Podiceps!

Slavonian Grebe, Greater Manchester

Black-necked Grebes, HGF this evening. The first bird back on the right and a new bird in yesterday which still has some winter plumage

New pair of Black-necked Grebes at HGF this evening

Twite at the feeding station in Heysham - note the single Linnet

Siskins on the feeders at the van

Chaffinch on the feeders by the van

Wigeon, Sandbach Flashes

Whooper Swans, Bolton-Le-Sands. Taken through my bins

Mediterranean Gulls, Pennington Flash

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Catch up again
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Saturday 12th March
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Saturday morning Karen and I walked Bill along the usual stretch of river at Halton. It was a nice morning and though not specifically birding, somehow once again my bins had appeared along the walk!!! Perhaps the most interesting sighting was a bat feeding around the trees on the opposite bank late in the morning. Presumably it was prematurely aroused from hibernation and was feeling somewhat peckish – it always seems slightly odd to see a bat feeding in broad daylight.
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I did see the usual finch flock briefly in flight and managed to pick out 1 Brambling before they disappeared. Other sightings included a Dipper, 2 Goosanders and the usual woodland species of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Nuthatch etc.
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Sunday morning I started off at Heysham. Around 70+ finches were flitting around the mound though only around 30 Twite actually came into the feeding station. A brief sea watch didn’t produce anything exciting though good numbers of Eiders were off shore and a few Goldeneyes. Next I headed back inland to Melling. 23 Whoopers were still present in the distant fields along with large numbers of Mute Swans and various geese. Three Golden Plovers were also found in the field nearest the road. I later had a mooch around the river at Bull Beck – at least 330 Common Gulls were roosting in the fields immediately north of the river. Plenty of Curlews, Lapwings, Oystercatchers etc too.
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Late afternoon Karen and I had a walk along the front at Morecambe. At high tide I could see a flock of Black-headed Gulls on the water near Broadway groyne – a summer plumage Med Gull was with them. Plenty of Eiders on the water and at least 20 Goldeneyes. In the evening I had a quick walk down by the river at Halton. Two Dippers were seen and one was taking nesting material to a different site. This place is virtually impossible to see from the path and was only found by pure chance. Have the local pair switched nest sites or is this another pair? This site is only around 400 yards from the usual nest site where I saw birds taking nesting material last week. At least 8 Siskins on the feeders at the van today and the usual Tawny Owl calling after dark.

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Monday 14th
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Nothing much to report from HGF this morning – same as! 12 Tree Sparrows were in the garden early doors. At Rixton this evening 2 Green Sandpipers (plus 13 Teal) were on the tip pool which has been partially drained and looks superb for waders. Buzzard, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk were seen on the mosses. At dusk while on my way back from Culcheth I dropped down Lady Lane in Croft. One of the Little Owls flew onto a post near the car and began singing – it stayed there and sang for at least 20 minutes. I didn’t see another bird though – a pair of Grey Partridges were also present.
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Tuesday 15th
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4 Corn Buntings were on the wires on Holcroft Lane in Culcheth on my way to work this morning. Nothing new at HGF. 18 Tree Sparrows and a Coal Tit in the garden this morning. Bird of the day was a Little Ringed Plover on the tip pool in Rixton at lunch. It walked out from behind the little bush on the left hand side and wandered round the left edge of the water. One of the problems with this pool is that a large part of it is completely hidden from view. A single Green Sandpiper and a Redshank were also present. Also had a Nuthatch and a Sparrowhawk on Moat Lane.
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Wednesday 16th
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HGF brightened up this morning with the appearance of 8 Sand Martins feeding over the water. Also present was a Greylag Goose – a rare visitor here. 16 Tree Sparrows, a Yellowhammer and a pair of Long-tailed Tits were in the garden early on.
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Thursday 17th
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Three Sand Martins at HGF this morning. 12 Tree Sparrows in the garden. Late morning I had been to see a client literally round the corner from Sandbach Flashes so I dropped in there on my way past. Very few gulls and nothing much to see, however I did get my first Chiffchaff this year. Shortly before dusk I arrived at Stewartby Lake in Beds and managed to get a look at the gull roost. An adult and a second winter Yellow-legged Gull were the pick along with a first winter Caspian look-alike which couldn’t be clinched 100%. Also here were 2 singing Chiffchaffs and a Green Woodpecker.
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Friday 18th
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Having started work at 06:30 to try and get back north at a reasonable time I spent most of the afternoon stuck on the motorway. Managed a quick look at the tip pool in Rixton at dusk – the usual 2 Green Sandpipers plus Redshank were present.
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Saturday 19th
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A very early morning and rare visit to Pennington Flash produced 2 adult Med Gulls on the spit. Next a visit to HGF produced the goods with the first returning Black-necked Grebe of 2011 – a bird in 90% or so breeding plumage. Previous return dates:
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26th March in 2006
11th March in 2007
13th March in 2008
6th March in 2009
18th March in 2010
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A single Sand Martin was present and around a quarter of the Wigeon flock have disappeared. Is this the first sign of migration or have they just gone for a day trip which they sometimes do? A male Reed Bunting has taken up residence in the south hedge over the last week and was busy singing away again. A Buzzard and 2 Stock Doves were present in the ploughed field off Waterworks Lane this morning.
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Headed north to the van mid morning and Karen and I went wandering again. We visited Bolton-Le-Sands salt marsh just after high tide – a family group of three Whooper Swans (2 adults plus juvenile) drifted past on the sea with good numbers of Eiders out there too. Shortly after while having lunch on the front at Morecambe a small group of Scaup also drifted past. The usual drake and 2 ducks appear to have been joined by a second drake. More Eiders and a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers too. A Peregrine flew over the van at dusk and the usual Tawny Owl began calling shortly afterwards. Stuuningly sunny day today but somewhat cold.
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Sunday morning was miserable with plenty of rain. Nevertheless I ventured out in the morning with Bill. The usual walk down by the river at Halton was very productive. My first Kingfisher of the year flew down river and at least 3 Bramblings were present with the slightly reduced finch flock. While scanning through the tree tops watching these Bramblings, a Marsh Tit appeared next to one. Ideal habitat here for these tits but this is the first one I have seen here.
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Watching the Dippers I found a bird bringing material into the third different nest site I have found in this stretch of river. This site is easy to see but virtually impossible to get near. This had me intrigued so I spent quite a bit of time watching the Dippers and eventually found there are two pairs on this stretch of river. The nest sites are 400 yds apart and the river stretch in between is used by both pairs for feeding. Upriver and downriver of these sites the river is relatively deep with little suitable feeding habitat so maybe they are tolerating each other. I haven’t seen any border disputes yet.
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Also here were 7 Goldeneyes, a Goosander, a Chiffchaff plus the usual woodland species. Next I called in at Bull Beck where 190+ Curlews were in residence with Redshanks, Oystercatchers, Teal and Lapwings. I then moved over to Melling. The usual herd of Whoopers was still present and in the rain I could see a distant white blob in the field beyond. Putting my scope onto 50 x zoom I found the white blob was a Little Egret just sitting there in the rain.
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After lunch we decamped back home where the weather was much better. 2 male Reed Buntings were feeding at the back of the garden while Waterworks Lane turned up trumps with at least 42 Yellowhammers feeding in the ploughed field next to the water treatment works. Having not seen more than 12 or so at the feeding station all winter, I wonder where they have suddenly come from? I did get approaching this number last winter at the feeding station. Also in the field were 20 Tree Sparrows plus a Buzzard and a couple of Stock Doves.
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At HGF on Sunday afternoon the Black-necked Grebe was still present. The Wigeon flock is still well down in numbers so it looks like part of the flock has headed north on migration. Bon voyage! A Chiffchaff was also singing in the south hedge.
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Monday morning and three Black-necked Grebes were present on HGF. The original bird was joined by a pair. In the garden this morning were a male Reed Bunting and a Stock Dove. Early evening at Waterworks Lane there were 20+ Tree Sparrows and 19 Yellowhammers plus a pair of Grey Partridges and 4 Stock Doves in the ploughed field. A Corn Bunting was also present – the first I have seen here this winter, bizarrely. The sun was shining directly into my eyes though so I couldn’t see all the birds in the field. Dusk I visited Rixton – just the Redshank on the tip pool, a pair of Oystercatchers on Moat Lane pool 1 and not much else about.
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Tueday 22nd and change again at HGF. The pair of Black-necked Grebes which had been present yesterday had departed, however the original bird (presumably) had been joined by another which still had much winter plumage. At least 11 Skylarks were in the south field this morning with 6 Meadow Pipits. 18 Goldfinches were in the garden this morning plus 5 Tree Sparrows. Waterworks Lane was almost deserted this evening while 2 Green Sandpipers and the Redshank were on the tip pool at Rixton. A couple of Grey Partridges were on the mosses. What a glorious day today – 19.5°C and brilliant sunshine compared with just 4°C at the weekend.
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Wednesday 23rd. 13 Goldfinches in the garden first thing. Couldn’t see a thing at HGF this morning – the place was blanketed in mist. Three Grey Partridges and 18 Tree Sparrows were at the feeding station on Waterworks Lane this morning. For a couple of months I have been working regularly just around the corner from Audenshaw Reservoirs so today I decided to have a wander there. The star attraction is a summer plumaged Slavonian Grebe and it was a stunner in the sunshine! This is the first I have seen in this plumage away from their breeding grounds in Scotland – I could have stayed all day and watched it! To be honest apart from clocking some Goldeneyes and Goosanders I didn’t bother looking for anything else.

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This evening at HGF there were four Black-necked Grebes present. The two birds from yesterday and a new pair. The latter are different to the pair present on Monday - today's birds are quite varied in their state of moult while the pair on Monday were quite evenly matched in state of moult. Six birds through so far....
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On a slightly separate note – last week I found two dead Black-headed Gulls at HGF with just their necks eaten. I presume these are Peregrine kills. I have also seen 2 Sparrowhawk kills in the garden – both Collared Doves.

Gulls and stuff

First winter Glaucous Gull, Pumphouse flash, Sandbach Flashes

First winter Iceland Gull, Pumphouse Flash

This bird was called a Yellow-legged Gull by another birder. Granted it is much paler than the LBBG's around it but structurally it looks exactly like a LBBG to me - it didn't feel right for YLG or argentatus Herring Gull.

Yellow-legged Gull, Pumphouse Pool, Moore

Arctic Redpoll, Bedford

Corn Buntings, Culcheth. Crap photo taken through the bins!

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Bit of a running around week.
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Managed a lunch time trip to Rixton on Monday. Nothing much on the mosses (2 pairs of Buzzards, pair of Kestrels and some Mistle Thrushes) and just the usual on Moat Lane pools i.e. Tufted Ducks and the Mute Swan JP4. The tip pool was more interesting – it has been largely drained and was essentially a large patch of wet mud with a small stream running through the middle. No surprise to find the 2 Green Sandpipers had relocated here. Also present were 7 Teal. It looks superb for waders at the moment, however I haven’t had a chance to go near it since.
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On the way home after work I spotted some birds flitting into a field at the edge of Holcroft Hall Farm. I found a footpath here which I never knew existed – hard work to get with nowhere to park, no footpath and traffic doing 50+ around the bend! I got there though and found 22+ Corn Buntings in the trees here. There were possibly more further down – this place needs more exploration!
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Since I have stopped putting food down at the feeding station the few remaining birds have drifted into the garden. It’s been several weeks since I saw significant numbers of Tree Sparrows at either location. On Monday there were 14 in the garden and 18 this morning. 2 Yellowhammers have also been present, however best of all was a pair of Grey Partridges. For the first five years we lived here we had a large covey of these birds present almost every day. Last winter they disappeared and only appeared half a dozen times later on – this winter nothing until this week.
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HGF follows a pattern at this time of year with Coots slowly disappearing onto breeding territories, Tufted Duck and Wigeon numbers fluctuating daily as they start to exercise their wings following a winter of relative inactivity and grebes building up – 7 Great Crested at the moment. The usual pair of Oystercatchers and single Redshank remain daily.
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Worked away during the week and had an opportunity to go and see an Arctic Redpoll of the Scandinavian race (Coues’). I arrived at the place the bird was showing to find two birders with that usually fateful comment – it buggered off that way five minutes ago, followed by the equally fateful – don’t worry, it’ll come back! They left and I watched for 40 minutes before a small flock of redpolls arrived and fortunately they included the Arctic bird and also a Mealy Redpoll for a nice comparison. I don’t think I appreciated how chunky looking an Arctic Redpoll is. I later spent dusk at nearby Stewartby Lake looking at the gulls. Nothing interesting and I couldn’t be bothered sifting through several thousand Black-headed Gulls looking for the usual Meds.
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Yesterday I managed a pit stop at Sandbach Flashes on the way home. This was just a spur of the moment thing and having been away I was completely oblivious to the possible presence of a first winter American Herring Gull there. I certainly didn’t see anything fitting that description. I soon picked out a faded first winter Iceland Gull on Pumphouse Flash. It eventually flew off so I moved to Elton Hall flash. A large flock of Stock Doves was feeding in a stubble field on the far side of the flash and a few Blackwits and Ruff were feeding around the water’s edge. I wandered back to Pumphouse where I first found the returned Iceland Gull and shortly after the pale first winter Glaucous Gull. Later I called in briefly at Moore for a look-see to find Birchwood Pool empty and a few hundred large gulls, mainly LBBG’s, on Pumphouse Pool. A single Yellow-legged Gull was with them.

Geese and Swans

Greenland White-fronted Goose, Pilling

European (Russian) White-fronted Goose, Pilling

Pink-footed Geese, Pilling

Mixed waders at Scalestone Point groyne, Morecambe

Spotted Redshanks (left and centre), Greenshank and Redshank (right) at Conder Creek during high tide

Spotted Redshank, Conder Creek

Greenshank, Conder Creek

Whooper Swans, Sand Villa

Peregrine, Warton Crag

Falcon

Tiercel

Falcon

Raven, Warton Crag

Scaup, Morecambe

Ringed Whooper, Melling

Whoopers, Melling

Grey Wagtail, Halton

Dipper, Halton

Brambling, Halton

Sunset over Parkgate

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Monday 28th Feb.
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Spur of the moment trip to Risley Moss tonight. There were no birders there and I was bored so I wandered around to the woodland hide. The only bird of interest was a Goldcrest. Back at the tower 6 Reed Buntings were on the feeders anda single Yellowhammer came into roost. At around 17:40 I noticed a small group of corvids having a pop at something and put my scope on them to find a Short-eared Owl. I watched the owl for around 10 minutes before it floated off high over the tip. A short while later it was back again straight out from the tower but then it just seemed to disappear. Given the scarcity of SEO’s over most of the winter and the sudden increase in numbers over the last week or two I guess these are migrating birds heading back to their territories and just having a pit stop.
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Two Water Rails began by screaming and then started singing (if you can call it that). The Redwings started to arrive – I counted 44 but was distracted by the owl for part of this. The first Woodcock didn’t appear until it was very dark and only four birds were seen. At least ten Snipe also flew off the mosses. Earlier today I found a small flock of Fieldfares at Burtonwood – I had also made a quick lunchtime visit to Rixton and seen just one Green Sandpiper. At the feeding station this morning (brief pit stop) were 33+ Tree Sparrows plus 15 House Sparrows and 2 Yellowhammers.
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Wednesday 2nd March
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HGF had its highest Wigeon count this winter with 54 birds. Still less than half the number seen in previous years. A pair of Grey Partridges ran across Waterworks Lane this morning.
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Thursday 3rd March
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I had intended to go back to Risley Moss, however best laid plans and all that. Consequently I was still stuck on the Wirral late on and decided to head to Parkgate instead. I could see a bank of mist on the opposite side of the marsh which eventually rolled across and made viewing virtually impossible, though not until a glorious sunset was observed. One ring-tail Hen Harrier and a Peregrine seen.
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Friday 4th March
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A single Redshank was at HGF this morning – first for a while. Been a bit poor this winter as usually 3 or 4 birds winter here. A bit of a gull influx early on produced some large gulls which is unusual early morning. Most were Lesser Black-backs. The feeding station was quiet this morning and has been recently – the farmer has severely cut back the hedge. This has demolished the sparrows cover, consequently I think it about timke I wrapped up the feeding station for this winter. Seems ages since I started feeding late last September. I look forward to seeing the Tree Sparrows again later in the year though I suspect a few may hang around the garden for a few weeks yet. On arrival at the van this evening a Tawny Owl was hooting there.
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Had a wander by the Lune this morning. A mixed finch flock were disturbed by 2 Buzzards and flew around the river. Most disappeared though a few stayed in the trees on the opposite banks. 5 Bramblings were present in this bunch. The local Dipper pair were observed carrying nesting material. A pair of Grey Wagtails were also flitting around and 2 drake Goosanders flew upriver. I also wandered over to Melling to try and get the number of the ringed bird. I finally succeeded with the scope on full zoom and the camera also on full zoom. Should be interesting to see where this bird has been.
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Karen and I went to Morecambe for lunch. While sat having a burger in the car park opposite Scalestone point groyne, the 3 Scaup floated slowly past at high tide. There were quite a few waders on the groyne too with 29 Black-tailed Godwits and several hundred Knot and Dunlin. Around 90 Pink-footed Geese flew over and headed out across the bay. After lunch we wandered up to Warton Crag again where both the raven and Peregrine pairs showed well. At the van tonight there was no sign of the Greenfinch flock though the Tawny Owl put in its usual appearance.
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Sunday morning I got up in one of those I really can’t be arsed moods. I headed off with Bill to Conder Green simply because I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. A Greenshank showed well in the creek but little else so I wandered down the road to Sand Villa (Cockerham Moss). 74 Whooper Swans were feeding here with a thousand or so Pink-footed Geese. 9 more Whoopers flew in, then the pinks also took off and flew towards Pilling Lane Ends so I followed them.
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I rolled up at Lane Ends and started scanning through the geese there when I heard an unfamiliar call. This was Ian Woosey further along the embankment, whistling! I joined Ian for a bit and we scanned through the pinks with not much doing other than a Peregrine way out on the marsh edge. I got headed back to Conder Creek for high tide and found the Greenshank roosting with its best friends, 2 Spotted Redshanks. Glasson was dead so I headed back to Pilling oblivious of the fact that Ian had found some White-fronted Geese. He had texted me, however I cannot get my new phone to work properly and the damn thing has nearly ended in the bin several times.
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Anyway when I got back to Lane Ends Ian was there watching two Russian first winter White-fronted Geese and while I was busy trying, and failing, to digiscope them he also found a first winter Greenland White-fronted Goose. A Peregrine was again out on the marsh, 3 Little Egrets, lots of waders and around 4000 Pinks. Ian also continued his birding success with a Treecreeper and Sparrowhawk nr the car park. I couldn’t be bothered scanning the flock for the Brent that was seen (told you I was in can’t be arsed mode) and I decided lunch sounded good and left.
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Sun evening at the van 25 Redwings dropped in to roost and a high flying Peregrine sped over heading NW. Oh and it seems the site Peacock has survived the winter and was doing its rounds today!