11 Wigeon 3 Chiffchaff (nature reserve area only) Several Goldcrest Adult argentatus Herring Gull in with the Lesser Black-backed Gulls yet to leave the roost 2 Kingfisher by Horrocks Hide
Rob Thorpe said
Mon Sep 27 7:11 PM, 2010
Monday 27 September 2010 evening
2 Goosander at the west end at least 11 Common Gull in the roost (couldn't be bothered counting the rest) 1 Kingfisher near the sailing club 1 Grey Wagtail at the sailing club 1 Goldcrest also near the sailing club
JOHN TYMON said
Mon Sep 27 4:21 PM, 2010
pm a lot less today only things of note nuthatch-1 possibly 2 regular at the feeders reed warbler-1 still front of rammies hide golden eye-2 black necked grebe-1 chiff chaff-5 kingfisher-2
JOHN TYMON said
Sun Sep 26 4:01 PM, 2010
11.30-3pm beltin afternoon-numbers like they were in the old days great crested grebe-127(beltin number)117 in rammies alone cormorant-72 reed warbler-1 behind rammies hide(arn't these migrants staying late these days) blackcap -3 fem/ imm from bunting hide eating elder berries. tree sparrow-1 nuthatch-1 grey heron-12 tufted duck-350+ black necked grebe-1 pochard little grebe-3 common buzzard-2 over west end sparrowhawk-2 kestrel-2 hobby-1 flew through fast over centre of flash at 2pm(isn't this getting late too for these) swallow-6 house martin -2 lots of gadwall,shoveler,teal chiff chaff-5 lapwing -plenty
Ian McKerchar said
Sun Sep 26 12:40 PM, 2010
Nuthatch and Tree Sparrow ( the latter now all too rare here despite being found only half a mile away!) from the feeing station around midday.
Info thanks to Jon Taverner
Ian McKerchar said
Sun Sep 26 9:31 AM, 2010
From first light this morning:
Little Egret flew west at 07:05, it flew briefly onto the spit from on easterly direction but was on/by the tip which is currently out of view due to vegetation cover. It soon flew off and headed off west, gaining hight slightly.
Grey Plover- 1 picked up by call at 07:44 then seen heading north over Rammies. May have come off the spit? Pointed it out to a photographer who may or may not read this?
Black-necked Grebe still in Rammies
Siskin- 3 over (no direction, call only)
Snipe- 1 flew east
Pink-footed Goose- 40 well south of the flash heading west at 08:23
Chiffchaff- 10 around the nature reserve including 5 in song (which on listening to closely was decidedly 'un-adult like' and lacking the strong, obvious 'ch' note)
Kingfisher -4
Nick Isherwood said
Sat Sep 25 7:06 PM, 2010
Apparently a Red Neck has turned up at Woolston Eyes today.
Maybe the Pennington bird?
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Sep 25 5:13 PM, 2010
black necked up to 2pm-no sign of red necked for the first time. that strange sounding ,very bright chiff chaff-still behind rammys hide. cormorant-71 at one point great crested grebe-112 plus the usual stuff
Ian McKerchar said
Sat Sep 25 12:00 PM, 2010
Black-necked Grebe still present this morning.
Info thanks to Paul Hammond
Sean Sweeney said
Sat Sep 25 10:50 AM, 2010
Popped in to Penny for a few hours yesterday late on. Unfortunately I couldn't locate the old Podiceps Grisegena or nigricollis, but did see plenty of other birds in the late sunshine.
Little Grebe 20+ Great Crested Grebe 40-50+ Wigeon 1 male Pintail 1 female Goosander 3 Kingfisher 2 House Martin 4 Swallow 2
Also had plenty of Teal, Gadwall, Tufted Duck.
Hopefully if the rarer grebe stays on a little longer I'll get another crack at it, but if not it was pleasant to get out at Penny again, first time over there in a while.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 25th of September 2010 04:27:20 PM
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Sep 24 5:38 PM, 2010
pm black necked grebe -in rammies red necked grebe -half way to plank lane end in the middle of flash swallows about 20 going north great crested grebe-115 at least almost to the record,with approx 20% juvs. little grebe-3 cormorants -plenty-30+ goldfinch- 6 lesser redpoll plus the usual stuff And a very large pale headed juv gull,that had the looks of a yellow legged,but was too far away to be worth a claim.
Ian McKerchar said
Thu Sep 23 4:22 PM, 2010
Both Red-necked and Black-necked Grebe still present today. Plus single Green Sandpiper and Nuthatch close to the main entrance at St.Helens Road.
Info thanks to Phil Rhodes
JOHN TYMON said
Thu Sep 23 7:40 AM, 2010
Steven Astley wrote:
Also nuthatch at feeders, or have they become regular here these days?
Theres been a couple about for at least a month,but last year they were few and far between,wearas the previous winter,we had one regular.They are fairly erratic at the moment but with all the big trees theres always chance in the future of breeding at penny.There has also been one regularly on the south bank not far from the small hide in the last month.
Ian McKerchar said
Wed Sep 22 10:20 PM, 2010
No, still a decent site bird
Steven Astley said
Wed Sep 22 10:17 PM, 2010
Also nuthatch at feeders, or have they become regular here these days?
Judith Smith said
Wed Sep 22 7:55 PM, 2010
Red necked Grebe and Black necked Grebe present today but could not see Black Tern
JOHN TYMON said
Wed Sep 22 7:35 PM, 2010
Ian Boote wrote:
Very full hides PM overlooking flash Could not see Divers but from Ramsdale some snipe spit area Kingfisher giving a good showing some pochard little grebe usuals
Divershave i missed a thread or twoknew it would happen when i was at work
Ian Boote said
Wed Sep 22 7:25 PM, 2010
Very full hides PM overlooking flash Could not see brested grebes (Not Divers) but from Ramsdale some snipe spit area Kingfisher giving a good showing some pochard little grebe usuals
-- Edited by Ian Boote on Wednesday 22nd of September 2010 10:05:52 PM
Rob Thorpe said
Tue Sep 21 10:25 PM, 2010
Geoff Walton wrote:
I have not seen the water levels that high for ages. Do they feed water into the areas, as it has not really rained to that extent?
Not really rained??? It didn't stop raining all weekend!
Geoff Walton said
Tue Sep 21 6:16 PM, 2010
Jim and I where there this morning C11am-2pm. Same as Ian and Tony, but had to dodge about a bit to catch the Grebes. Lovely view of the Tern on the grey drum and a yellow Ball as well as seeing it flying around.
I have not seen the water levels that high for ages. Do they feed water into the areas, as it has not really rained to that extent?
Tony Coatsworth said
Tue Sep 21 4:41 PM, 2010
RN Grebe showing well from ramsdale Hide 3pm
Also Black Tern over main Flash.
Ian McKerchar said
Tue Sep 21 8:34 AM, 2010
Both Red-necked and Black-necked Grebes showing very we from Ramsdale's Hide this morning.
Water levels now very high!
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Sep 20 9:21 PM, 2010
This evening:
Red-necked Grebe still present Ring-necked Parakeet (no further details) 300 Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the roost
Info thanks to Phil Rhodes
Dave Thacker said
Mon Sep 20 9:00 PM, 2010
6-7.30pm
Great views of the Black tern this evening, first just in front of the car park as I parked up then later I watched it fishing on the far side of the flash between the yacht club and the fields to the right. It eventually flew up to the spit then back in front of the yacht club. On each occasion that it tried to fish one of the many gulls would chase it.
The BN Grebe appeared just as I was leaving and 3 Little grebes were just off the end of the spit with all the usual birds present.
I'm spending some time practising gull identification this Autumn [ mind boggling stuff] but the only gull that stood out tonight was a Common gull.
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Sep 20 3:12 PM, 2010
Midday onwards today:
Female/immature Redstart at the western end of the flash, in between the car park and flash itself apparently moving very swiftly indeed with a rapidly moving flock of mixed passerines. A very elusive bird.
Black-necked Grebe still in Rammies
Black Tern still wazzing around the spit area
Water Rail sqealing from Ramsdales reedbed
Didn't see the Red-necked Grebe although that certainly doesn't mean it's not there!
Ian McKerchar said
Sun Sep 19 9:39 PM, 2010
From 6pm until dark with Pete Berry, for the gull roost:
1018 Lesser Black-backed Gull 13 Herring Gull (including a cracking 1st winter argentatus) 2 Great Black-backed Gull only 2 Common Gulls Juvenile Black Tern still belting around Rammies Kingfisher by Sorrowcow Farm
Craig Higson said
Sun Sep 19 7:53 PM, 2010
Ian McKerchar wrote:
Craig, your Chiffchaff was probably the same as that which was heard in the same location by another observer who was unsure of it this morning. He sent kindly managed to send me a recording of it from his iPhone by email whilst in the field (modern technology eh!) and whilst the bird is certainly a Chiffchaff it's call does have an eastern abietinus quality to it although juvenile collybita make an often bizarre array of calls which can often sound not dissimilar.
Cheers Ian the same bird (presumably) was just at the bottom of the canal steps this morning, in the river cutting, calling away. It really is quite distinctive, as was the bird itself, although my views were brief. Though clearly a Chiffchaff, it was quite ' buffish yellow' sometimes even appearing to have a pinkish element to it, from the breast down to the vent area, yet the mantle and wings appeared quite dark with a definite hint of green in there. The supercillium was so indistinct as to be virtually invisible, but it did have an absolutely cracking white eyering. The fact it was deep in cover undoubtedley played on the colours, and it certainly brightened up my evening.
JOHN TYMON said
Sun Sep 19 6:06 PM, 2010
11-2pm heavy rain Common Tern-at least 8 through during the session. Black tern-1 nearly left once ,circled very high above flash then spiralled back down Red Necked grebe-1 Juv more mobile today Black Necked grebe-1 Goosander-3 swallow-40+>s House Martin-50+>S Cormorant-57 plus all the usual stuff
JOHN TYMON said
Sun Sep 19 5:22 PM, 2010
Dennis atherton wrote:
just one bird to add to Johns list, the Arctic tern you told me about John but forgot to post
JOHN TYMON wrote:
11-2pm heavy rain Common Tern-at least 3 Commic Terns-another 5 at least mainly quick land on point and off SE ,soon as a heavy shower stopped. Black tern-1 nearly left once ,circled very high above flash then spiralled back down Red Necked grebe-1 Juv more mobile today Black Necked grebe-1 Goosander-3 swallow-40+>s House Martin-50+>S Cormorant-57 plus all the usual stuff
Thats because they probably were not-still studying the pics-that Why up to now they are Commics until I think otherwiseIts a bit different once you study the pics,rather than seeing em whippin past in the rain
Dennis atherton said
Sun Sep 19 4:55 PM, 2010
just one bird to add to Johns list, the Arctic tern you told me about John but forgot to post
JOHN TYMON wrote:
11-2pm heavy rain Common Tern-at least 3 Commic Terns-another 5 at least mainly quick land on point and off SE ,soon as a heavy shower stopped. Black tern-1 nearly left once ,circled very high above flash then spiralled back down Red Necked grebe-1 Juv more mobile today Black Necked grebe-1 Goosander-3 swallow-40+>s House Martin-50+>S Cormorant-57 plus all the usual stuff
JOHN TYMON said
Sun Sep 19 3:39 PM, 2010
11-2pm heavy rain Common Tern-at least 3 Commic Terns-another 5 at least mainly quick land on point and off SE ,soon as a heavy shower stopped. Black tern-1 nearly left once ,circled very high above flash then spiralled back down Red Necked grebe-1 Juv more mobile today Black Necked grebe-1 Goosander-3 swallow-40+>s House Martin-50+>S Cormorant-57 plus all the usual stuff
Dennis atherton said
Sun Sep 19 3:05 PM, 2010
Black necked still showing from ramadales hide and red necked grebe fom rammies pool. Black tern present but mobile usually in view from horrocks
Ian McKerchar said
Sun Sep 19 9:15 AM, 2010
Juvenile Red-necked Grebe still in Ramsdales at 9am this morning and juvenile Black Tern still present.
Info thanks to Craig Higson
Ian McKerchar said
Sat Sep 18 10:33 PM, 2010
Craig, your Chiffchaff was probably the same as that which was heard in the same location by another observer who was unsure of it this morning. He sent kindly managed to send me a recording of it from his iPhone by email whilst in the field (modern technology eh!) and whilst the bird is certainly a Chiffchaff it's call does have an eastern abietinus quality to it although juvenile collybita make an often bizarre array of calls which can often sound not dissimilar.
Craig Higson said
Sat Sep 18 9:02 PM, 2010
RN Grebe still present 18.00hrs along with juv Black Tern
Common Sandpiper on the spit and a very un-chiffchaff sounding chiffchaff between Edmonson hide and the path to Horrocks Hide.
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Sep 18 5:42 PM, 2010
Ian McKerchar wrote:
Female or juvenile Scaup currently present off the main car park.
Info thanks to John Tymon
The scaup turned out not to be one when i studied the pics-sorry-it was one of those iffy tufteds- john
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Sep 18 3:57 PM, 2010
11-2 good day. Black tern-1 Juv Red necked grebe-showing very well NW corner of rammies-veiw just through the gate looking back along reedbed Black necked grebe-1 Dunlin-6 through at 1.30 North Hobby -1 S over rucks 1pm House Martin-100+South Swallow-25+ south great crested grebe-103 good number-could break the record soon Cormorant-63 little grebe-4 tufted-300+ pochard-20+ wigeon-1m plenty lapwings lots of teal ,shoveler,mallard,coot chiff chaff-2 plus all the ususal stuff
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 18th of September 2010 06:13:08 PM
Ian McKerchar said
Sat Sep 18 11:40 AM, 2010
Female or juvenile Scaup currently present off the main car park.
Info thanks to John Tymon
Ian McKerchar said
Sat Sep 18 10:40 AM, 2010
Red-necked Grebe and Black Tern (both juveniles) still present this morning.
Info thanks to Paul Hammond
Dave Thacker said
Fri Sep 17 8:59 PM, 2010
Hi John
I scoped the gull for over 40 minutes and I'm still not 100% sure. Got a good view of the Little gull though.
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Sep 17 8:54 PM, 2010
Dave Thacker wrote:
4.15-7.15pm
3 Swallows 2 Chiffchaffs Flock of 17 LT tits BN Grebe Little gull [ad] flew over the spit at 6.30pm 1000's of gulls on the water this evening including 1 possible YL Gull Also around 6.40pm 57 Cormorants left the spit in small groups and headed west. Do they roost around the Wigan flashes?
I had the same possible ylg on the point this aft,looked like the one i had a couple of weeks ago,but the light was against me,so its a bit difficult,but really looked like it has it was stood with 2 lbb.
Dave Thacker said
Fri Sep 17 8:45 PM, 2010
4.15-7.15pm
3 Swallows 2 Chiffchaffs Flock of 17 LT tits BN Grebe Little gull [ad] flew over the spit at 6.30pm 1000's of gulls on the water this evening including 1 possible YL Gull Also around 6.40pm 57 Cormorants left the spit in small groups and headed west. Do they roost around the Wigan flashes?
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Sep 17 5:49 PM, 2010
2-5pm Red necked grebe -1 juv -defo same bird as last week sticking to the ne bank of rammies,hard to locate apart from the corner of the ruck opposite the spit. Black necked grebe-1 with tufted in rammies Black Tern- 1 redshank-1 swallow-1 plenty of all the common water birds no sign of the Fruggi
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Sep 17 11:35 AM, 2010
colin davies wrote:
Call me crazy
Colin, you're crazy
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Sep 17 11:06 AM, 2010
colin davies wrote:
I was there between about 8am and 9:30am. Much the same as Ian I saw Red-necked and Black-necked Grebe from Horrocks, as well as Black Tern and Grey Wagtail.
Call me crazy, but the Red-necked Grebe didn't look quite the same to me. It seemed generally duller (even though the bright morning sunlight was right on it), except for the yellow on the bill which seemed a bit more extensive. Last week it was "Wow what a stunner", today it was "Is that it? Yeah I think so. Yeah deffinately."
Probably the light I suppose, but it almost looked a different bird.
No sign of Ferruginus Duck.
The red necked doas look very dull in some situations,sometimes when it hold its neck lower,the red almost dissapears,looking brown.In differing light last week we noticed the same.The yellow on the bill also was very extensive on its arrival-see the pictures in the gallery on here,its just in dull light it seems less so.
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 17th of September 2010 11:08:17 AM
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 17th of September 2010 11:11:16 AM
colin davies said
Fri Sep 17 10:42 AM, 2010
I was there between about 8am and 9:30am. Much the same as Ian I saw Red-necked and Black-necked Grebe from Horrocks, as well as Black Tern and Grey Wagtail.
Call me crazy, but the Red-necked Grebe didn't look quite the same to me. It seemed generally duller (even though the bright morning sunlight was right on it), except for the yellow on the bill which seemed a bit more extensive. Last week it was "Wow what a stunner", today it was "Is that it? Yeah I think so. Yeah deffinately."
Probably the light I suppose, but it almost looked a different bird.
No sign of Ferruginus Duck.
John Barber said
Fri Sep 17 9:44 AM, 2010
07.00 - 09.30
The only bird I spotted other than some of those in your report Ian was a Grey Wagtail in front of Horrocks Hide. No sign of the possible F - Duck.
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Sep 17 8:15 AM, 2010
Very early am today:
Juvenile Black Tern
Juvenile Red-necked Grebe in Ramsdales
Black-necked Grebe also in Ramsdales, as usual hanging around by the islands at the entrance to the scrapes and also actually getting on the (flooded) scrapes infront of Ramsdales Hide.
Drake Tufted x Pochard hybrid (paired with a female Pochard) on Ramsdales
2 Kingfisher
3 Reed Warbler in Ramsdales reedbed
Lesser Whitethroat opposite Bunting Hide along the edge of the 'field'.
No sign of anything resembling a Ferruginous Duck.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Friday 17th of September 2010 09:02:26 AM
Ian McKerchar said
Thu Sep 16 10:15 PM, 2010
assessing rarities is less about our (the assessors) opinion than you may think. We're simply not there to decide whether an observer has or hasn't seen what they claim to have. How could we do that? What we do in fact is assess submissions, applying identification and acceptance criteria through our own personal or indeed combined knowledge (not opinion) as to whether that submission encorporates sufficient details as to allow it to be formally accepted into the definative county records.
If we find a submission not proven, we are not necessarily saying it wasn't one, merely that in that instance there was insufficient evident to prove it beyond all reasonable doubt. It still could have been whatever it was supposed to be, we just can't be absolutely sure, all too often due to insuffcient detail in the description.
True errors in misidentification are relatively few and far between but in all cases I am always more than happy (as has recently been the case) to explain in detail the county rarity committees reasons for a not proven result. That's the way it should be in all cases. If we haven't got a good reason for not accepting it, then we really shouldn't be finding it not proven.
As for your Mealies Steven, I don't recall the incident nor think that my comments in any way constitiute a 'rejection'. Shame it was never formally submitted though as there are five of us on the committee and sometimes you never quite know which was a submission is going to go
Very good point on the need for good (thorough) descriptions though which cannot be stressed enough. In this instance, one still hasn't been obtained yet though of course come Saturday I'll have a really detailed, clear-cut, stone-walled description from you Steven. Look forward to it...
Steven Astley said
Thu Sep 16 9:10 PM, 2010
Ill pop down saturday see if I can find and the sort the ID out for everybody Glad something has been found that could be it and understand your frustration Nick. Does raise the point of no matter how good a case we have to make sure we get a good description.
I supose if you play this game you are going to get things rejected, not neccessarily because you didn't see it or that you are bad birder or stringer at the end of day its only other peoples opinion, no matter how informed their opinion is.
I remember seeing a probable mealy redpoll at wigan flashes, probable in that I only had a momentary view. I am always unsure of things on quick views. Ian did say something about you will know if you see one which I think was rejection of my claim. Fair enough he's more experienced and sightings are often subjective rather than objective anyway.
Also I remember seeing what I thought was 2 mealies in summer! Looking back are clearly not but that was because of inadequate misleading literature on seperating the 2. Collins still isn't very good on this unlike macmillans.
11 Wigeon
3 Chiffchaff (nature reserve area only)
Several Goldcrest
Adult argentatus Herring Gull in with the Lesser Black-backed Gulls yet to leave the roost
2 Kingfisher by Horrocks Hide
evening
2 Goosander at the west end
at least 11 Common Gull in the roost (couldn't be bothered counting the rest)
1 Kingfisher near the sailing club
1 Grey Wagtail at the sailing club
1 Goldcrest also near the sailing club
a lot less today
only things of note
nuthatch-1 possibly 2 regular at the feeders
reed warbler-1 still front of rammies hide
golden eye-2
black necked grebe-1
chiff chaff-5
kingfisher-2
beltin afternoon-numbers like they were in the old days
great crested grebe-127(beltin number)117 in rammies alone
cormorant-72
reed warbler-1 behind rammies hide(arn't these migrants staying late these days)
blackcap -3 fem/ imm from bunting hide eating elder berries.
tree sparrow-1
nuthatch-1
grey heron-12
tufted duck-350+
black necked grebe-1
pochard
little grebe-3
common buzzard-2 over west end
sparrowhawk-2
kestrel-2
hobby-1 flew through fast over centre of flash at 2pm(isn't this getting late too for these)
swallow-6
house martin -2
lots of gadwall,shoveler,teal
chiff chaff-5
lapwing -plenty
Info thanks to Jon Taverner
Little Egret flew west at 07:05, it flew briefly onto the spit from on easterly direction but was on/by the tip which is currently out of view due to vegetation cover. It soon flew off and headed off west, gaining hight slightly.
Grey Plover- 1 picked up by call at 07:44 then seen heading north over Rammies. May have come off the spit? Pointed it out to a photographer who may or may not read this?
Black-necked Grebe still in Rammies
Siskin- 3 over (no direction, call only)
Snipe- 1 flew east
Pink-footed Goose- 40 well south of the flash heading west at 08:23
Chiffchaff- 10 around the nature reserve including 5 in song (which on listening to closely was decidedly 'un-adult like' and lacking the strong, obvious 'ch' note)
Kingfisher -4
Maybe the Pennington bird?
that strange sounding ,very bright chiff chaff-still behind rammys hide.
cormorant-71 at one point
great crested grebe-112
plus the usual stuff
Info thanks to Paul Hammond
Little Grebe 20+
Great Crested Grebe 40-50+
Wigeon 1 male
Pintail 1 female
Goosander 3
Kingfisher 2
House Martin 4
Swallow 2
Also had plenty of Teal, Gadwall, Tufted Duck.
Hopefully if the rarer grebe stays on a little longer I'll get another crack at it, but if not it was pleasant to get out at Penny again, first time over there in a while.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 25th of September 2010 04:27:20 PM
black necked grebe -in rammies
red necked grebe -half way to plank lane end in the middle of flash
swallows about 20 going north
great crested grebe-115 at least almost to the record,with approx 20% juvs.
little grebe-3
cormorants -plenty-30+
goldfinch-
6 lesser redpoll
plus the usual stuff
And a very large pale headed juv gull,that had the looks of a yellow legged,but was too far away to be worth a claim.
Info thanks to Phil Rhodes
Theres been a couple about for at least a month,but last year they were few and far between,wearas the previous winter,we had one regular.They are fairly erratic at the moment but with all the big trees theres always chance in the future of breeding at penny.There has also been one regularly on the south bank not far from the small hide in the last month.
Divers
Could not see brested grebes (Not Divers
some snipe spit area
Kingfisher giving a good showing
some pochard
little grebe
usuals
-- Edited by Ian Boote on Wednesday 22nd of September 2010 10:05:52 PM
Not really rained??? It didn't stop raining all weekend!
Same as Ian and Tony, but had to dodge about a bit to catch the Grebes.
Lovely view of the Tern on the grey drum and a yellow Ball as well as seeing it flying around.
I have not seen the water levels that high for ages. Do they feed water into the areas, as it has not really rained to that extent?
Also Black Tern over main Flash.
Water levels now very high!
Red-necked Grebe still present
Ring-necked Parakeet (no further details)
300 Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the roost
Info thanks to Phil Rhodes
Great views of the Black tern this evening, first just in front of the car park as I parked up then later I watched it fishing on the far side of the flash between the yacht club and the fields to the right. It eventually flew up to the spit then back in front of the yacht club. On each occasion that it tried to fish one of the many gulls would chase it.
The BN Grebe appeared just as I was leaving and 3 Little grebes were just off the end of the spit with all the usual birds present.
I'm spending some time practising gull identification this Autumn [ mind boggling stuff
Female/immature Redstart at the western end of the flash, in between the car park and flash itself apparently moving very swiftly indeed with a rapidly moving flock of mixed passerines. A very elusive bird.
Black-necked Grebe still in Rammies
Black Tern still wazzing around the spit area
Water Rail sqealing from Ramsdales reedbed
Didn't see the Red-necked Grebe although that certainly doesn't mean it's not there!
1018 Lesser Black-backed Gull
13 Herring Gull (including a cracking 1st winter argentatus)
2 Great Black-backed Gull
only 2 Common Gulls
Juvenile Black Tern still belting around Rammies
Kingfisher by Sorrowcow Farm
Cheers Ian the same bird (presumably) was just at the bottom of the canal steps this morning, in the river cutting, calling away. It really is quite distinctive, as was the bird itself, although my views were brief. Though clearly a Chiffchaff, it was quite ' buffish yellow' sometimes even appearing to have a pinkish element to it, from the breast down to the vent area, yet the mantle and wings appeared quite dark with a definite hint of green in there. The supercillium was so indistinct as to be virtually invisible, but it did have an absolutely cracking white eyering. The fact it was deep in cover undoubtedley played on the colours, and it certainly brightened up my evening.
Common Tern-at least 8 through during the session.
Black tern-1 nearly left once ,circled very high above flash then spiralled back down
Red Necked grebe-1 Juv more mobile today
Black Necked grebe-1
Goosander-3
swallow-40+>s
House Martin-50+>S
Cormorant-57
plus all the usual stuff
Thats because they probably were not
Common Tern-at least 3
Commic Terns-another 5 at least mainly quick land on point and off SE ,soon as a heavy shower stopped.
Black tern-1 nearly left once ,circled very high above flash then spiralled back down
Red Necked grebe-1 Juv more mobile today
Black Necked grebe-1
Goosander-3
swallow-40+>s
House Martin-50+>S
Cormorant-57
plus all the usual stuff
Info thanks to Craig Higson
Common Sandpiper on the spit and a very un-chiffchaff sounding chiffchaff between Edmonson hide and the path to Horrocks Hide.
The scaup turned out not to be one when i studied the pics-sorry-it was one of those iffy tufteds-
john
Black tern-1 Juv
Red necked grebe-showing very well NW corner of rammies-veiw just through the gate looking back along reedbed
Black necked grebe-1
Dunlin-6 through at 1.30 North
Hobby -1 S over rucks 1pm
House Martin-100+South
Swallow-25+ south
great crested grebe-103 good number-could break the record soon
Cormorant-63
little grebe-4
tufted-300+
pochard-20+
wigeon-1m
plenty lapwings
lots of teal ,shoveler,mallard,coot
chiff chaff-2
plus all the ususal stuff
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 18th of September 2010 06:13:08 PM
Info thanks to John Tymon
Info thanks to Paul Hammond
I scoped the gull for over 40 minutes and I'm still not 100% sure. Got a good view of the Little gull though.
I had the same possible ylg on the point this aft,looked like the one i had a couple of weeks ago,but the light was against me,so its a bit difficult,but really looked like it has it was stood with 2 lbb.
3 Swallows
2 Chiffchaffs
Flock of 17 LT tits
BN Grebe
Little gull [ad] flew over the spit at 6.30pm
1000's of gulls on the water this evening including 1 possible YL Gull
Also around 6.40pm 57 Cormorants left the spit in small groups and headed west. Do they roost around the Wigan flashes?
Red necked grebe -1 juv -defo same bird as last week
Black necked grebe-1 with tufted in rammies
Black Tern- 1
redshank-1
swallow-1
plenty of all the common water birds
no sign of the Fruggi
Colin, you're crazy
The red necked doas look very dull in some situations,sometimes when it hold its neck lower,the red almost dissapears,looking brown.In differing light last week we noticed the same.The yellow on the bill also was very extensive on its arrival-see the pictures in the gallery on here,its just in dull light it seems less so.
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 17th of September 2010 11:08:17 AM
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 17th of September 2010 11:11:16 AM
Call me crazy, but the Red-necked Grebe didn't look quite the same to me. It seemed generally duller (even though the bright morning sunlight was right on it), except for the yellow on the bill which seemed a bit more extensive. Last week it was "Wow what a stunner", today it was "Is that it? Yeah I think so. Yeah deffinately."
Probably the light I suppose, but it almost looked a different bird.
No sign of Ferruginus Duck.
The only bird I spotted other than some of those in your report Ian was a Grey Wagtail in front of Horrocks Hide. No sign of the possible F - Duck.
Juvenile Black Tern
Juvenile Red-necked Grebe in Ramsdales
Black-necked Grebe also in Ramsdales, as usual hanging around by the islands at the entrance to the scrapes and also actually getting on the (flooded) scrapes infront of Ramsdales Hide.
Drake Tufted x Pochard hybrid (paired with a female Pochard) on Ramsdales
2 Kingfisher
3 Reed Warbler in Ramsdales reedbed
Lesser Whitethroat opposite Bunting Hide along the edge of the 'field'.
No sign of anything resembling a Ferruginous Duck.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Friday 17th of September 2010 09:02:26 AM
If we find a submission not proven, we are not necessarily saying it wasn't one, merely that in that instance there was insufficient evident to prove it beyond all reasonable doubt. It still could have been whatever it was supposed to be, we just can't be absolutely sure, all too often due to insuffcient detail in the description.
True errors in misidentification are relatively few and far between but in all cases I am always more than happy (as has recently been the case) to explain in detail the county rarity committees reasons for a not proven result. That's the way it should be in all cases. If we haven't got a good reason for not accepting it, then we really shouldn't be finding it not proven.
As for your Mealies Steven, I don't recall the incident nor think that my comments in any way constitiute a 'rejection'. Shame it was never formally submitted though as there are five of us on the committee and sometimes you never quite know which was a submission is going to go
Very good point on the need for good (thorough) descriptions though which cannot be stressed enough. In this instance, one still hasn't been obtained yet though of course come Saturday I'll have a really detailed, clear-cut, stone-walled description from you Steven. Look forward to it...
Glad something has been found that could be it and understand your frustration Nick.
Does raise the point of no matter how good a case we have to make sure we get a good description.
I supose if you play this game you are going to get things rejected, not neccessarily because you didn't see it or that you are bad birder or stringer at the end of day its only other peoples opinion, no matter how informed their opinion is.
I remember seeing a probable mealy redpoll at wigan flashes, probable in that I only had a momentary view. I am always unsure of things on quick views. Ian did say something about you will know if you see one which I think was rejection of my claim. Fair enough he's more experienced and sightings are often subjective rather than objective anyway.
Also I remember seeing what I thought was 2 mealies in summer! Looking back are clearly not but that was because of inadequate misleading literature on seperating the 2. Collins still isn't very good on this unlike macmillans.