early morning visit to mm barn owl ,female marsh harrier,2 buzzard,2 kestrel,2 ringed plover,several ruff,oystercatcher plus all the usual ducks,swans and geese.also nice to see 2 hares boxing from the united utilities hide quick visit to tags island for the high tide knot, dunlin,bar tailed godwits,sanderlings,grey plover,redshank,oystercatchers,shellduck,1 little egret and all the usual gulls.
Gary Gorner said
Fri Feb 6 7:17 AM, 2009
sounds like a good day sid well worth the effort i tend to dip on eveythingsorry my pm got to you too late to help.
sid ashton said
Thu Feb 5 7:28 PM, 2009
Managed to get to Marshside today despite reservations when leaving home in the snow at 0715!!
Went to Meresands Wood first on the way for the Crossbills and found 3 (2 females,1 male) also had several Tree Sparrow on the feeders behind reception as well as Brambling, Tree Creeper and Bullfinch. Most of the water was frozen but there were good numbers of Wigeon and Teal. Then over to Ainsdale beach for the Snow Bunts - there were five foraging on the tideline about 1km south of the Discovery Centre. Weld Road next looking for Twite, there was a disant flock of about 20 birds but did get good views of Grey Plover and Dunlin and finally to Marshside where there was a single Green winged Teal. The RSPB bloke was unaware of a second bird earlier in the week - and to finish a nice Barn Owl on the marsh flying toward what is left of Mount Baker.
Sid A
sid ashton said
Wed Feb 4 11:21 PM, 2009
Anthony
You must have been really unlucky there with sun reflecting off snowy ground because in front of the Sandgrounders hide is mostly water which is where the GWT has been mostly photographed. Take a look at John Dempseys blog. I'm off to Marshside tomorrow, snow permitting ,so I shall post the latest.
Anthony Dixon wrote:
You must of been quick Ian...the Teal photo on my website was indeed labelled as 'Green Winged Teal' for about 20 minutes after I put it up on Monday night. I had taken a couple of shots of the bird which I planned to display but they didn't turn out very well due to harsh sunlight reflecting on the snowy ground. Hopefully will go back over the weekend to have another crack at it...Providing the bird is still showing of course.
Anthony
Ian McKerchar said
Wed Feb 4 9:09 PM, 2009
I don't miss too much Anthony
Anthony Dixon said
Wed Feb 4 8:56 PM, 2009
You must of been quick Ian...the Teal photo on my website was indeed labelled as 'Green Winged Teal' for about 20 minutes after I put it up on Monday night. I had taken a couple of shots of the bird which I planned to display but they didn't turn out very well due to harsh sunlight reflecting on the snowy ground. Hopefully will go back over the weekend to have another crack at it...Providing the bird is still showing of course.
Anthony
Ian McKerchar said
Wed Feb 4 9:53 AM, 2009
just had another look at your website Anthony and the photo has now been changed to 'Teal'...
Ian McKerchar said
Wed Feb 4 9:47 AM, 2009
sid ashton wrote:
Ian from what I read visually differentiating between the sexes is quite tricky but if there had been chance of male and female together I would have liked to have given it a bash.
You say tricky I say nigh impossible I don't know if you've seen the article on Green-winged Teal identification on the website, it is just my opinion of course but I find the variation in female Eurasian Teal to be too overlapping with G-w Teal to ensure a positive identification of all but perhaps the very extremes
Two drakes is a different kettle of fish altogether though but you've got to be cautious of taking someones word for it, especially as identifying someone who 'knows their stuff' is as hazardous as are female G-w Teal!
Out of interest Anthony, and I've no doubt read it wrong but the photo labelled Green-winged Teal on your website is of a pair of Eurasian Teal?
Anthony Dixon said
Wed Feb 4 6:39 AM, 2009
I'm by no means an expert on Green Winged Teals...The ones at Marshside are the first I've seen. One bird was extremely close to the screen on Sunday and was unmistakably a Green wing. The same bird (I think!) was fairly close in from the Sandgrounders on Monday and again unmistakable. The second bird was pointed out to me on a island by another birder through his scope, but the view wasn't brilliant because of the grass. This man who I'd never met before seemed to know his stuff, so I took his word for it that the bird was indeed a GWT.
Like I said, I'm no expert and could well be wrong about the second bird...The view wasn't good and if more regular visitors to Marshside haven't seen a second bird then perhaps we could be mistaken.
sid ashton said
Wed Feb 4 6:01 AM, 2009
Ian from what I read visually differentiating between the sexes is quite tricky but if there had been chance of male and female together I would have liked to have given it a bash.
Ian McKerchar wrote:
Anthony seems to be under no confusion as to seeing 2 drakes together Sid
Ian McKerchar said
Tue Feb 3 11:49 PM, 2009
Anthony seems to be under no confusion as to seeing 2 drakes together Sid
sid ashton said
Tue Feb 3 10:38 PM, 2009
Ian just thought that you may like to see a note from a well known Marshside birder to me re the possible confusion on the GWT.
"Howdy Sid - still only one Green Winged Teal at Marshside as far as I know...there was a bird at Seaforth recently, which may have led to the confusion. The drake at Marshside was displaying to a female Common Teal at the weekend, which may also have muddied some people's waters..."
Hope that is of some help.
Sid A
Ian McKerchar wrote:
Thanks Anthony, been a few knocking around the north west the past year atleast (including our own Wigan bird of course) so not too surprising to find two at Marshside I suppose but a very good sighting nevertheless
Ian McKerchar said
Tue Feb 3 8:37 AM, 2009
Thanks Anthony, been a few knocking around the north west the past year atleast (including our own Wigan bird of course) so not too surprising to find two at Marshside I suppose but a very good sighting nevertheless
Anthony Dixon said
Tue Feb 3 6:20 AM, 2009
Sorry Ian, I should know by now to provide a little bit more detail on less common birds...2 males.
One of the birds was showing very close indeed to the screen outside the Sandgrounders hide on Sunday. Both were visable from inside the hide on Monday until all birds were 'lifted' by something unknown...Lost sight of both birds when the flock settled back down.
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Feb 2 10:38 PM, 2009
I'm equally intruiged Anthony as to whether your remark regarding the pair of Green-winged Teal regards 2 males or an actual pair (male and female)? A very good record indeed
Anthony Dixon said
Mon Feb 2 8:58 PM, 2009
Sorry my mistake... The 20+ should have been Tree Sparrow! Actually 5 Bewick's.
Have now edited post. Green Wings have been showing well for a week or so now from the Sandgrounders hide.
jason atkinson said
Mon Feb 2 8:11 PM, 2009
Hi Anthony,
Did you report your Bewicks? 20+ is probably one of the highest counts for years. Also will relay to a couple of Marshside lads i know the 2 GWT. Excellent work.
cheers jason
Anthony Dixon said
Mon Feb 2 7:30 PM, 2009
Marshside Sunday 01-02-09
Pair of Green Winged Teal 1 Curlew 100+ Pochard 50+ Pink Footed Geese 50+ Shoverler 1 Kestrel 8 Teal
Martin Mere Sunday 01-02-09
Pintail Pochard 20+ Tree Sparrow Reed Bunting 5 Bewick's Swan
(2 quick visits)
Marshside 02-02-09 1 Green Winged Teal showing well 1 Barn Owl (being mobbed by 3 gulls) 4 Little Grebe 1 Curlew 40+ Black Tailed Godwit 1 Bar Tailed Godwit 50+ Shovelers 1 Sparrowhawk 22 Pochard
Formby Point 02-02-09
Sadly according to the National Trust staff and locals it appears that the Red Squirrels have all but lost the battle against the pox with no sightings for weeks.
Birds included...
Redwing Goldfinch Long Tailed Tit Robin Coal Tit Wood Pigeon Goldcrest Great Tit Carrion Crow
-- Edited by Anthony Dixon at 20:59, 2009-02-02
Gary Gorner said
Sun Feb 1 2:45 PM, 2009
saturday31/01/09 first stop marshside 2 little egret and 1 redshank on outer marsh and 1 little egret on the inner. from nels had a grey plover ,1 scaup male in amongst a flock of about 10 tufted duck.all the usual curlew ,godwits,shovler,teal,wigeon,large flock of black headed gulls couldnt pick anything out of interest amongst them,2 black backed and one lesser black backed gull. raptors seen 2 peregrine m+f ,1 m sparrowhawk. from sandgrounders golden plovers in amongst the lapwings and all the usual stuff couldnt find the green winged teal but birds keeping their heads down due to the cold easterly wind. mere sands wood next stop reports of a couple of bramblings early morn but we didnt spot them but the siskin on the feeders were nice to watch instead also a couple of goosanders on the lake and lots of reed buntings taking advantage of the free offerings.
martin mere excellent views of the barn owl hunting and a couple of buzzards late evening .still a few thousand pink feet coming in to roost and a flock of barnicales with the red brested goose still amongst them.also a flock of approx 100 fieldfare just offsite near the old windmill. counted 49 ruff ,no bewicks about maybe on their way back east.
Gary Gorner said
Sun Jan 25 5:13 PM, 2009
saturday
early morning visit to marshside ,well early for me 9.00am-11 . great spectacle birds everywhere and i didnt know which way to turn. thousands of lapwings and golden plover flying around being spooked by a few great black backed gulls,also a increased number of lesser bbg.counted 4 little egrets on the outer marsh and 3 on the inner along with 4 curlew. out to sea, hundreds of knot and dunlin keeping up with the high tide,2 divers but not sure on id probably red throted but flying by pretty quick.lots of black tailed godwits about but didnt spot any ruff. only raptor was a lone kestrel which seems to be getting quite tame i got up to 20ft away before it decided to fly. everyone in sandground hide going on about snow buntings and twite down ainsdale but i resisted the trek and opted for the comfort at martin mere.
martin mere-inceased numbers of pinkfeet showing well in the field to the right of the ron barker hide along with 60+barnacle and 1 red breasted goose .also by the old windmill in the field were a mixed flock of about 60+ fiedfare and redwingand a small flock of corn buntings,also thought i saw a yellowhammerdo they stay over winter or migrate i didnt get bins on it as it flew as soon as it saw me . sparrowhawk,4 buzzards and a kestrel missed a nice male harrier which put in an appearance around 11 ish.all in all a good day and boy dont the birds look great with a bit of sun on them.
Gary Gorner said
Sat Jan 17 4:01 PM, 2009
Great morning for the buzzards at least 6 over parbold hill on the way to the mere and 8 around the mere.Other raptors included 1 kestrel and 1 sparrowhawk. no marsh harriers or peregrines about though.
good numbers of lapwings being spooked by anything that moved with 30+ruff and 2 redshank amongst them,
a flock of about 30 barnacles with a red brested goose of unknown origin. counted upto 500 pinkfeet around the reserve.
nice to see the kingfisher making an appearance from the united util hide.
2 bewicks amongst the whoopers best seen from the observatory hide.
Gary Gorner said
Sun Jan 11 5:27 PM, 2009
a nice saturday morning great watching the birds dancing on ice
raptors seen -4 buzzard,1 kestrel,1 female marsh harrier
nice watching the great spotted woodpecker from janet kear
from united util -1 water rail,1 stonechat,1 very strange canada x greylag
ron barker-great black backed gull finishing off the remnants of a teal which it lost to two buzzards.
loads of shellduck,whoopers and all the usual ducks couldnt pin down the bewick a few ruff scatterd about very flighty. lots of finches and tits about and a few goldcrests.
curlew lane-10 red legged partridge 200 + corn buntings in 4 groups great to see and hear
Dave Thacker said
Tue Dec 30 5:02 PM, 2008
A quick visit to MM this morning to get a replacement part for my scope at In focus which they replaced free of charge, excellent service
From the Ron Barker hide 2 Peregrine 4 Buzzards 1 Merlin 1 Kestrel All the rapters were perched on posts 3 Stoats which kept sending 100+ widgeon in to the water 5 Redshank over Barn owl hunting in the fields.
An even quicker visit to Marshside , everyone was looking for Snow buntings but not seen while I was there. Peregrine chasing a duck 1 Merlin 2 Skylarks Plenty of PF geese overhead
Mike Baron said
Mon Dec 22 5:22 PM, 2008
Ian Campbell wrote:
Mike, well done on the Snow Buntings yesterday, Peter Johnson, Paul Wilson and myself spent over an hour searching same stretch of beach this morning and saw 2 Pied Wagtails, such is life, we're not a bit envious WE JUST HATE YOU Cheers Ian
Sorry you missed them Ian. Maybe they were just keeping out of the wind and rain. Across the road just north of the car park is a little area of scrub which looks also ideal for these birds - this was the first place we tried yesterday.
I was thinking of putting some niger seed down to see if I could pursuade them to stay around - lets hope they come back.
We also spent a while looking for LEO's at MM yesterday and saw nothing - someone else had SIX. Them's the breaks.
I think there is a male Snow Bunting still around little eye at Hilbre.
Take care
Mike
Ian Campbell said
Mon Dec 22 4:48 PM, 2008
Mike, well done on the Snow Buntings yesterday, Peter Johnson, Paul Wilson and myself spent over an hour searching same stretch of beach this morning and saw 2 Pied Wagtails, such is life, we're not a bit envious WE JUST HATE YOU Cheers Ian
Mike Baron said
Mon Dec 22 8:31 AM, 2008
Jonathan, Ste and myself had stonking views of three Snow Buntings yesterday afternoon - on a little beach north of Southport pier. Eventually the birds showed down to around 10 feet while we were peering over the sea wall.
A Merlin was present from Sandgrounders along with a Ruff, 2 Dunlin and the usual stuff.
We started the day having a look at the female Ferruginous duck at Marton Mere - again very good views when she eventually showed.
Mike Baron said
Fri Dec 12 1:27 PM, 2008
Two weeks ago Jonathan, Ste and myself spotted 3 Brent Geese on the shoreline at Taggs Island - nr Weld Rd car park while watching the Twite.
One of the geese was colour ringed - I have just got some feedback on the bird from Graham McElwaine who ringed the bird.
This was a female that was ringed in De La Beche Bay,SW Bathurst Isl.,Canada in August 2007 (the year it was hatched). It has been recorded once since then, in Feb this year at Hightown, Crosby.
I am always amazed at how far birds travel and their various movements - it seems very special to be watching a bird locally which was reared in Canada.
It is equally great to see the dedication of people like Graham who put so much time and effort into finding out these facts.
Mike
Sean Sweeney said
Sun Nov 30 9:30 PM, 2008
Having been fogged out at WWT yesterday with only a few Whoopers, PF Geese and the usual suspects in sight I returned on the way back from further north today. Cracking views of Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier (ringtail), Merlin (male and female - both from the newer Harrier Hide!!), Barn Owl, all the usual waders, ducks and geese, plus a Stoat that caught a Lapwing, which then had it stolen by a Buzzard. After the Buzzard had had its fill and left the Stoat duely came out from the thickets, grabbed what was left and legged it!
Judith Smith said
Sat Nov 29 8:22 PM, 2008
As an aside to the movement of Whoopers in and out of Martin Mere - incredibly, the WWT will not allow Whoopers for Stapeley Grange RSPCA wildlife hospital to be released there, even though they have an absolutely clean bill of health certified by a vet there (no bird flu at Stapeley). So yesterday, one of the local RSPCA staff had to go and stand in a field just outside the Martin Mere boundary and release a Whooper onto the field, where it promptly flew into the reserve.
The point has been made to Slimbridge that Whoopers fly in and out of Martin Mere all the time so could bring infection in from outside perfectly easily.
Not exactly good PR for Martin Mere or the WWT.
Jonathan Platt said
Sun Nov 23 7:17 PM, 2008
sid ashton wrote:
Those would be the same Swans that I reported yesterday - the area is called Halsall Moss ( see my posting). There were only about 200 yesterday - I wonder if this is normal behaviour to move away from from Martin Mere in such big numbers - can anyone offer a thought please?
Hi Sid,
The whoopers have been in this location for several weeks, slowly building up in numbers. I usually watch them from the burnt-out farmhouse on Plex Moss Lane. Looked like they were feeding on uncut wheat yesterday, but they utilise several adjoining fields. They used the same fields last year in considerable numbers at times, though nothing like the 500 I saw yesterday! They're often joined by pinkfeet - 2-3000 were there last weekend when I travelled home in the afternoon.
One thing I noticed yesterday - the vast majority of swans obviously came from the direction of Martin Mere, but several early groups flew in from the west. Could these be birds roosting out on the saltings at Formby I wonder?
Cheers Jonathan
Kane Brides said
Sun Nov 23 2:49 PM, 2008
The swans have been using the Halsall area quite a lot this year, in good numbers, 600+ on a count one day last week. They also use various other sites near Martin Mere to feed at during the day, which include Bescar, Tarleton, Rufford, Warpers Moss in Burscough, and fields just off Curlew Lane on the approach to Martin Mere. Although work in the fields at the latter site means the swans havent been using this area this year.
They also go out to feed at Banks and on Hesketh Out Marsh were normally there are a handful of Bewicks with them, but none this year as of yet.
The late harvest this year means that there has been lots of food out there for the Whoopers and Pinkies to feed on, so they are not returning to WWT Martin Mere until late at night (c17:30pm). We think the food outside of the reserve is slowly starting to dry up as ringed individuals that have not been logged at Martin Mere for a few weeks are starting to turn up at the feeds now!!
Off topic now - I was out counting Whoopers in the Bescar Lane area yesterday and found a Cattle Egret standing on a fence post. The farmer didn't want any news going out about the location of the bird, so we left it at that! Only until at around 14:30 I was scanning my scope onto a few Whoopers at Martin Mere when the egret drifted into view of my scope and stood on the island outside of Raines Hide! It stayed there for around 5mins then departed towards United Utilities hide and was seen various times outside of Ron Barker Hide. Not seen today, as I know of.
Cheers Kane
-- Edited by Kane Brides at 14:55, 2008-11-23
Jimmy Meadows said
Sun Nov 23 2:12 PM, 2008
Hi Sid The Whooper Swans do move about a lot and lots of the go onto the mosses during the day Plex,Downholland and Halsall i do not know which is the best one for them i suppose which one has the best food on really but they return to Martin Mere usually for a safe roost plus free grain feeds Cheers Jimmy
sid ashton said
Sat Nov 22 10:03 PM, 2008
Those would be the same Swans that I reported yesterday - the area is called Halsall Moss ( see my posting). There were only about 200 yesterday - I wonder if this is normal behaviour to move away from from Martin Mere in such big numbers - can anyone offer a thought please?
Jonathan Platt said
Sat Nov 22 8:06 PM, 2008
Twite flock still around Weld Road car park, though more elusive than last few weeks. I walked almost up to the pier and back before I spotted them - about 200 yds from the car park! Two snow buntings were seen in this area during the week apparently, but I didn't see any. I did see a female merlin however, chasing a ringed plover for over two minutes before it eventually caught it (I think - it was that far away I couldn't be sure!).
Earlier, I'd roughly counted 260 whooper swans in a field south of Carr Moss Lane (north of Plex Moss). I sat and watched as more swans flooded in. By the time I left I was up to a total of 501, with swans still flighting in!
Jonathan
sid ashton said
Sun Nov 16 8:54 PM, 2008
For the last couple of years there have been Twite on and around the sandplant at Marshside at this time of the year - could they have moved to the new location with the disturbance going on down the road? Has anyone checked out the sandplant (or what is left of it) area?
Sid A
Jonathan Platt wrote:
There's a flock of twite feeding around the Weld Road beach car park, just south of Southport - might be worth taking a look if anyone's travelling up to Marshside. There were around 15, plus half a dozen linnets last week. This morning the number had increased to around 35. Some guys were there netting them - presumably from the NW Twite Project. Go early before the dog walkers disturb them!
Jonathan
Jonathan Platt said
Sun Nov 16 4:56 PM, 2008
There's a flock of twite feeding around the Weld Road beach car park, just south of Southport - might be worth taking a look if anyone's travelling up to Marshside. There were around 15, plus half a dozen linnets last week. This morning the number had increased to around 35. Some guys were there netting them - presumably from the NW Twite Project. Go early before the dog walkers disturb them!
Jonathan
Melanie Beckford said
Wed Nov 12 10:18 PM, 2008
Marshside Great couple of sunny hours this morning at Marshside with Simon,we had brief views of a Hen Harrier from the road as we parked. Fantastic and very close views of three female Merlin all sitting within 100 feet of each other,highlight was the closest Merlin we could almost reach out and touch her ( l said almost ),we could see her detail very clearly,never thought l'd be so lucky.Found unbelievably quickly by Simon (of course).Across the road,from the hide we again were lucky enough to see both Merlin and Peregrine hunting,....double happy. Martinmere Lovely afternoon seeing lots of the usual and towards the end of the day,Marsh Harrier, Buzzards (3),Short-eared Owl and a Barn Owl all around the dyke and fields,jam-packed Raptor day......my favourite
Ian Campbell said
Fri Jun 20 5:44 PM, 2008
Quick visit after work this afternoon. Lots of Avocets with quite afew well grown young, the volunteer said they had 90 adults recently counted. Glossy Ibis not been seen for two days apparently, perhaps it'll turn up at Elton tomorrow Lots of other birds to see including many Black Tailed Godwit in Summer plumage. Cheers Ian
Gary Gorner said
Fri Jun 13 3:17 PM, 2008
12.06.08 grusome bird watching-heron gulping down what i think was a young mallard head first right infront of sandgrounders avocets chasing everything away they managed to shift the heron before it came back for desert. plenty linnet,finches,mipits and a couple of reed bunts around the sandplant with the usual kestrel hawking about. 1 barnacle mixed in with the canadas infront of sandgounders and a few hares scaring the local lapwing population infront of nels.plenty of summer plumage black tailed godwits ,a few dunlin and one single knot on pollys.
Gary Gorner said
Mon Jun 2 11:56 AM, 2008
martin mere 01.06.08 very wet morning but 10 ringed plover dropped into the reserve with a single dunlin viewed from united util hide. one buzzard eating what looked like a frog. sedges,whitethrote,skylark,reed buntings all dotted around the reserve and singing well. 1 young oystercatcher on island infront of ron barker and lots of avocet and shelduck with ckicks, 2 ringed plover,4 black tailed godwits and 1 dunlin.
-- Edited by Gary Gorner at 11:57, 2008-06-02
Gary Gorner said
Tue Oct 23 8:58 PM, 2007
MARTIN MERE 23/10/07
3 BUZZARD 2 SPARROW HAWK 2 KESTREL 4 STONECHAT 2 REED BUNTING REDWING FLYING OVER 1 KINGFISHER GIVING A GOOD DISPLAY OF FISHING AND POSING NEAR GATE INFRONT OF RON BAKER HIDE. A FIRST FOR MY MATE WHO ONLE GETS OUT 3 TIMES A YEAR TO GO BIRDING BUT HIS DIY SKILLS ARE SECOND TO NONE PLENTY RUFF AROUND THE PLACE AND ALL THE USUAL DIVERS AND DABBLERS COULDNT FIND THE GOLDENEYE 007 MISSION NOT ACCOMPLISHED WHOOPERS AND PINKFEET IN GREAT NUMBERS THEY KNOW WHEN TO COME ONTO THE RESERVE FOR THEIR DAILY 3.30 FEED.
-- Edited by Gary at 10:21, 2007-10-24
Ian Campbell said
Mon Oct 22 4:20 PM, 2007
Marshside this a.m. Glossy Ibis still present, seen by warden today, but not by me. Hundreds of golden plover and black tailed godwit. Large numbers of ducks including; wigeon, pochard, shellduck, teal, shoveller, pintail. Also a single little egret and peregrine, many redshank and curlew present as well.
Dave Thacker said
Tue Sep 18 7:15 PM, 2007
Marshside 6.45-9 am this morning
Glossy Ibis again right in the middle of the marsh Green sandpiper, 2 common sandpipers and 6 Snipe from Nels hide Peregrine along Marine Drive Plenty of Godwits and 1000`s of Pinkies flying in Also 1 male Bullfinch seen from the main RSPB hide while talking to the warden ,quite a rare find at that location
Martin mere 9.30-14.30
1000`s of pinkfoot flying in all morning, a brilliant sight . One bird was wearing a silver neck band with the letters CHA on it . Anyone who has an idea where I can get some information on this bird as I would be interested please leave a message. 7 Whooper swans and plenty of Pintail were about. From the In Focus shop while trying out some new scopes , 1 female Marsh harrier, 1 Buzzard , and 1 Sparrowhawk. In the pine trees 2 Goldcrests and 1 Chiffchaff.
An excellent day out
Tony Coatsworth said
Sat Sep 8 4:41 PM, 2007
12:00 8/9/7 - Marshside
Glossy Ibis - smack in the middle of the marsh so distant views 4+ Little Egret 4 R***y Duck 2 Ruff 20+ Black-tailed Godwit 2 Snipe 50+ House Martin 10+ Swallows 40+ Goldfinches
Dean Macdonald said
Fri Sep 7 9:15 PM, 2007
Marshside fri 7 sept evening.
2 Little Egret 6 Snipe Wigeon Teal Pintail Bl t Godwits 4 Ruff Redshank Shoveler
Dean.
JOHN TYMON said
Wed Sep 5 9:15 PM, 2007
wed/05.09.07-marshside-little egret-8,marsh harrier-1 juv,spotted redshank-1,greenshank-4,no signs of great white egret.loads of b.t.godwit,wigeon,etc
mon/03.09.07-marshside-as above but also glossy ibis,10 little egret(beware the old twitching syndrome,i was shown 3 gw egrets by different people which turned out to be little egrets when i looked?)i didn't manage to see the gw egret-but many others saw glimses of it about half a mile away)
Ian Campbell said
Wed Aug 29 4:56 PM, 2007
Marshside today a.m. 2 little egret (made up for not seeing the Elton bird yesterday!) 1 glossy ibis, 1 osprey, 4 kestrel, 1 sparrow hawk, many black tailed godwit, lots of redshank, small number of dunlin and a common sandpiper plus all the usual ducks.
3 Marsh Harriers (2 juvs showing well) 307 Lapwing 16 Ruff 6 Dunlin 3 Green Sandpiper (2 stood next to Common Sand for nice comparison) 1 Common Sandpiper 3 Whoopers (usual resident bunch) 3 Buzzards
Mike
Kenneth Sumner said
Sun Aug 12 4:50 PM, 2007
07.00hrs 12th August. from Nells Hide, 100+ Black-tailed Godwit. 10 Snipe and 2 Knot. Sandgrounders. 1 Glossy Ibis. 7 Little Egret 50+ Redshank 100+ Black-tailed Godwit . Heavy rain this morning did not see any Raptors.
Gary Gorner said
Tue Aug 7 5:40 PM, 2007
MM- Marsh Harrier ,KIngfisher from Ron Barker hide. ruff and 2 green sand pipers from swanlink hide.Plus all the usual stuff.
MS- Glossy ibis, curlew,pied wag, 4 snipe,2 common sandpipers,1 avocet,3 little egret,100s godwits and lapwings all from sandgrounders hide.
5 ruff,100s godwits and lapwings and about 100 coot all from nells hide.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 13th of March 2010 04:51:08 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 8th of January 2011 09:24:01 PM
quick visit to tags island for the high tide knot, dunlin,bar tailed godwits,sanderlings,grey plover,redshank,oystercatchers,shellduck,1 little egret and all the usual gulls.
Went to Meresands Wood first on the way for the Crossbills and found 3 (2 females,1 male) also had several Tree Sparrow on the feeders behind reception as well as Brambling, Tree Creeper and Bullfinch. Most of the water was frozen but there were good numbers of Wigeon and Teal. Then over to Ainsdale beach for the Snow Bunts - there were five foraging on the tideline about 1km south of the Discovery Centre. Weld Road next looking for Twite, there was a disant flock of about 20 birds but did get good views of Grey Plover and Dunlin and finally to Marshside where there was a single Green winged Teal. The RSPB bloke was unaware of a second bird earlier in the week - and to finish a nice Barn Owl on the marsh flying toward what is left of Mount Baker.
Sid A
Anthony
You must have been really unlucky there with sun reflecting off snowy ground because in front of the Sandgrounders hide is mostly water which is where the GWT has been mostly photographed. Take a look at John Dempseys blog. I'm off to Marshside tomorrow, snow permitting ,so I shall post the latest.
I had taken a couple of shots of the bird which I planned to display but they didn't turn out very well due to harsh sunlight reflecting on the snowy ground.
Hopefully will go back over the weekend to have another crack at it...Providing the bird is still showing of course.
Anthony
One bird was extremely close to the screen on Sunday and was unmistakably a Green wing.
The same bird (I think!) was fairly close in from the Sandgrounders on Monday and again unmistakable.
The second bird was pointed out to me on a island by another birder through his scope, but the view wasn't brilliant because of the grass.
This man who I'd never met before seemed to know his stuff, so I took his word for it that the bird was indeed a GWT.
but if there had been chance of male and female together I would have liked to have given it a bash.
"Howdy Sid - still only one Green Winged Teal at Marshside as far as I know...there was a bird at Seaforth recently, which may have led to the confusion.
The drake at Marshside was displaying to a female Common Teal at the weekend, which may also have muddied some people's waters..."
Hope that is of some help.
Sid A
One of the birds was showing very close indeed to the screen outside the Sandgrounders hide on Sunday.
Both were visable from inside the hide on Monday until all birds were 'lifted' by something unknown...Lost sight of both birds when the flock settled back down.
The 20+ should have been Tree Sparrow!
Actually 5 Bewick's.
Have now edited post.
Green Wings have been showing well for a week or so now from the Sandgrounders hide.
Did you report your Bewicks? 20+ is probably one of the highest counts for years.
Also will relay to a couple of Marshside lads i know the 2 GWT.
Excellent work.
cheers
jason
Pair of Green Winged Teal
1 Curlew
100+ Pochard
50+ Pink Footed Geese
50+ Shoverler
1 Kestrel
8 Teal
Martin Mere Sunday 01-02-09
Pintail
Pochard
20+ Tree Sparrow
Reed Bunting
5 Bewick's Swan
(2 quick visits)
Marshside 02-02-09
1 Green Winged Teal showing well
1 Barn Owl (being mobbed by 3 gulls)
4 Little Grebe
1 Curlew
40+ Black Tailed Godwit
1 Bar Tailed Godwit
50+ Shovelers
1 Sparrowhawk
22 Pochard
Formby Point 02-02-09
Sadly according to the National Trust staff and locals it appears that the Red Squirrels have all but lost the battle against the pox with no sightings for weeks.
Birds included...
Redwing
Goldfinch
Long Tailed Tit
Robin
Coal Tit
Wood Pigeon
Goldcrest
Great Tit
Carrion Crow
-- Edited by Anthony Dixon at 20:59, 2009-02-02
first stop marshside 2 little egret and 1 redshank on outer marsh and 1 little egret on the inner.
from nels had a grey plover ,1 scaup
raptors seen 2 peregrine m+f ,1 m sparrowhawk.
from sandgrounders golden plovers in amongst the lapwings and all the usual stuff couldnt find the green winged teal but birds keeping their heads down due to the cold easterly wind.
mere sands wood next stop reports of a couple of bramblings early morn but we didnt spot them but the siskin on the feeders were nice to watch instead
also a couple of goosanders on the lake and lots of reed buntings taking advantage of the free offerings.
martin mere excellent views of the barn owl hunting and a couple of buzzards late evening .still a few thousand pink feet coming in to roost and a flock of barnicales with the red brested goose still amongst them.also a flock of approx 100 fieldfare just offsite near the old windmill. counted 49 ruff ,no bewicks about maybe on their way back east.
early morning visit to marshside ,well early for me 9.00am-11 .
great spectacle birds everywhere and i didnt know which way to turn.
thousands of lapwings and golden plover flying around being spooked by a few great black backed gulls,also a increased number of lesser bbg.counted 4 little egrets on the outer marsh and 3 on the inner along with 4 curlew.
out to sea, hundreds of knot and dunlin keeping up with the high tide,2 divers but not sure on id probably red throted but flying by pretty quick.lots of black tailed godwits about but didnt spot any ruff.
only raptor was a lone kestrel which seems to be getting quite tame i got up to 20ft away before it decided to fly.
everyone in sandground hide going on about snow buntings and twite down ainsdale but i resisted the trek and opted for the comfort at martin mere.
martin mere-inceased numbers of pinkfeet showing well in the field to the right of the ron barker hide along with 60+barnacle and 1 red breasted goose .also by the old windmill in the field were a mixed flock of about 60+ fiedfare and redwingand a small flock of corn buntings,also thought i saw a yellowhammer
sparrowhawk,4 buzzards and a kestrel missed a nice male harrier which put in an appearance around 11 ish.all in all a good day and boy dont the birds look great with a bit of sun on them.
good numbers of lapwings being spooked by anything that moved with 30+ruff and 2 redshank amongst them,
a flock of about 30 barnacles with a red brested goose of unknown origin.
counted upto 500 pinkfeet around the reserve.
nice to see the kingfisher making an appearance from the united util hide.
2 bewicks amongst the whoopers best seen from the observatory hide.
raptors seen -4 buzzard,1 kestrel,1 female marsh harrier
nice watching the great spotted woodpecker from janet kear
from united util -1 water rail,1 stonechat,1 very strange canada x greylag
ron barker-great black backed gull finishing off the remnants of a teal
loads of shellduck,whoopers and all the usual ducks couldnt pin down the bewick
lots of finches and tits about and a few goldcrests.
curlew lane-10 red legged partridge 200 + corn buntings in 4 groups great to see and hear
From the Ron Barker hide
2 Peregrine
4 Buzzards
1 Merlin
1 Kestrel
All the rapters were perched on posts
3 Stoats which kept sending 100+ widgeon in to the water
5 Redshank over
Barn owl hunting in the fields.
An even quicker visit to Marshside , everyone was looking for Snow buntings but not seen while I was there.
Peregrine chasing a duck
1 Merlin
2 Skylarks
Plenty of PF geese overhead
Sorry you missed them Ian. Maybe they were just keeping out of the wind and rain. Across the road just north of the car park is a little area of scrub which looks also ideal for these birds - this was the first place we tried yesterday.
I was thinking of putting some niger seed down to see if I could pursuade them to stay around - lets hope they come back.
We also spent a while looking for LEO's at MM yesterday and saw nothing - someone else had SIX. Them's the breaks.
I think there is a male Snow Bunting still around little eye at Hilbre.
Take care
Mike
Cheers Ian
A Merlin was present from Sandgrounders along with a Ruff, 2 Dunlin and the usual stuff.
We started the day having a look at the female Ferruginous duck at Marton Mere - again very good views when she eventually showed.
One of the geese was colour ringed - I have just got some feedback on the bird from Graham McElwaine who ringed the bird.
This was a female that was ringed in De La Beche Bay,SW Bathurst Isl.,Canada in August 2007 (the year it was hatched). It has been recorded once since then, in Feb this year at Hightown, Crosby.
I am always amazed at how far birds travel and their various movements - it seems very special to be watching a bird locally which was reared in Canada.
It is equally great to see the dedication of people like Graham who put so much time and effort into finding out these facts.
Mike
The point has been made to Slimbridge that Whoopers fly in and out of Martin Mere all the time so could bring infection in from outside perfectly easily.
Not exactly good PR for Martin Mere or the WWT.
Hi Sid,
The whoopers have been in this location for several weeks, slowly building up in numbers. I usually watch them from the burnt-out farmhouse on Plex Moss Lane. Looked like they were feeding on uncut wheat yesterday, but they utilise several adjoining fields. They used the same fields last year in considerable numbers at times, though nothing like the 500 I saw yesterday! They're often joined by pinkfeet - 2-3000 were there last weekend when I travelled home in the afternoon.
One thing I noticed yesterday - the vast majority of swans obviously came from the direction of Martin Mere, but several early groups flew in from the west. Could these be birds roosting out on the saltings at Formby I wonder?
Cheers
Jonathan
They also go out to feed at Banks and on Hesketh Out Marsh were normally there are a handful of Bewicks with them, but none this year as of yet.
The late harvest this year means that there has been lots of food out there for the Whoopers and Pinkies to feed on, so they are not returning to WWT Martin Mere until late at night (c17:30pm). We think the food outside of the reserve is slowly starting to dry up as ringed individuals that have not been logged at Martin Mere for a few weeks are starting to turn up at the feeds now!!
Off topic now - I was out counting Whoopers in the Bescar Lane area yesterday and found a Cattle Egret standing on a fence post. The farmer didn't want any news going out about the location of the bird, so we left it at that! Only until at around 14:30 I was scanning my scope onto a few Whoopers at Martin Mere when the egret drifted into view of my scope and stood on the island outside of Raines Hide! It stayed there for around 5mins then departed towards United Utilities hide and was seen various times outside of Ron Barker Hide. Not seen today, as I know of.
Cheers Kane
-- Edited by Kane Brides at 14:55, 2008-11-23
The Whooper Swans do move about a lot and lots of the go onto the mosses during the day Plex,Downholland and Halsall i do not know which is the best one for them i suppose which one has the best food on really but they return to Martin Mere usually for a safe roost plus free grain feeds
Cheers Jimmy
Earlier, I'd roughly counted 260 whooper swans in a field south of Carr Moss Lane (north of Plex Moss). I sat and watched as more swans flooded in. By the time I left I was up to a total of 501, with swans still flighting in!
Jonathan
Sid A
Jonathan
Great couple of sunny hours this morning at Marshside with Simon,we had brief views of a Hen Harrier from the road as we parked.
Fantastic and very close views of three female Merlin all sitting within 100 feet of each other,highlight was the closest Merlin we could almost reach out and touch her ( l said almost
Martinmere
Lovely afternoon seeing lots of the usual and towards the end of the day,Marsh Harrier, Buzzards (3),Short-eared Owl and a Barn Owl all around the dyke and fields,jam-packed Raptor day......my favourite
Lots of Avocets with quite afew well grown young, the volunteer said they had 90 adults recently counted. Glossy Ibis not been seen for two days apparently, perhaps it'll turn up at Elton tomorrow
Lots of other birds to see including many Black Tailed Godwit in Summer plumage.
Cheers Ian
grusome bird watching-heron gulping down what i think was a young mallard head first right infront of sandgrounders
avocets chasing everything away they managed to shift the heron before it came back for desert.
plenty linnet,finches,mipits and a couple of reed bunts around the sandplant with the usual kestrel hawking about.
1 barnacle mixed in with the canadas infront of sandgounders and a few hares scaring the local lapwing population infront of nels.plenty of summer plumage black tailed godwits ,a few dunlin and one single knot on pollys.
01.06.08
very wet morning but 10 ringed plover dropped into the reserve with a single dunlin viewed from united util hide.
one buzzard eating what looked like a frog.
sedges,whitethrote,skylark,reed buntings all dotted around the reserve and singing well.
1 young oystercatcher on island infront of ron barker and lots of avocet and shelduck with ckicks, 2 ringed plover,4 black tailed godwits and 1 dunlin.
-- Edited by Gary Gorner at 11:57, 2008-06-02
3 BUZZARD
2 SPARROW HAWK
2 KESTREL
4 STONECHAT
2 REED BUNTING
REDWING FLYING OVER
1 KINGFISHER GIVING A GOOD DISPLAY OF FISHING AND POSING NEAR GATE INFRONT OF RON BAKER HIDE. A
FIRST FOR MY MATE WHO ONLE GETS OUT 3 TIMES A YEAR TO GO BIRDING BUT HIS DIY SKILLS ARE SECOND TO NONE
PLENTY RUFF AROUND THE PLACE AND ALL THE USUAL DIVERS AND DABBLERS
COULDNT FIND THE GOLDENEYE
007 MISSION NOT ACCOMPLISHED
WHOOPERS AND PINKFEET IN GREAT NUMBERS THEY KNOW WHEN TO COME ONTO THE RESERVE FOR THEIR DAILY 3.30 FEED.
-- Edited by Gary at 10:21, 2007-10-24
Glossy Ibis still present, seen by warden today, but not by me. Hundreds of golden plover and black tailed godwit. Large numbers of ducks including; wigeon, pochard, shellduck, teal, shoveller, pintail. Also a single little egret and peregrine, many redshank and curlew present as well.
Glossy Ibis again right in the middle of the marsh
Green sandpiper, 2 common sandpipers and 6 Snipe from Nels hide
Peregrine along Marine Drive
Plenty of Godwits and 1000`s of Pinkies flying in
Also 1 male Bullfinch seen from the main RSPB hide while talking to the warden ,quite a rare find at that location
Martin mere 9.30-14.30
1000`s of pinkfoot flying in all morning, a brilliant sight . One bird was wearing a silver neck band with the letters CHA on it . Anyone who has an idea where I can get some information on this bird as I would be interested please leave a message.
7 Whooper swans and plenty of Pintail were about.
From the In Focus shop while trying out some new scopes , 1 female Marsh harrier, 1 Buzzard , and 1 Sparrowhawk.
In the pine trees 2 Goldcrests and 1 Chiffchaff.
An excellent day out
Glossy Ibis - smack in the middle of the marsh so distant views
4+ Little Egret
4 R***y Duck
2 Ruff
20+ Black-tailed Godwit
2 Snipe
50+ House Martin
10+ Swallows
40+ Goldfinches
Marshside fri 7 sept evening.
2 Little Egret
6 Snipe
Wigeon
Teal
Pintail
Bl t Godwits
4 Ruff
Redshank
Shoveler
Dean.
mon/03.09.07-marshside-as above but also glossy ibis,10 little egret(beware the old twitching syndrome,i was shown 3 gw egrets by different people which turned out to be little egrets when i looked?)i didn't manage to see the gw egret-but many others saw glimses of it about half a mile away)
2 little egret (made up for not seeing the Elton bird yesterday!)
1 glossy ibis, 1 osprey, 4 kestrel, 1 sparrow hawk, many black tailed godwit, lots of redshank, small number of dunlin and a common sandpiper plus all the usual ducks.
Marshside
1 Glossy Ibis
1 Wheatear
1 Common Sandpiper
1 Snipe
6 Ruddy Duck
1 Ruff
64 Black-tailed Godwit
2 Little Egret
1 Sparrowhawk
1 Kestrel
1 Snipe
Martin Mere
3 Marsh Harriers (2 juvs showing well)
307 Lapwing
16 Ruff
6 Dunlin
3 Green Sandpiper (2 stood next to Common Sand for nice comparison)
1 Common Sandpiper
3 Whoopers (usual resident bunch)
3 Buzzards
Mike
from Nells Hide, 100+ Black-tailed Godwit. 10 Snipe and 2 Knot.
Sandgrounders. 1 Glossy Ibis. 7 Little Egret 50+ Redshank 100+ Black-tailed Godwit . Heavy rain this morning did not see any Raptors.
ruff and 2 green sand pipers from swanlink hide.Plus all the usual stuff.
MS- Glossy ibis, curlew,pied wag, 4 snipe,2 common sandpipers,1 avocet,3 little egret,100s godwits and lapwings all from sandgrounders hide.
5 ruff,100s godwits and lapwings and about 100 coot all from nells hide.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 13th of March 2010 04:51:08 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 8th of January 2011 09:24:01 PM