Photos:
Temminck's Stint, Great White Egret, Little Egret and Spoonbill, Parkgate
Whitethroat, Burton Marsh
5th
May
The
feeding station held 9 Tree Sparrows and a Yellow Wagtail this morning while a
Mute Swan flew over. HGF held 210 Swallows, a single Swift, a Common Sandpiper,
5 Little Ringed Plovers and 5 Pochards. Rixton mosses held 11 Wheatears and a
single Yellow Wagtail.
I
also found a Yellow Wag on the outskirts of Croft – perched on the wires by
Cockshot Farm.
Late
morning I had had enough of Groundhog Day birding and went over to the Wirral
for a change of scenery. The Temminck’s Stint was showing well at Donkey Stand
Flash at Parkgate (who named this?) along with some Dunlin and a Common
Sandpiper. A Peregrine was also perched out on the marsh and quite a few Little
Egrets were around.
Next
I moved over towards Boathouse Flashes – I had seen the Spoonbill over there.
It was roosting when I arrived and the Great White Egret dropped in just after
I arrived, disappeared for a while and then reappeared near the Black-headed
Gull (BHG) colony. Immediately the gulls began mobbing the egret which
responded by stretching its neck upwards and stabbing up at mobbing birds. It
then went and stood next to the nearby Spoonbill which had up to now been
completely ignored by the gulls despite being asleep in their midst. The
Spoonbill started to get mobbed and looked a bit ruffled, however when it moved
away from the GWE, the gulls ignored it again. The GWE eventually took the hint
and moved away.
20
minutes later the GWE came back for seconds and the gulls responded
accordingly. This time the egret moved next to an adult Grey Heron which had
also been previously ignored and was now on the receiving end. The heron seemed
to realise the egret was the source of the problem and drove it off - the
mobbing stopped instantly.
I
never at any time go an impression that the egret was targeting the gull colony
and am intrigued as to why the response to the egret and not the heron?
I
also had an interesting chat with Colin – the warden at IMF etc. I made the
observation that the GWE had plumes but still a yellow bill (breeding plumage
birds have dark bills) and wondered at the age at which they mature. Colin
suggested this might be an American race bird which has, apparently, not been
recorded in the UK
Next
I walked Bill up to the Decca Pools from Denhall Lane
6th
May
I
took Bill for a very pleasant walk up the side of No 6 tank, Frodsham Marsh
this morning. It was one of those days when there were birds everywhere.
Nothing special but good stuff all the same. There were 17 Whimbrel feeding on
No 5 tank and I later found another 32 on No 6 tank making 49 birds in total. 3
male Whinchats were flitting along the fence line which runs parallel to the
path and beyond were at least 7 Wheatears.
A
male Marsh Harrier showed well on No 4 tank and various waders were seen
including Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits and Ringed Plovers. A few Buzzards were
seen floating around and two Sparrowhawks also appeared. One, a probable female
with primary feathers missing on one wing flew over No 6 tank while another, a
probably male, shared a thermal with a Kestrel. They almost appeared to be
touching wing tips at times. A couple of Ravens were also seen and plenty of
Swifts moved through. Finally when walking back down a Garden Warbler burst
into song in the bush right next to me!
At
Rixton this evening were 6 Wheatears and 4 Yellow Wagtails (all males) but no
sign of the terns again.
7th
May
Overcast
and windy at HGF this morning. Around 180 Swallows and 70 Swifts were feeding
over the water. A female Yellow Wagtail was in the south field and locally four
pairs of Lapwings now have 8 young between them. These youngsters have all been
placed in a crèche with the result that there are always three or four adults
keeping an eye on them while the other adults chill out and relax by the pool!
Only one Pochard now left and a single Common Sandpiper was present.
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