd Swallow. The Chiffhcaff numbers gradually increased to 5 singing males while in the narrow stretch of woodland along the river were the usual species – Treecreepers, Nuthatches, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Coal Tits.
Xxxx
Had a couple of visits to Leighton Moss – on one day I spent the entire day on the reserve. This is the first time I have done this for a while and it was much more relaxing than my usual style of birding here for an hour and then dashing off to somewhere else. Usual species through the day with 1800 Black-tailed Godwits swarming like Starlings being the highlight – and just because a Sparrowhawk appeared. Five Marsh Harriers (3 males, 2 females) were busy hunting, sparring and courting. Heard a few Bearded Tits calling but didn’t see any – likewise no Bitterns. One evening I went back for a dusk vigil from Lower Hide. No Otters but a couple of flyover Woodcocks and stonking views of three Red Deer made up for it. At least 13 Little Egrets came into the roost site – there could have been more but I wasn’t concentrating on them.
Xxxx
I also had a couple of brief visits to Heysham, however the wind was horrendous and made viewing very difficult – the scope was blowing all over the place. On the one day I persisted I had 5 Red-throated Divers and a Guillemot – the usual Twite flock was also still present.
Xxxx
The only other dedicated birding day was on Monday when, being back home, I decided to take Billy for a wander around the Wirral. I started off with a quick trip to Moore where I finally caught up with a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I didn’t set off for the Wirral until relatively late by which time Hoylake Red Rocks was swarming with people and dogs and any chance of a vagrant had vanished. I decided to wander out to Hilbre Island – on arrival there a flock of 95 pale-bellied Brent Geese (plus one dark-bellied) were feeding around the island. Unfortunately the island was also swarming with people and dogs so I soon left. I then wandered over to Meols where a Greenshank was showing very nicely with a flock of around 380 Redshanks and a few Turnstones. A birder here told me about a Glaucous Gull which had been seen so I decided to stick around until high tide to see if it turned up.
Xxxx
There were thousands of gulls along the shoreline feeding on a starfish wreck – on the walk out to Hilbre I had noticed hundreds of dead Starfish littering the beach. As high tide approached I started scanning the gulls, however the strong winds didn’t help much. A Seaforth birder then turned up and started to help me and he eventually found a distant white-winger nearly a mile away on the water! Gradually the bird flew nearer and nearer as the tide pushed it up and revealed it to be a first summer Glaucous Gull – oddly my first of 2010. Cracking end to the day – and another day where I a) didn’t waste it driving all over the place and b) got some exercise!
Xxxx
HGF has been a bit more interesting this week. Last Sunday someone had reported three Black-necked Grebes present – on Monday morning they were gone. However on Tuesday a distinctive individual turned up (just for one day) and the next two days four birds were present. This morning we were back down to one. The number of Tufted Ducks has increased to nearly 30 birds while the Wigeon flock has gradually whittled down to just 7 birds this morning.
Xxx
The Coot numbers at HGF have also, worryingly, declined again – there are only three birds present today. Contrast this with the 125 birds that were present 14 months ago! Six Oystercatchers were present on one day and a mass scrap ensued! I have only been able to make early morning or late evening visits – consequently I have seen no hirundines with the exception of Tuesday when loads of Swallows, Sand Martins and a couple of House Martins were present. A single Chiffchaff has been singing for several days, this morning it was joined by a couple of Willow Warblers. A Common Sandpiper was also present this morning.
Xxxxx
Haven’t been near Waterworks Lane for 2 weeks. In the garden at least 2 Reed Buntings and up to 8 Tree Sparrows are present most days. I have had 2 quick visits to Rixton. On Tuesday 4 Wheatears were still present on the mosses – none there this morning though. There were plenty of Willow Warblers singing today, three Corn Buntings on the mosses and the juvenile Mute Swan ringed at Dunham Massey is also still present on Moat Lane pool though it is regularly bullied by the resident cob.
Am struggling to keep up to speed with the blog at the moment so a brief summary of the last 2 weeks.
Xxxx
Spent last week at the van on holiday though the reality was that I was recovering again from illness so I did little birding. A lot of the birds I did see were from the van itself – the windows overlook a couple of large fields which slope upwards towards the moorland. On any given day a couple of Oystercatchers and two or three Curlews are present in the field with various other birds. There are usually a few Buzzards around – one day I saw 12 in the air in various directions. Every evening a flock of up to 200+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls appears in the field – it seems to be the last feeding stop on a circuit before they fly off east to their roost site. Also plenty of rabbits, the odd Hare and three or four Roe Deer which ambled across the field from time to time.
xxxxx
On the feeders I have put up were the world’s supply of Goldfinches and also 3 Siskins and 8 Lesser Redpolls. The latter two species were present daily until April 1st – after this date they disappeared. A few walks down by the Lune at Halton Weir towards CO’L produced the usual wagtails, Goosander, Dipper and plenty of Sand Martins and the odd Swallow. The Chiffhcaff numbers gradually increased to 5 singing males while in the narrow stretch of woodland along the river were the usual species – Treecreepers, Nuthatches, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Coal Tits.
Xxxx
Had a couple of visits to Leighton Moss – on one day I spent the entire day on the reserve. This is the first time I have done this for a while and it was much more relaxing than my usual style of birding here for an hour and then dashing off to somewhere else. Usual species through the day with 1800 Black-tailed Godwits swarming like Starlings being the highlight – and just because a Sparrowhawk appeared. Five Marsh Harriers (3 males, 2 females) were busy hunting, sparring and courting. Heard a few Bearded Tits calling but didn’t see any – likewise no Bitterns. One evening I went back for a dusk vigil from Lower Hide. No Otters but a couple of flyover Woodcocks and stonking views of three Red Deer made up for it. At least 13 Little Egrets came into the roost site – there could have been more but I wasn’t concentrating on them.
Xxxx
I also had a couple of brief visits to Heysham, however the wind was horrendous and made viewing very difficult – the scope was blowing all over the place. On the one day I persisted I had 5 Red-throated Divers and a Guillemot – the usual Twite flock was also still present.
Xxxx
The only other dedicated birding day was on Monday when, being back home, I decided to take Billy for a wander around the Wirral. I started off with a quick trip to Moore where I finally caught up with a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I didn’t set off for the Wirral until relatively late by which time Hoylake Red Rocks was swarming with people and dogs and any chance of a vagrant had vanished. I decided to wander out to Hilbre Island – on arrival there a flock of 95 pale-bellied Brent Geese (plus one dark-bellied) were feeding around the island. Unfortunately the island was also swarming with people and dogs so I soon left. I then wandered over to Meols where a Greenshank was showing very nicely with a flock of around 380 Redshanks and a few Turnstones. A birder here told me about a Glaucous Gull which had been seen so I decided to stick around until high tide to see if it turned up.
Xxxx
There were thousands of gulls along the shoreline feeding on a starfish wreck – on the walk out to Hilbre I had noticed hundreds of dead Starfish littering the beach. As high tide approached I started scanning the gulls, however the strong winds didn’t help much. A Seaforth birder then turned up and started to help me and he eventually found a distant white-winger nearly a mile away on the water! Gradually the bird flew nearer and nearer as the tide pushed it up and revealed it to be a first summer Glaucous Gull – oddly my first of 2010. Cracking end to the day – and another day where I a) didn’t waste it driving all over the place and b) got some exercise!
Xxxx
HGF has been a bit more interesting this week. Last Sunday someone had reported three Black-necked Grebes present – on Monday morning they were gone. However on Tuesday a distinctive individual turned up (just for one day) and the next two days four birds were present. This morning we were back down to one. The number of Tufted Ducks has increased to nearly 30 birds while the Wigeon flock has gradually whittled down to just 7 birds this morning.
Xxx
The Coot numbers at HGF have also, worryingly, declined again – there are only three birds present today. Contrast this with the 125 birds that were present 14 months ago! Six Oystercatchers were present on one day and a mass scrap ensued! I have only been able to make early morning or late evening visits – consequently I have seen no hirundines with the exception of Tuesday when loads of Swallows, Sand Martins and a couple of House Martins were present. A single Chiffchaff has been singing for several days, this morning it was joined by a couple of Willow Warblers. A Common Sandpiper was also present this morning.
Xxxxx
Haven’t been near Waterworks Lane for 2 weeks. In the garden at least 2 Reed Buntings and up to 8 Tree Sparrows are present most days. I have had 2 quick visits to Rixton. On Tuesday 4 Wheatears were still present on the mosses – none there this morning though. There were plenty of Willow Warblers singing today, three Corn Buntings on the mosses and the juvenile Mute Swan ringed at Dunham Massey is also still present on Moat Lane pool though it is regularly bullied by the resident cob.
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