Run of rarities

White-tailed Lapwing (White-tailed Plover), Seaforth

First summer Mediterranean Gull, Seaforth

Swift, Seaforth

Wilson's Phalarope, Seaforth

Common Terns, Seaforth

Juvenile Magpie in the garden

One from last week - this is the reedbed which hosts the Great Reed Warbler!

Greenfinch, HGF

Grey Heron, Halton

Grey Wagtail, Halton

Lesser Redpoll, Marshaw

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I seem to be having a run of good fortune at the moment - good birds cropping up while I am in a position to go and see them. This week's local birds have coincided with me working in the NW for the first time in a few weeks. I have forgotten most of the birds I have seen lately so here is a very brief summary.

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The Wilson's Phalarope showed well from Hide A at Seaforth earlier in the week. A tentative theory has been put forward that this might be the same bird that graced Martin Mere last year and Seaforth in 2008 (both of which I saw). It sort of makes sense, however you have to ask where it has been hiding in between these visits. Lots of Common Terns and a couple of Sarnies plus various gulls and waders, including a first summer (faded) Med Gull.

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Yesterday the mega appeared in the form of a rare Lapwing. I asked Pete Kinsella if he had found it (he does find everything else) - he responded by saying that they had walked into the hide and found a visiting birder who had apparently refound the Wilson's. Pete scanned the causeway where the birder was pointing and calmly said "where is it in relation to the White-tailed Lapwing?" It's a better story than the reality!

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Also managed to see the female Buethroat on the Wirral though the scene there was more like a sketch from Catch the Pigeon - one of the birders trying to flush it even looked a bit like Dick Dastardly. Anyone under the age of 40 probably won't remember this anyway. I soon left.

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HGF remains dead - 40-50 kids each night and litter everywhere but no birds. Tonight just 1 Mute Swan and 2 Coots - this is nothing short of criminal. It has been a summer of hardly any hirundines or Swifts either - there are no swarms of insects around the banks which I put down to water abstraction. I have not seen a Yellow Wagtail since 21st April - their disappearance is probably down to farming practices. Whichever way you look the place is doomed. On the plus side the newly mown lawn in the south field tonight was covered by around 400 Starlings. There are also 2 pairs of Little Ringed Plovers kicking around.

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The garden is getting busy with juvenile birds of various species. A Magpie left the nest a little early on Monday and was found exhausted on the lawn. We gave it shelter for a few hours until it came round and then released it. The bird spent the next several days walking around various parts of the garden and today it finally gained the power of flight!

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On Sunday night I arrived home and wandered round the back of the shed in gloom to where I store the bird food. A bird flew up into the Sycamore - I expected a Robin feeding on spilled seed and was extremely surprised to see a Lesser Redpoll staring back at me no more than three feet away. They really are tiny and delicate looking up close. I haven't seen it since.

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Elsewhere Common Terns and Lesser Whitethroat still at Moat Lane while usual stuff at Caton and Halton including a soaring Sparrowhawk being mobbed by Swallows.

Star bird!

Great Reed Warbler, Straw's Bridge NR. My bird of the year so far!

Nightingale, Paxton Pits

One of my better digiscoped efforts - I really like this one!

Iberian Chiffchaff, Potteric Carr

Roe Deer, Potteric Carr

Pied Flycatcher, Abbeystead

Spotted Flycatcher, Abbeystead

Grey Wagtail, Halton

Golden Plover, Abbeystead

Lazy Oriental Pratincole, Frampton Marsh

Curlew Sandpiper, Frampton Marsh

Pochards, Ham Wall RSPB

Greenshank, Meare (Shapwick) Heath

Hobbies from Noah's Hide, Shapwick Heath

Wood Sandpiper, Meare Heath

The Wood Sand with a couple of drake Garaganeys

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Been working away a lot recently and not had much chance of local birding. I am also struggling to remember where I have been and what I have seen, but here goes.
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Had an after work visit to Shapwick Heath in Somerset last week. As usual it didn’t disappoint. As soon as I got out of the car a Cuckoo began calling – eventually I picked up five of these birds here, including one bird that flew right over me. I walked along the drainage ditch towards Noah’s Hide on a fantastically warm and sunny evening. A Bittern lifted out of the Meare Heath reedbed to the right and flew over the ditch to land in the Shapwick Heath reedbed. I then arrived at Meare Heath pool and immediately noticed two small waders at the back. One was flushed by a Lapwing and flew to the front – it was a Dunlin. A Greenshank then waded into view in the middle of the pool. I finally got my scope set up and scanned the back of the pool to check the other small wader – it was a Wood Sandpiper! Superb and a nice find.

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While I was watching the Wood Sandpiper, another Bittern flew right over me unobserved but seen by another birder. The usual plethora of Cetti’s Warblers were singing away as I walked down to Noah’s Hide. There I was treated to a Hobby fest – at least 15 of these falcons were hunting over the pool. It was amazing to sit in a raised hide and watch Hobbies eating insects in mid-air right in front of the hide. As usual I had left my DSLR at home! In reality these could have been many more Hobbies present – I didn’t have time to spend looking for them and the haze at the back of the pool didn’t help. Just to put this into context, over 80 Hobbies had been seen over the pool a week earlier!
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On the way back to the car park a distant blob flying towards me materialised into yet another Bittern – this one flew straight over my head no more than 30 feet above me. Again I cursed leaving the camera at home. I stopped for another look at the Wood Sandpiper and behind it from the reeds two drake Garaganeys emerged. I nipped over to neighbouring Ham Wall RSPB briefly – another couple of Cuckoos and five more Cetti’s Warblers singing. Two more Bitterns in flight though more distant – including booming birds I had detected at least ten Bitterns!
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Another brief visit was to Frampton Marsh – a place I had not visited previously. I had little time to spare here and the place is huge – you need a good day to view it all properly. The birds attracted to the place are amazing – I spent a while talking to a local who was so blasé about the Lesser Yellow-legs he saw last week or the regular stunning views he gets of Monties! I walked around to the east hide to have a look at the Ornamental Pratincole. The little tinker was at the back of the pool and being a bit lazy – it eventually settled down behind a clump of grass and seemed to indicate it was going to stay there all night. I got bored and wandered around to the 360 hide.
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This is a superb hide between a couple of pools. Waders where everywhere – I was running out of time and couldn’t scan them all. Two summer plumaged Curlew Sandpipers were picked up with a flock of around 50 Ringed Plovers and a few Dunlin. I opened the shutters at one window which overlooked a raised grass bank – at least 15 Yellow Wagtails and several Wheatears were wandering about in the grass! Most were too close to digiscope (bloody camera again!) and I soon had to go. Well worth another visit I think.
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At the weekend we went to the van and I decided to stay local as Billy is just getting over a serious illness. I had my usual walk along the Lune at Halton where adult and juvenile Dippers were seen plus a fly by Little Ringed Plover. The usual pair of Grey Wags were in residence with a female Goosander and various warblers singing in the bushes by the river side. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew from the far side of the river and curiously landed in the middle of a clump of gorse behind me! Couldn’t figure out why – there were no raptors around. It seemed to stay in there, calling every now and then. In the evening I wandered along the stretch upriver from COL picnic site. A Kingfisher was using overhanging branches of an Alder to fish and at least 35+ Sand Martins were feeding over the water. The sand banks here are littered with nest holes.
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Sunday morning I wandered up to Abbeystead. I stopped briefly at the Dotterel site to watch a half dozen stunning Golden Plovers – some in full breeding plumage. The female Pied Flycatcher was hanging around her nest hole – she was obviously getting food passed to her by the male, however I never did see him with most of the food passes taking place well away from the nest site. A Garden Warbler was singing from up the lane and in separate nest holes near the flycatchers were Robin, Great Tit and Nuthatch.
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I decided to walk along the path by the stream further up from the car park. Essentially I just plonked myself near some giant “mole hills” and stopped to see what would turn up. Two Spotted Flycatchers appeared almost immediately and spent around half an hour flitting in and around the trees here. An adult Siskin feeding a juvenile appeared next followed by three Treecreepers, another Nuthatch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. A Tawny Owl called briefly nearby and another group of Siskins appeared – two adults and two juveniles.
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I next wandered over to Marshaw. As soon as I got out of the car I found another two Spotted Flycatchers – they stayed around the car park for over an hour. A Dipper appeared briefly in the beck and scarpered just as I was about to digiscope it. I walked up to the conifer plantation – a couple of Siskins (including a male which kept coming to drink at a small stream) and at least seven Redpolls were all flitting around. Back in the car park I found another Treecreeper.
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Managed a quick mooch to Moat Lane where the Common Terns are still present and appear to be nesting. The Lesser Whitethroat that Jonathan found was very loud by the laybye – can’t imagine how I have missed it before. Some guys were working on pool 2 so I didn’t linger. HGF is still dead – the couple of visits I have made over the last 10 days have picked up two or three Little Ringed Plovers each time but not much else.
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Back on the road again and a visit to Potteric Carr. Never been here before either and couldn’t spend the time exploring properly so I restricted birding to trying to twitch the Iberian Chiffchaff. It was a fair old walk to the place where it was seen – having never seen one before I familiarised myself with its song via my cheapo version of a BlackBerry. When I arrived at the general area just one other birder was present – he had seen the Iberian Chiffer fly off. We soon picked it up singing in a v-shaped hedge which contained quite a few densely leafed trees.
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The little blighter only sang sporadically and kept moving up and down this hedge without showing itself – we were stuck at the other side of the fence which was the base of the delta of land formed by the hedge. Suddenly it popped up at the top of some brambles almost beside us. Got a few dodgy record shots and spent a bit of time studying the bird. It’s even drabber than a Chiffchaff though the song is marginally more sophisticated (if that adjective can ever be applied to a Chiffer). It is certainly much less irritating! It didn’t stay long and soon melted back into the hedge. Potteric Carr looks to have massive potential and will be well worth a longer visit sometime.

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Next day after work I managed a quick visit to Paxton Pits. Very different from my last visit with lots of foliage on the bushes and trees and not so much visible movement. I detected 6 Nightingales of which I saw two - one briefly and one well. The warblers were all still singing away. This time I walked up to the north of the reserve where it meets the River Ouse. A couple of Common Terns were fishing on the river and a Cuckoo was calling nearby. The place seemed idyllic. Juist when I was wondering why I had not had a peep from a Lesser Whitethroat with so much suitable habitat and other warbler species, a showy male popped out into the open and started singing. Other birds this evening included 9 Garden Warblers and 3 Green Woodpeckers.

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Finally got back home from my trips away - on the way back I diverted to a place called Straw's Bridge Nature Reserve where a Great Reed Warbler was in residence. I heard the bird singing long before I got near it and was amazed to find it had taken up residence in a small patch of phragmites in the corner of a large duck pond! Even with the limited cover this bird put Cetti's Warblers to shame for skulking. It briefly shot up to catch an insect after I had been there for ten minutes or so - observation time around 2 seconds! I was blown away by the variation in this bird's song - quite simply amazing. You can hear it here:

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www.xeno-canto.org/europe/species.php?query=sp:6557.00

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This bird is very loud - when it came within 30 feet or so in the reeds your ear drums know about it! It came out onto the reeds briefly after half an hour and the around 25 minutes later sat up in the middle of the reedbed and stayed up for several minutes. What a star this bird is - very large (it makes the reeds move like a Bittern!), very striking plumage and what a voice. Definitely my star bird of the year - it was a wrench to leave the place and go home!

Lazy weekend

Mediterranean Gull, Cheshire

Corn Bunting, Hollybush Lane, Rixton

Whitethroat, Moat Lane Pools, Rixton

Common Terns, Moat Lane pools, Rixton

Stock Doves, Pennington Flash

Oystercatcher, Pennington Flash

Garganey, Pennington Flash

White Wagtail, HGF

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Couldn't be bothered going anywhere much this weekend so I concentrated on a bit of local birding. Winwick was pretty quiet though 6 pairs of Grey Partridges were present on Waterworks Lane the other evening. A male Yellowhammer is also singing away here and this morning four Brown Hares were in the field opposite to the feeding station. One or two Tree Sparrows are still visiting the garden while the regular cock Pheasant is now coming in on his own suggesting his mate may be incubating.

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HGF remains pretty quiet with just the pair of Mute Swans and a few Mallard as regulars. I have seen no waders at all (Lapwings excepted) here though yesterday morning a Black-necked Grebe was present (slightly unusual at this time of year) - today it had gone though two Great Crested Grebes had dropped in. The nine pairs of resident Lapwings have produced broods of 3, 3, 2 and 1 so far. A male Corn Bunting is also singing occasionally nr Midhops and there are now three singing Whitethroats on territory. This morning a Buzzard was mobbed by Lapwings, Crows, Collared Doves!, and a pair of Pied Wagtails. Bet he wished he'd stayed in bed! No sign of any Yellow Wags - I have a sneaking suspicion that they have moved on due to the lack of unsuitable habitat - all the fields have been converted to rape and there are hardly any of the usual potato crops. Another sad sign of the times.

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Yesterday morning I spent an hour at Pennington. A drake Garganey was showing quite well when I arrived - it buggered off shortly afterwards. The Lesser Whitethroat was singing nr Horrocks Hide and a single Common Tern was on the spit. Overall I wasn't particularly in the mood and I spent most of the time wandering around aimlessly.

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This morning I visited Rixton. A drive down Hollybush Lane produced a Mistle Thrush mobbing a female Sparrowhawk, a couple of Corn Buntings, a Yellowhammer and 2 Grey Partridges feeding next to a hare. The tip pool was empty, though two male Wheatears (Greenland race) were in the usual field off Prospect Lane. The two Common Terns have stayed on Moat Lane pool two - a couple of Redshanks, a few Sand Martins and 15 Tufted Ducks were also present. Two Garden Warblers were singing around the area and a Cuckoo called constantly nearby. All told around the little Rixton tour I picked up 16 Whitethroats!

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Later on I wandered over to Delamere to have a look at the Med Gulls. I was slightly surprised to find they had moved this year - they took some finding today. Two pairs are present and are difficult to see. Three herons created chaos by moving through the Black-headed Gull colony - there was not much else on the water. At this point I called it quits for the weekend.

Another birding lesson....

Little Ringed Plover, Rixton

Common Tern, Rixton

Hoopoe, Clayhanger Marsh

Yellow Wagtails, Clayhanger Marsh

Long-billed Dowitcher, Marshside

Dotterels, Abbeystead

Red Grouse, Quernmore

Pied Flycatcher, Abbeystead

Goosanders at Halton

A gull with yellow legs at Heysham - see below

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Last Friday and a day off for an extended weekend break and as usual we were both very tired. I took Bill for a walk along the Lune during the morning but nothing of any great interest appeared. The COL HP Tawny Owl was calling throughout the day while I was lounging about and suddenly in the afternoon I seemed to get a bit of energy back and headed off to Abbeystead. It still seems slightly weird that I can just "pop out" to places like Abbeystead. I briefly watched a male Pied Flycatcher which was repeatedly visiting a nest hole and then headed off to watch two female Dotterels.

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I know there has been some debate on the sex of these birds, however they look like slightly drab females to me. When I arrived I joined a birder from Bolton and we stood and looked for around 90 minutes without seeing them although there were 26 stunning Golden Plovers in breeding plumage around. Eventually we both headed back to our cars, me simply because it had started raining and the car was parked half a mile away. My fellow birder decided to call it quits. When I got back to the spot where they had been seen a lady told myself and another guy who had recently turned up to stay in the car as they were a bit skulky when people walked around. And I thought all Dotterel's were relatively tame! Anyway we all three sat in our cars and five minutes later out wandered the two Dotterels and showed very well for the next 30 minutes or so, allbeit in poor weather. Superb birds - I have a soft spot for them as you might glean from the blog photo which I took on Pendle a few years ago.

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The next day I woke up very early and headed off to Heysham for a bit of sea watching. When I rolled up I immediately spotted a Whimbrel off the far end of the North Harbour Wall. I wandered up there to have a look and then noticed a gull bathing in a rock pool. I immediately thought Yellow-legged Gull and proceeded to take some digiscoped shots. I then followed the Whimbrel around (never did get any decent shots) and promptly forgot I had even seen the YLG until Wednesday evening when I downloaded some photos. On Thursday I found out the error of my ways.

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The reasons I thought YLG were:

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It was darker grey upper parts than nearby Herring Gulls although light was tricky at 06:30.

It had a huge bill.

It is long-winged.

The eye ring appears to be red.

The legs appear to be yellowish.

There is a black band on P5.

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However.....I had been extremely careless and had been counting the primaries wrong. The band is across P6 - P5 is white! Oops! Most of the other features could apply to YLG except that the legs should be a brighter yellow and the eye ring redder at this time of year. This bird is in fact an argentatus Herring Gull! I hadn't even considered this possibility and it is not a bird I have seen in breeding plumage. My thanks to Ian McKercher for teaching me (yet again) the error of my ways.

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Anyway back to Heysham. The tide had been ebbing for a few hours and there was no wind, consequently there was bugger all about. A half dozen Sandwich Terns, a drake Red-breasted Merganser, 5 fly past Common Scoters and a close in Grey Seal were the only rewards for the sea watch. I then headed off to Middleton Industrial Estate (a new place for me) where the nature reserve gave a very pleasant walk round. Here I got my first Sedge and Grasshopper Warblers of the year. Lots of other wablers and the walk through the gorse bushes seemed to produce the world's supply of Greenfinches. A male Sparrowhawk also dashed through.

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I then decided to take Bill for a walk by our favourite stretch of the Lune nr Halton Weir. Plenty of warblers singing away, a male Bullfinch and a group of 16 Goosanders which had decided to slouch around the far bank. The Dipper was in its usual area and a Common Sandpiper flew past (I found another pair of these later at COL). Then I decided to go on a twitch and headed off to see a Long-billed Dowitcher. I had tried and dipped on four previous occasions to see this species in Lancashire - fortunately this time the bird was a bit more confiding. It was also a pleasant surprise to see it in breeding plumage - a stunning bird!

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In the afternoon I headed back towards Abbeystead. At Quernmore I saw two Red Grouse on the moor so I stopped to look at them. They looked back. So then I made some squeaking noises on my hand and the two birds came running straight towards me! And then realised what they were doing and flew away. I went and watched the Pied Flycatcher again and saw it chase away another male. I then met up with Jonathan and we went to see the Dotterels. It started drizzling and the birds were not particularly showy so I suggested we go look at the Pied Flycatcher. When we arrived he had gone walk about though I briefly saw the female dart away. I then suggested we go for a wander looking for Redstarts and the heavens opened. Jonathan heard a Pied Fly calling, however al we got was very wet! Back at the nest the male Pied Fly reappeared and a Garden Warbler sang nearby.

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On Sunday morning I took Bill for a walk along another stretch of the Lune from Bull Beck towards Hornby (I didn't get anywhere near Hornby though). It was cold and windy though the walk was still pleasant. Three Garden Warblers were heard singing along with various other warblers. Loads of Sand Martins were back on territory with one or two having a bash at excavating tunnels in the sand banks. Quite a few waders were on the extensive shingle banks here too - no fewer than eight Common Sandpipers, a Ringed Plover and three Little Ringed Plovers.

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Monday and Karen and I went for a walk along a path at Conder Green (after some superb hot pot and a stonking cappucino in the local cafe). The path runs from the path along the bank of the river and used to be an old railway line. A Lesser Whitethroat and 2 Common Whitethroats were singing in the hedges while a lone Whimbrel was feeding on the muddy shoreline. We also called in briefly at Conder Pool / Creek. A superb breeding plumage Spotted Redshank was asleep while three tomato soup coloured Bar-tailed Godwits fed in the creek. A Green Sandpiper was also here and a drake Wigeon was asleep on the pool. This evening a juvenile Mistle Thrush was hanging around the van.

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Tuesday I had to make an emergency trip to Milton Keynes. On the way home I had worked out that a six mile diversion off the M6 would take me to Clayhanger Marsh where a Hoopoe had been seen. On arrival there was nothing around though I could see the potential of the site. A pair of Yellow Wagtails fed in the meadow and a few Common Terns flitted by. A couple of other birders joined me though the Hoopoe remained elusive. I was thinking of heading off when I suddenly caught sight of the bird in flight. I finally tracked it down feeding behind some gorse - stunning bird! This is a nice little oatch just a couple of miles from Chasewater - well worth visting. See Chaz's blog here: http://www.clayhangermarsh.blogspot.com/

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HGF this week has plumbed the depths - today only two Mute Swans and a few Mallard present - the place is dead! To be fair two Common Whitethroats are back on their usual territories and a Little Ringed Plover has been present each day. A Common Sandpiper was there on Monday. Yesterday I managed a quick visit to Rixton. Moat Lane pool was quiet though the Mute Swan (blue JP4) is still there and the Great Crested Grebes still incubating (should be ready for hatching shortly). There were, however, warblers singing everywhere - lots of them. A Bullfinch shot into some bushes nearby. I decided to have a look at pool 2 where I finally got some action. A pair of Common Terns were resting on one of the little islands and a Little Ringed Plover was also here. 10 Tufted Ducks and a few Mallard were also on the water. I wandered round the mosses and found a pair of Gadwall on the tip pool and five female Wheatears in the field past the farm on Prospect Lane. Four pairs of Grey Partridges also around the lanes but no sign of Corn Bunts or Yellow Wags - had both species earlier in the day though on Holcroft Lane on the way to work!