Early morning in surprisingly chilly breezy conditions.
Saltmarsh good numbers of skylark and meadow pipit around the sand works, also a wheatear and ringed plover in this area.
Suttons Marsh area - sedge warblers showing very well along the Marshside Road stretch, whitethroat, avocets with well-grown young, 2 x little egret, 1 x very striking male ruff with cinnamon plumage, good numbers of oystercatcher, lapwing, shelduck and plenty of well-grown black-headed gull chicks ambling around from the Sandgrounders viewpoint.
Mike Berry said
Wed Apr 19 11:29 PM, 2017
Hooded Crow near Junction Pool and Marshside Road. In over 60 years of birdwatching, I have never seen one of these in Lancashire before, neither had many others who were there to witness it.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 20th of April 2017 09:03:06 AM
Similar to below, but: - 3 Cattle Egret (possibly from Lytham, where there were 10 recently but I saw 7 today) - 4 Little Egret - 1 Spoonbill (asleep - who'd have guessed) - 4 Med Gulls (1 1cy, 1 2/3cy, 2 ad "preparing for the next generation") - sev Swallow
Shannon Llewellyn said
Mon Apr 17 10:23 PM, 2017
Spoonbill here today; showing well, if fairly distantly, from Sandgrounders. A nice surprise, and a new one for me; quite a spectacular creature!
Also around:
Chiffchaff, willow warbler, goldfinch, linnet, reed bunting, swallow, meadow pipit, skylark, starling, etc. 50+ teal 10+ gadwall c50 shoveler 15+ wigeon 4 pintail c40 tufted duck 60+ shelduck c350 pink-footed geese 8 mute swan 2 little grebe 30+ golden plover c100 lapwing 30+ redshank 11+ ruff 44 avocet 500+ black-tailed godwit 16+ oystercatcher 5+ little egret 1,000+ black-headed gull, with all manner of breeding activity. 2 Mediterranean gull (my first for a couple of years) 1 buzzard
Still over a thousand pink-footed geese on Crossens Outmarsh, and at least four white wagtail here, too.
Rob Creek said
Sat Apr 8 6:16 PM, 2017
Thursday 6th April. A driver absence meant I had to cover the Southport route, a welcome change which saw me taking a tacho break at Marshside.
Of note amongst the mayhem of 100's of Black-headed Gulls...
- 5 Mediterranean Gulls There were 2 pairs seen from Sandgrounders and then a 5th bird appeared which lead me to think there was probably a 6th bird nearby. Only 1 bird had full white primaries, the other 4 had black on. - 20+ Avocet - 150+ Black-tailed Godwit from Nel's - 1 Dunlin - 4 Twite flew infront of me near car park - Linnet / Skylark / Meadow Pipit around - 1 House Martin over the car park - 1 Cattle Egret distant at Nel's...still ! - 2 Little Egret - Pink-footed Geese still out on Crossens Marsh plus I saw a lone Canada Goose which as yet I've not identified but I had my suspicions regarding certain features as to whether it was the Todd's that keeps being reported, but they could well be features that may possibly be shown in the variation of normal Canada Geese. So for now it's a Canada Goose!
Richard Thew said
Fri Apr 7 5:53 PM, 2017
A dull start (weather wise- not mood wise) but brightened up at lunch time.
Highlights included a sparrowhawk in the sand works area landed on a container and he seemed to be interested in what a stoat was chasing, avocets showed very well, 3 Mediterranean gulls were seen but a little way out, 1000+ pink footed geese were still about, a white wagtail, a rook flew over calling,, a buzzard and an immature peregrine. Plus the usual expected species at this time including golden plover, shelduck, linnet skylark etc. Totalling 48 species!! Ta.
John Williams said
Sat Feb 25 3:25 PM, 2017
10.00-13.30
The only birds around the old sand works were singles of Goldfinch and Reed Bunting, whilst 4 Little Egrets were on the salt marsh.
Sandgrounders
An adult Mediterranean Gull showed well in front of the hide, around which Black Headed Gulls are setting up their breeding territories again.
4 Pintails and 2 Little Egrets were on the marsh together with the usual Black Tailed Godwits, Redshank, Wigeon etc,.
Junction Pool
18 drake Tufted Ducks
Nels Hide
3 Avocets, 60+ Black Tailed Godwits, 2 Curlew, 7 Common Gulls and 6 Pintails.
Doc Brewster said
Fri Feb 10 10:42 PM, 2017
Had half a day in this general area today cut short by a car problem!
First port of call was near Birkdale where 5 Cattle Egrets had been reported, but lots of birders I know had tried & failed to see them, still it was worth a go. I followed the pager directions to the letter and parked in Daisy Way and checked out the field opposite - nothing!! In fact the field did not look great habitat for egrets so I was a bit puzzled. I started to scan further round and got a glimps of an egrets head a few fields away. I could also see a dogwalker on a footpath over in that direction, so rather than scope from this distant point with limited views I set off down the B5243 in an easterly direction. It looked bad as the raod was lined with houses and the fields totally obscured but I then came to a track between 2 houses that led to some allotments. This was walkable up to the ends of the back gardens of the houses but from there on was totally private so I stopped and scoped from there. Pretty close in the first field was a large group of egrets. Taking lots of piccies and checking half hidden birds I eventually came up with totals of 6 Cattle Egrets and 12 Little Egrets, result I passed on the revised directions to the pager and so hopefully visiting birders will have a better chance now to connect.
Next stop was Banks, just past Marshside RSPB, where I pulled up and immediately saw one of the pair of resident Little Owls. As I watched the second bird emerged from the hole and flew off into nearby trees. Watching from the car the original bird showed brilliantly well but eventually turned and popped back inside out of view. The surrounding fields held good numbers of Red-legged Partridges too, another 'yeartick'.
I then headed to the Mere Sands Wood/Martin Mere WWT area but my cars computer came up with a fault light that could have been a number of problems, some serious, so I gave up on birding and headed home so I could see my friendly mechanic who is sorting it for me tomorrow. Better safe than sorry, but still a great morning out, and it was sunny to boot
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Friday 10th of February 2017 10:43:41 PM
Post for yesterday .Thousands and thousands of birds . Too many of each species to count so just a list of birds seen. black headed gull pheasant rook woodpigeon carrion crow jackdaw twite little egret kestrel coot teal wigeon lapwing shelduck cormorant mallard moorhen pintail gadwall herring gull tufted duck shoveler pink footed goose mute swan pochard merlin lesser black backed gull wren redshank golden plover magpie dunlin greylag goose oystercatcher altogether a great day out in bright weather and good company in the hides
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Jan 29 8:57 PM, 2017
Day spent around here today; cracking day for it, and some great action seen. Highlights:
Linnet and skylark c1,000 teal 25+ shoveler 6 gadwall 2,000+ wigeon c150 pintail c10 shelduck 150+ tufted duck 300+ pink-footed geese on outmarsh 2 mute swan 400+ golden plover 1,000+ lapwing 5+ redshank 60+ black-tailed godwit 2 oystercatcher 7+ curlew 5+ little egret 1 grey heron 3 common gull 2 great black-backed gull 1 merlin - fantastic views of it sat plucking and eating prey (skylark, I think) 1 kestrel (putting up hundreds of plovers and ducks) 1 sparrowhawk
A walk down to the mudflats from the car-park yielded:
1 linnet c25 skylark 19 shelduck 20+ pin-footed geese 70+ dunlin 17+ redshank 32 oystercatcher 2 curlew 3 little egret Plenty of waders to distant to ID.
Didn't have time for a proper look on Crossens Outmarsh, but from the quick spy I gave it, it was a sea of wigeon and lapwing, with a few starling, teal, redshank, pink-footed geese and little egret thrown in.
Steven Higginbottom said
Thu Jan 19 5:26 PM, 2017
12:15-13:50pm 1 Great White Egret distant on estuary side looking towards Lythem st Anne's.cropped photo attached Little Egrets Black tailed Godwit's Redshank Pintails photo attached of a male. Teal Wigeon Shelduck Pink Footed Geese Greylag Geese All the wigeon teal lapwings at far end went up in a panic but was unable to see what caused them all to take flight. Linnet with Twite calling amongst them but unable to locate the Twite.
Our annual blow away the cobwebs trip started with an early (6-30am) departure from Rochdale for four A team members. We decided on Merseyside initially and we headed for Marshside, Southport with myself at the wheel. After a tricky drive in the dark we soon reached Southport and it was still dark! A good mooch around as the dawn broke, had us all watching a Great White Egret in the company of a Little Egret, nice for comparison. The usual expected birds were seen and then at Nell`s Hide a Lesser Snow Goose (Blue Phase) was seen right outside the hide and a couple of phone scope pictures were taken. The bird soon departed in the direction of Martin Mere?
A few Cattle Egrets had been seen a couple of times in Birkdale, but after meeting a couple of birders, who narrowly missed the Lesser Snow Goose, told us that they had looked for the egrets without success, we had a look anyway and they were right, no sign, but 3 Grey Partridge at the side of the road in Hightown helped.
The Red-breasted Goose was found by Pete Kinsella and he got the photos of it oo. It then flew but was later relocated and a number of local birders caught up with it by dusk. The current theory is that it is the individual recently seen with Pink-footed Geese in Norfolk and that it has moved up to the NW in a Pink-footed Goose movement.
Richard Thew said
Wed Jan 4 3:30 PM, 2017
A report at Marshside ia that a red breasted goose had turned up with over 200 pink footed geese and someone managed a record picture to prove it before he wondered further out. I had a quick look myself and they were very distant by now. With having no scope and no luck finding it i decided to call it a day..... Thanks.
Rob Creek said
Wed Dec 28 7:45 PM, 2016
Boxing Day afternoon ... No reports of the Black-throated Thrush prompted a last minute decision to go to Marshside, in the freezing cold and ridiculously windy conditions it made it difficult to stand still, I couldn't feel my hands, and my eyes were watering!
- no sign of the Blue-morph Snow Goose anywhere - lots of Pink-footed Geese (literally 100's) all over the marshes and fields - lots of winter Wildfowl inc: - Teal, Wigeon, Pintail, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and a few Goldeneye - Black-tailed Godwit in big numbers
- Twite approx 50-75 in 1 flock coming down to drink at the Yacht Club car park puddles, smaller groups also coming and going, some immature Linnets with them too. I kept this sighting on this thread as the Club is literally 1 minute down the road from Marshside.
Snow Goose (Blue morph) feeding with hundreds of Pink footed Goose on inner marsh Hesketh Rd end approx 14.30, then flew onto outer marsh Also of note Merlin 1m Sparrowhawk 1f
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Oct 30 9:14 PM, 2016
A veritable invasion of cattle egret here now, with four birds present. Hanging around at the back with the cattle mostly (though I did get closer views of two later on, which were presumably two of the four), and occasionally fluttering up, arguing amongst themselves. Best of the rest:
Goldcrest, dunnock, goldfinch, greenfinch, meadow pipit, skylark (lots; very active). 600+ teal 25+ gadwall 13+ shoveler 12+ pintail 400+ wigeon Hundreds of pink-footed geese, and loads more on the outmarsh 7 black-tailed godwit 7+ curlew 10+ little egret 1 great white egret over 4 grey heron 1 great black-backed gull 2 kestrel 2 sparrowhawk 1 buzzard
The area further along Marine Drive mentioned in my previous post yielded:
An excellent halfday (from 12pm - 5pm) with 42 species seen if you want to include the escapee Ross's goose. My 1st highlight was riding my bike the long way around to get to Hesketh road from the station at Southport to see the yellow browed warbler. Just before i reached it along Fleetwood road, I heard one calling and got a nice but brief view of it. Later, riding down Marshside road i caught a glimpse of the cattle egrets slowly moving towards the road so I pulled in behind a shrub and used that as a hide. I managed to get some decent enough pictures at last of the cattle egret (from which should be on my Flickr page on Monday afternoon) until a passerby flushed them to the back. Heading back, A red legged partridge appeared on a garden wall calling on the opposite side of the road which was a surprise! Other highlights included sparrowhawk, great spotted woodpecker, pintail, teal, wigeon, shoveler, curlew, pink footed goose by their thousands, linnet and the now usual little egrets.
-- Edited by Richard Thew on Saturday 15th of October 2016 06:13:31 PM
Ivan Ellison said
Wed Oct 5 10:10 PM, 2016
Just got results back from BTO of a little egret I saw on 19 th Sept on marsh side. Bird was ringed on left leg with white darvic V, and right leg with yellow darvic K. It was originally ringed on 5th July 2013 by mr Cross at Penryhn castle near Bangor as nestling. This is the first reported sighting to BTO in that time. Worth keeping an eye out for it. Also some colour ringed black tailed godwits reported but awaiting results of those .
John O'Neill said
Tue Sep 20 11:26 PM, 2016
Sandgrounders Hide
Longstaying Cattle Egret still exactly where I saw it in early August, with cattle distantly from hide.
Pink Footed Geese arrived in big numbers, easily 1000 seen. Autumn is here.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Tuesday 20th of September 2016 11:36:08 PM
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Sep 18 10:18 PM, 2016
Day spent around here today; gorgeous day, but very bright making IDing roosting eclipse ducks, especially, quite tricky earlier on before it clouded over a little in the late afternoon. Again, some crackers seen; highlights:
Chiffchaff, goldfinch, linnet, house martin, swallow, meadow pipit, pied wagtail, skylark. 1 yellow wagtail 1 kingfisher 400+ teal c25 shoveler 3 gadwall 6 wigeon 2 shelduck 1 tufted duck 400+ pink-footed geese 9 ringed plover 40+ lapwing 2 little stint 2 dunlin 5 snipe 1,500+ black-tailed godwit 1 oystercatcher 2 curlew 1 cattle egret (several sightings, once close in from the viewing screen just outside Sandgrounders Hide) 9 little egret 4 grey heron 1 merlin 1 kestrel
A walk along the path to the mudflats at high-tide yielded:
32 ringed plover on the path itself, with 2 dunlin 10+ redshank 3 oystercatcher The fantastic sight of a train of 100+ curlew flying past; they kept on coming! Perhaps c30 knot and 50+ dunlin in with them. c15 little egret
Further along Marine Drive, near a layby with a Ribble Estuary Nature Reserve sign, is a small pool on the seaward side of the road, which proved quite productive:
c15 linnet 400+ starling 100+ teal 3 wigeon c40 golden plover 150+ lapwing 3 ruff 4 black-tailed godwit 1 little egret 1 or 2 kestrel
Rob Creek said
Mon Aug 29 8:27 PM, 2016
Monday 29th August
Quick call in whilst delivering in the area.
Of note... - Cattle Egret 1 (still) very distant with Cattle - Little Egrets - Grey Heron 2 - Cormorants 1 very showy bird infront of Sandgrounders - Common Snipe 1 - Black-tailed Godwit approx 150+ - Great Black-backed Gull 1 - few Meadow Pipits around - Kestrel 1 - Merlin 1 over Nel's which when I got to Sandgrounders I found out it had landed on a post in the marsh for a while but I missed that being at Nel's.
Doc Brewster said
Sun Aug 21 10:46 PM, 2016
Spare day and an event was being run on my patch so rather than be part of the crowds - I'm used to having it to myself! - I decided to finally pop over to Marshside to see the Cattle Egret. We walked up Marshside Road to its favoured area and it was with the cattle as expected. With the bird under our belts immediately we then spent a couple of hours hoping that it would come closer for pictures. But it stayed at the rear of the field, mostly with the cattle, but also occasionally flying to a ditch to digest & rest. We watched it mainly catching insects such as grasshoppers, but also saw it take a large frog! The bird was on view all the time we were there, at least 3 hours, and showed really well through the scope. In the end I managed a record digiscoped shot at distance, but was pleased that the bird was so easily seen and so quickly too!
I had a spare day so i thought, I'll try and wait for a photo opportunity at marshside for the cattle egret- why not I thought! I had excellent views of him though a little way out. The cattle started moving (or is that moo-vin') east towards the public path but the cattle egret instead flew of and went right in the middle of the Marsh to feed away from the cattle and (people). Still, was worth the effort and to have privilege to see this stunning bird again. Also to note; 11 little egrets, redshank, 500 black tailed godwits, lapwing, swallow and house martin. On my way to Pennington for a few hours...
Mark Burgess said
Sat Aug 13 6:31 PM, 2016
Third visit and third time luck to see the Cattle Egret, Rewarded with reasonably close views from Marshside Road
Richard Thew said
Tue Aug 9 2:24 PM, 2016
2nd Attempt to see the cattle egret with success this time, but the glossy ibis hasn't been reported for a couple of days now. Thankfully, from the sandgrousers hide, someone already knew where the cattle egret was and after 10 mins, it showed. I had some nice long full views of it and though it wasn't as close as last year's Burton bird, it was well worth to see it in his adult summer plumage. Other highlights includes a little grebe with 4 youngsters (I was surprised to see only one adult feeding them all, however they seem to be doing very well despite.), Black tailed godwit, curlew, whitethroat and juvenile swallows landing in front of the hide.And until next time, That's that I'm afraid.
Mike Cooper said
Sun Aug 7 11:43 PM, 2016
Sun 7/8 17:20-18:25 sunny light cloud strong sw wind
Cattle Egret 1 ad sp seen briefly at 18:00 at the back of the RSPB hide pool in rose bay willow herb and docks, seems to be a gulley ditch there At least 12 L Egrets
Black tailed godwit at least 1,000 Golden plover 2
[Probable peregrine spooked godwits and other waders and starlings] Sparrowhawk f hunting along hedge
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 8th of August 2016 06:18:54 AM
Rob Creek said
Tue Aug 2 7:06 PM, 2016
Hi Richard, Just to add to a comment in your post...the Glossy Ibis was actually at Nel's hide on Saturday when I was there, right infront of the hide in the small mud patch you are talking about but it seemed to be constantly feeding well so conditions must've been favourable.
Richard Thew said
Tue Aug 2 3:17 PM, 2016
Luck wasn't on my side today as the cattle egret has up and left (was my motivation for going) . I searched thoroughly along the back path but i did get a nice glossy ibis view though distant whilst there. Every report that came in was the same- no cattle egret, still, it wouldn't have been my first all-timer so can't complain there. Other birds to note are Dunlin juveniles close, 30 swallows landed next to the sandgrousers hide on the fence, common sandpiper, black tailed godwit, avocet juvenile and several little egrets (10+). The Nels hide is currently bare with only a tiny amount of mud to show (which is about normal at this time of year). Thanks..
Mike Berry said
Mon Aug 1 12:10 AM, 2016
Wonderful views of Cattle Egret, most definitely not a Little Egret. Glossy Ibis spent over an hour in front of Nell's hide.
Rob Creek said
Sun Jul 31 8:02 PM, 2016
Saturday 30th July...mid afternoon visit.
- Cattle Egret 1 Got to Sandgrounders after just missing it from Marshside Rd (presumably that was you John I was speaking to?) and within minutes I picked the bird up and got everyone else on to it. A splendid bird in cracking plumage and it was with the Cattle! I walked further up the path passed the hide and I found myself quite close, watching it feeding in between the herd. Brilliant.
- Glossy Ibis 1 Showing really well from Nel's, feeding well, and showing off its glossy colours in the sun.
Other birds of note... - Little Egret 15+ - Grey Heron 2 - Black-tailed Godwit 200+ - Acocet 6 - Oystercatcher 1 - Sparrowhawk 1 female caught a juv Lapwing
Cattle Egret, near Marshside Rd & around RSPB visitor centre. Quite mobile: observed distantly from viewpoint on Marshside Rd (near school), also from visitor centre itself (with cattle !). Easily picked out from the many Little Egrets by its slightly larger, golden appearance, yellow bill and golden plumage on head & some flight feathers - but can disappear for some time in tall vegetation
Glossy Ibis mid-pm near Nel's hide (along road towards Southport). Viewed very distantly from blind at junction, but probably much easier from Nel's.
Oh, and other stuff, including numerous Black-Tailed Godwit
Rob Creek said
Tue Jul 26 8:14 PM, 2016
Monday 25th July. A weeks holiday so a chance for some birding through the week.
- Cattle Egret had flown 10 minutes before I arrived at lunchtime, apparently dropped infront of the hide but no sign all afternoon. Bumped into Austin Morley and Dawn, and as we were talking, at 4.50pm a birder outside Sangrounders said he'd found it right at the back of the fields towards the waterworks, as if you were sat in the hide looking out towards the houses. Myself and Austin went to check the very bird he pointed out and it was a Little Egret, it had a grey bill and greenish legs so we presumed an immature one.
Other birds of note... - Little Egret 20+ - Black-tailed Godwits (few 100) - Ruff 2 - Oystercatcher 2 - Avocets - Dunlin - Curlew - Redshank - Lapwing - Linnets - Sedge Warbler 2 - Reed Warbler 2 - Sparrowhawk - Lesser Black-backed Gull took a young Coot, but it lost its catch to a Great-black backed Gull, who in turn was being pestered by a young Grey Heron.
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Wednesday 27th of July 2016 02:36:55 PM
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Jul 24 8:18 PM, 2016
Day spent here today; ended up a good choice, in the end (not least for being able to observe in a hide when it was belting down with rain).
Cattle egret showing well for me on the area midway between the junction pool and Nell's hide at around 3.45 this afternoon. Cracking bird it is, too, swaying from side to side, presumably feeding on small insects; a first for me. When observing it, I also had three grey heron and three little egret in view, too; herontastic.
Other than that, it was a bit of a wader-fest, with 11 different species seen (all well, too; Nell's hide was especially fruitful late morning); highlights of the day were:
Whitethroat, sedge warbler, goldfinch (lots), linnet, greenfinch, reed bunting, house martin, swallow, meadow pipit (loads), skylark. Lots of moorhen young, including a nest with chicks that can't have been much older than a day. 1 teal 9+ shoveler 4 shelduck 13 tufted duck (several young) 1 little grebe 2 little ringed plover 45+ lapwing 19 dunlin 1 common sandpiper 1 green sandpiper 9+ redshank 2 snipe 300+ black-tailed godwit 12 avocet (several juveniles) 8 oystercatcher 3 curlew 8 little egret 7 grey heron 100+ black-headed gull 1 sparrowhawk
John Watson said
Sat Jul 23 1:53 PM, 2016
Cattle Egret mentioned by RBA, from Sandgrounders flew S at 13:40
Might be worth checking the roost on the Marine Lake island, later
Also interesting that a Little Egret with yellow bill mentioned on this website for BMW on Tuesday
-- Edited by John Watson on Saturday 23rd of July 2016 01:56:15 PM
Rob Creek said
Sun Jul 17 12:55 PM, 2016
Saturday 16th July Quick afternoon visit with Simon Gough and Chris Chandler.
- Greenshank 1 stunning individual from Nel's hide - Black-tailed Godwit approx 150 almost all summ plum - Avocet, grown young around too - Oystercatcher - Common Redshank - Lapwing - Shoveler - Gadwall - Little Egret - Linnet - Skylark - Reed Warbler 1 infront of Nel's hide - Starling few groups around, one flock possibly around 300+
- also I just caught the tail end of a bird dashing over Marine Road from the beach, Simon and Chris saw it fully though and they concluded it was a Peregrine that plucked a Starling out of the flock!
Late post for Monday 11th July, a change of route to cover staff holidays has meant a busier week than normal but also a rare chance for a bit of birding.
12pm - 12.30pm on latter part of tacho break. Of note... - Black-tailed Godwit 100-150 mostly breeding plumaged - Avocet - Oystercatcher - Redshank - Lapwing - Shoveler - Tufted Duck - Little Egret - Swift - Sand Martin - Skylark - Whitethroat - Linnet - Starling group of approx 100
John O'Neill said
Tue Jul 12 11:03 PM, 2016
Junction Pool
Glossy Ibis active picking round the edge of the pool. Adult and juv Black Headed Gulls seemed irritated by the ibis, screaming and lunging at it.
Good nos of young Avocet.
John O'Neill said
Tue Jul 5 11:11 PM, 2016
Nells Hide
6:00pm
M Ruff in full Summer plumage looking fantastic. A bit skulking, but showed pretty well eventually. 3 F Ruff, much plainer, of course were perfectly easy to see.
1 Common Sandpiper
Loads of Avocet chicks.
Junction Pool
1 adult Mediterranean Gull
sid ashton said
Fri Jul 1 8:38 PM, 2016
Rob Creek wrote:
Late post for Thursday 30th June. Approx 12.30 - 1.15pm
...and an even larger aerial figure as a fighter jet was doing some fantastic displays over the marsh opposite Sandgrounder's Hide, it came close to the coast road a few times and put up quite a few birds from the marsh in the process. I should imagine they're used to the planes, being so close to RAF Woodvale.
Rob the fighter jet you saw was very probably a Typhoon from BAE Systems at Warton, just across the Ribble Estuary from where you were. I believe that the plane has been flying its display routine every day this week in preparation for taking part in the Royal International Air Tattoo next week in Gloucestershire.
Rob Creek said
Fri Jul 1 7:08 PM, 2016
Late post for Thursday 30th June. Approx 12.30 - 1.15pm
Delivering in Southport so thought it would be rude not to put the wagon on tacho break and get some birding in. Lots of birds but mainly usuals. Of note... - no sign of the Glossy Ibis for me - Black-tailed Godwit - Avocet - Redshank - Oystercatcher - Lapwing - Little Egret - Shoveler - Gadwall - Tufted Duck - Sand Martin - Swift - Skylark - Whitethroat ...and an even larger aerial figure as a fighter jet was doing some fantastic displays over the marsh opposite Sandgrounder's Hide, it came close to the coast road a few times and put up quite a few birds from the marsh in the process. I should imagine they're used to the planes, being so close to RAF Woodvale.
sid ashton said
Thu Jun 23 8:29 PM, 2016
After a shopping trip to Southport with Mrs A had good views of the long staying Glossy Ibis from Nel's Hide this afternoon. Also present of interest were summer plumaged Ruff and Black-tailed Godwit and families of Avocet, Shoveller, Greylag Geese, Tufted duck and Gadwall.
Rob Creek said
Tue May 31 1:18 AM, 2016
Monday 30th May I had a few deliveries in the area so called in on my break. Nice to bump into Rob and Sonia Adderley.
Of note... - Sedge Warbler 2 (1 up close) - Reed Warbler 1 - Whitethroat 2 - Reed Bunting 4 all male - Skylark - Meadow Pipit - Ruff 4 fantastic individuals in full breeding plumage - Black-tailed Godwits also in full breeding plumage - Avocet lots around - Oystercatcher - Redshank - Wigeon - Shoveler - Gadwall - no sign of the Glossy Ibis for me and I tried to find the Garganey that Rob and Sonia told me about but my tacho break was almost up so no sign of that either.
Glossy ibis (fifth new species in just over two weeks) showing well if fairly distantly on edges of Fairclough pool late this morning.
The rest:
Whitethroat, sedge warbler, reed warbler, goldfinch, linnet, greenfinch, reed bunting, house martin, swallow, meadow pipit, skylark, starling, blackbird. Coot, tufted duck, mallard, greylag and Canada geese all with young. 2 little grebe 6 shoveler 13 gadwall c100 shelduck 1 ringed plover (on outmarsh on opposite side of the road) c40 lapwing 30+ redshank 3 ruff (looking glorious at close quarters) 20+ avocet 9 oystercatcher c50 black-tailed godwit c500 black-headed gull, with chicks at all stages of development. c10 little egret 1 cormorant (taking, battling with, and finally eating an unfortunate eel) 1 kestrel
Excellent day watching lots of interesting behaviour, and lovely views of species such as reed warbler and skylark, and apparently a garganey about, though I missed that one.
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Monday 30th of May 2016 11:50:48 PM
John O'Neill said
Thu May 26 12:17 AM, 2016
Sandgrounders
juv Little Gull showing really well hawking for insects over Sandgrounders Pool
Rob Creek said
Mon May 23 12:52 PM, 2016
Sunday 22nd May. Afternoon visit with Steve Burke.
Of note... - Glossy Ibis 1 in same location as Friday. - Avocet plenty about - Ruff 2 in summer plumage - Black-tailed Godwit 1 - Redshank few about - Sedge Warbler 2 - Whitethroat 3
Also, a Great Black-backed Gull was patrolling round the Black-headed Gull colony, and was driven off by them and the Avocet. But unfortunately a large Herring Gull was also patrolling low over the colony, and despite being driven away twice, the colony dropped their guard and it snatched a Black-headed Gull chick and swallowed it whilst being driven off.
No sign of any Little Gulls whilst we were there despite a good scan round
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 23rd of May 2016 01:07:04 PM
glossy ibis feeding & showing well from the small screen inbetween junction pool & nels hide. 2 little gulls still on pollys pool lots avocets around 4 ruff were flying around a lot, when they did land they were a bit distant for a photo, but I did try. 2 little egrets 2 little grebe plenty of sedge warbler around 2 reed warbler shelducks, oystercatchers, lapwings few black tailed godwit & redshank lots of swifts around also swallows & house martins.
An hour visit this morning from 9:30-10:30, then went to Preston docks for the terms before coming back for half an hour around12:45:13:15
Glossy ibis- seen from hesketh road distantly around 13:00. Lifer 2 little gulls, seen from sandgrounders distantly before one came flying quite close in. It looked like it was about to land on one of the pools in front of the hide, but decided against it and flew off. Another lifer 3 sedge warbler 4 reed warbler 2 ruff in brilliant early stages of summer plumage 4 whitethroat
John O'Neill said
Fri May 13 8:42 PM, 2016
Sandgrounders area
6:00 pm
1 Black Tern full summer plumage hawking low with gulls and swifts, very close in
2 juv Little Gulls also close, flying with the tern at times.
Early morning in surprisingly chilly breezy conditions.
Saltmarsh good numbers of skylark and meadow pipit around the sand works, also a wheatear and ringed plover in this area.
Suttons Marsh area - sedge warblers showing very well along the Marshside Road stretch, whitethroat, avocets with well-grown young, 2 x little egret, 1 x very striking male ruff with cinnamon plumage, good numbers of oystercatcher, lapwing, shelduck and plenty of well-grown black-headed gull chicks ambling around from the Sandgrounders viewpoint.
Hooded Crow near Junction Pool and Marshside Road.
In over 60 years of birdwatching, I have never seen one of these in Lancashire before, neither had many others who were there to witness it.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 20th of April 2017 09:03:06 AM
Similar to below, but:
- 3 Cattle Egret (possibly from Lytham, where there were 10 recently but I saw 7 today)
- 4 Little Egret
- 1 Spoonbill (asleep - who'd have guessed)
- 4 Med Gulls (1 1cy, 1 2/3cy, 2 ad "preparing for the next generation")
- sev Swallow
Also around:
Chiffchaff, willow warbler, goldfinch, linnet, reed bunting, swallow, meadow pipit, skylark, starling, etc.
50+ teal
10+ gadwall
c50 shoveler
15+ wigeon
4 pintail
c40 tufted duck
60+ shelduck
c350 pink-footed geese
8 mute swan
2 little grebe
30+ golden plover
c100 lapwing
30+ redshank
11+ ruff
44 avocet
500+ black-tailed godwit
16+ oystercatcher
5+ little egret
1,000+ black-headed gull, with all manner of breeding activity.
2 Mediterranean gull (my first for a couple of years)
1 buzzard
Still over a thousand pink-footed geese on Crossens Outmarsh, and at least four white wagtail here, too.
Thursday 6th April.
A driver absence meant I had to cover the Southport route, a welcome change which saw me taking a tacho break at Marshside.
Of note amongst the mayhem of 100's of Black-headed Gulls...
- 5 Mediterranean Gulls
There were 2 pairs seen from Sandgrounders and then a 5th bird appeared which lead me to think there was probably a 6th bird nearby.
Only 1 bird had full white primaries, the other 4 had black on.
- 20+ Avocet
- 150+ Black-tailed Godwit from Nel's
- 1 Dunlin
- 4 Twite flew infront of me near car park
- Linnet / Skylark / Meadow Pipit around
- 1 House Martin over the car park
- 1 Cattle Egret distant at Nel's...still !
- 2 Little Egret
- Pink-footed Geese still out on Crossens Marsh plus I saw a lone Canada Goose which as yet I've not identified but I had my suspicions regarding certain features as to whether it was the Todd's that keeps being reported, but they could well be features that may possibly be shown in the variation of normal Canada Geese. So for now it's a Canada Goose!
The only birds around the old sand works were singles of Goldfinch and Reed Bunting, whilst 4 Little Egrets were on the salt marsh.
Sandgrounders
An adult Mediterranean Gull showed well in front of the hide, around which Black Headed Gulls are setting up their breeding territories again.
4 Pintails and 2 Little Egrets were on the marsh together with the usual Black Tailed Godwits, Redshank, Wigeon etc,.
Junction Pool
18 drake Tufted Ducks
Nels Hide
3 Avocets, 60+ Black Tailed Godwits, 2 Curlew, 7 Common Gulls and 6 Pintails.
Had half a day in this general area today cut short by a car problem!
First port of call was near Birkdale where 5 Cattle Egrets had been reported, but lots of birders I know had tried & failed to see them, still it was worth a go. I followed the pager directions to the letter and parked in Daisy Way and checked out the field opposite - nothing!! In fact the field did not look great habitat for egrets so I was a bit puzzled. I started to scan further round and got a glimps of an egrets head a few fields away. I could also see a dogwalker on a footpath over in that direction, so rather than scope from this distant point with limited views I set off down the B5243 in an easterly direction. It looked bad as the raod was lined with houses and the fields totally obscured but I then came to a track between 2 houses that led to some allotments. This was walkable up to the ends of the back gardens of the houses but from there on was totally private so I stopped and scoped from there. Pretty close in the first field was a large group of egrets. Taking lots of piccies and checking half hidden birds I eventually came up with totals of 6 Cattle Egrets and 12 Little Egrets, result
I passed on the revised directions to the pager and so hopefully visiting birders will have a better chance now to connect.
Next stop was Banks, just past Marshside RSPB, where I pulled up and immediately saw one of the pair of resident Little Owls. As I watched the second bird emerged from the hole and flew off into nearby trees. Watching from the car the original bird showed brilliantly well but eventually turned and popped back inside out of view. The surrounding fields held good numbers of Red-legged Partridges too, another 'yeartick'.
I then headed to the Mere Sands Wood/Martin Mere WWT area but my cars computer came up with a fault light that could have been a number of problems, some serious, so I gave up on birding and headed home so I could see my friendly mechanic who is sorting it for me tomorrow. Better safe than sorry, but still a great morning out, and it was sunny to boot
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Friday 10th of February 2017 10:43:41 PM
so just a list of birds seen.
black headed gull
pheasant
rook
woodpigeon
carrion crow
jackdaw
twite
little egret
kestrel
coot
teal
wigeon
lapwing
shelduck
cormorant
mallard
moorhen
pintail
gadwall
herring gull
tufted duck
shoveler
pink footed goose
mute swan
pochard
merlin
lesser black backed gull
wren
redshank
golden plover
magpie
dunlin
greylag goose
oystercatcher
altogether a great day out in bright weather and good company in the hides
Linnet and skylark
c1,000 teal
25+ shoveler
6 gadwall
2,000+ wigeon
c150 pintail
c10 shelduck
150+ tufted duck
300+ pink-footed geese on outmarsh
2 mute swan
400+ golden plover
1,000+ lapwing
5+ redshank
60+ black-tailed godwit
2 oystercatcher
7+ curlew
5+ little egret
1 grey heron
3 common gull
2 great black-backed gull
1 merlin - fantastic views of it sat plucking and eating prey (skylark, I think)
1 kestrel (putting up hundreds of plovers and ducks)
1 sparrowhawk
A walk down to the mudflats from the car-park yielded:
1 linnet
c25 skylark
19 shelduck
20+ pin-footed geese
70+ dunlin
17+ redshank
32 oystercatcher
2 curlew
3 little egret
Plenty of waders to distant to ID.
Didn't have time for a proper look on Crossens Outmarsh, but from the quick spy I gave it, it was a sea of wigeon and lapwing, with a few starling, teal, redshank, pink-footed geese and little egret thrown in.
1 Great White Egret distant on estuary side looking towards Lythem st Anne's.cropped photo attached
Little Egrets
Black tailed Godwit's
Redshank
Pintails photo attached of a male.
Teal
Wigeon
Shelduck
Pink Footed Geese
Greylag Geese
All the wigeon teal lapwings at far end went up in a panic but was unable to see what caused them all to take flight.
Linnet with Twite calling amongst them but unable to locate the Twite.
Plus lots more.
Cheers Steven
Our annual blow away the cobwebs trip started with an early (6-30am) departure from Rochdale for four A team members. We decided on Merseyside initially and we headed for Marshside, Southport with myself at the wheel. After a tricky drive in the dark we soon reached Southport and it was still dark! A good mooch around as the dawn broke, had us all watching a Great White Egret in the company of a Little Egret, nice for comparison. The usual expected birds were seen and then at Nell`s Hide a Lesser Snow Goose (Blue Phase) was seen right outside the hide and a couple of phone scope pictures were taken. The bird soon departed in the direction of Martin Mere?
A few Cattle Egrets had been seen a couple of times in Birkdale, but after meeting a couple of birders, who narrowly missed the Lesser Snow Goose, told us that they had looked for the egrets without success, we had a look anyway and they were right, no sign, but 3 Grey Partridge at the side of the road in Hightown helped.
Dave O.
The Red-breasted Goose was found by Pete Kinsella and he got the photos of it oo. It then flew but was later relocated and a number of local birders caught up with it by dusk. The current theory is that it is the individual recently seen with Pink-footed Geese in Norfolk and that it has moved up to the NW in a Pink-footed Goose movement.
No reports of the Black-throated Thrush prompted a last minute decision to go to Marshside, in the freezing cold and ridiculously windy conditions it made it difficult to stand still, I couldn't feel my hands, and my eyes were watering!
- no sign of the Blue-morph Snow Goose anywhere
- lots of Pink-footed Geese (literally 100's) all over the marshes and fields
- lots of winter Wildfowl inc:
- Teal, Wigeon, Pintail, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and a few Goldeneye
- Black-tailed Godwit in big numbers
- Twite approx 50-75 in 1 flock coming down to drink at the Yacht Club car park puddles, smaller groups also coming and going, some immature Linnets with them too.
I kept this sighting on this thread as the Club is literally 1 minute down the road from Marshside.
Snow Goose (Blue morph) feeding with hundreds of Pink footed Goose on inner marsh Hesketh Rd end approx 14.30, then flew onto outer marsh
Also of note
Merlin 1m
Sparrowhawk 1f
Goldcrest, dunnock, goldfinch, greenfinch, meadow pipit, skylark (lots; very active).
600+ teal
25+ gadwall
13+ shoveler
12+ pintail
400+ wigeon
Hundreds of pink-footed geese, and loads more on the outmarsh
7 black-tailed godwit
7+ curlew
10+ little egret
1 great white egret over
4 grey heron
1 great black-backed gull
2 kestrel
2 sparrowhawk
1 buzzard
The area further along Marine Drive mentioned in my previous post yielded:
5+ linnet
2 pied wagtail
100+ starling
250+ teal
3 shoveler
500+ wigeon
6 pink-footed geese
27+ golden plover
500+ lapwing
3 snipe
3 ruff
4+ redshank
4 little egret
2 grey heron
Ross's Goose & 3 Cattle Egrets just north of Sandgrounders Hide
-- Edited by Richard Thew on Saturday 15th of October 2016 06:13:31 PM
Longstaying Cattle Egret still exactly where I saw it in early August, with cattle distantly from hide.
Pink Footed Geese arrived in big numbers, easily 1000 seen. Autumn is here.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Tuesday 20th of September 2016 11:36:08 PM
Chiffchaff, goldfinch, linnet, house martin, swallow, meadow pipit, pied wagtail, skylark.
1 yellow wagtail
1 kingfisher
400+ teal
c25 shoveler
3 gadwall
6 wigeon
2 shelduck
1 tufted duck
400+ pink-footed geese
9 ringed plover
40+ lapwing
2 little stint
2 dunlin
5 snipe
1,500+ black-tailed godwit
1 oystercatcher
2 curlew
1 cattle egret (several sightings, once close in from the viewing screen just outside Sandgrounders Hide)
9 little egret
4 grey heron
1 merlin
1 kestrel
A walk along the path to the mudflats at high-tide yielded:
32 ringed plover on the path itself, with 2 dunlin
10+ redshank
3 oystercatcher
The fantastic sight of a train of 100+ curlew flying past; they kept on coming! Perhaps c30 knot and 50+ dunlin in with them.
c15 little egret
Further along Marine Drive, near a layby with a Ribble Estuary Nature Reserve sign, is a small pool on the seaward side of the road, which proved quite productive:
c15 linnet
400+ starling
100+ teal
3 wigeon
c40 golden plover
150+ lapwing
3 ruff
4 black-tailed godwit
1 little egret
1 or 2 kestrel
Quick call in whilst delivering in the area.
Of note...
- Cattle Egret 1 (still) very distant with Cattle
- Little Egrets
- Grey Heron 2
- Cormorants 1 very showy bird infront of Sandgrounders
- Common Snipe 1
- Black-tailed Godwit approx 150+
- Great Black-backed Gull 1
- few Meadow Pipits around
- Kestrel 1
- Merlin 1 over Nel's which when I got to Sandgrounders I found out it had landed on a post in the marsh for a while but I missed that being at Nel's.
Spare day and an event was being run on my patch so rather than be part of the crowds - I'm used to having it to myself! - I decided to finally pop over to Marshside to see the Cattle Egret. We walked up Marshside Road to its favoured area and it was with the cattle as expected. With the bird under our belts immediately we then spent a couple of hours hoping that it would come closer for pictures. But it stayed at the rear of the field, mostly with the cattle, but also occasionally flying to a ditch to digest & rest. We watched it mainly catching insects such as grasshoppers, but also saw it take a large frog! The bird was on view all the time we were there, at least 3 hours, and showed really well through the scope. In the end I managed a record digiscoped shot at distance, but was pleased that the bird was so easily seen and so quickly too!
Third visit and third time luck to see the Cattle Egret, Rewarded with reasonably close views from Marshside Road
Sun 7/8 17:20-18:25 sunny light cloud strong sw wind
Cattle Egret 1 ad sp seen briefly at 18:00 at the back of the RSPB hide pool in rose bay willow herb and docks, seems to be a gulley ditch there
At least 12 L Egrets
Black tailed godwit at least 1,000
Golden plover 2
[Probable peregrine spooked godwits and other waders and starlings]
Sparrowhawk f hunting along hedge
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 8th of August 2016 06:18:54 AM
Just to add to a comment in your post...the Glossy Ibis was actually at Nel's hide on Saturday when I was there, right infront of the hide in the small mud patch you are talking about but it seemed to be constantly feeding well so conditions must've been favourable.
Glossy Ibis spent over an hour in front of Nell's hide.
- Cattle Egret 1
Got to Sandgrounders after just missing it from Marshside Rd (presumably that was you John I was speaking to?) and within minutes I picked the bird up and got everyone else on to it.
A splendid bird in cracking plumage and it was with the Cattle! I walked further up the path passed the hide and I found myself quite close, watching it feeding in between the herd. Brilliant.
- Glossy Ibis 1
Showing really well from Nel's, feeding well, and showing off its glossy colours in the sun.
Other birds of note...
- Little Egret 15+
- Grey Heron 2
- Black-tailed Godwit 200+
- Acocet 6
- Oystercatcher 1
- Sparrowhawk 1 female caught a juv Lapwing
Cattle Egret, near Marshside Rd & around RSPB visitor centre. Quite mobile: observed distantly from viewpoint on Marshside Rd (near school), also from visitor centre itself (with cattle !). Easily picked out from the many Little Egrets by its slightly larger, golden appearance, yellow bill and golden plumage on head & some flight feathers - but can disappear for some time in tall vegetation
Glossy Ibis mid-pm near Nel's hide (along road towards Southport). Viewed very distantly from blind at junction, but probably much easier from Nel's.
Oh, and other stuff, including numerous Black-Tailed Godwit
A weeks holiday so a chance for some birding through the week.
- Cattle Egret had flown 10 minutes before I arrived at lunchtime, apparently dropped infront of the hide but no sign all afternoon.
Bumped into Austin Morley and Dawn, and as we were talking, at 4.50pm a birder outside Sangrounders said he'd found it right at the back of the fields towards the waterworks, as if you were sat in the hide looking out towards the houses.
Myself and Austin went to check the very bird he pointed out and it was a Little Egret, it had a grey bill and greenish legs so we presumed an immature one.
Other birds of note...
- Little Egret 20+
- Black-tailed Godwits (few 100)
- Ruff 2
- Oystercatcher 2
- Avocets
- Dunlin
- Curlew
- Redshank
- Lapwing
- Linnets
- Sedge Warbler 2
- Reed Warbler 2
- Sparrowhawk
- Lesser Black-backed Gull took a young Coot, but it lost its catch to a Great-black backed Gull, who in turn was being pestered by a young Grey Heron.
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Wednesday 27th of July 2016 02:36:55 PM
Cattle egret showing well for me on the area midway between the junction pool and Nell's hide at around 3.45 this afternoon. Cracking bird it is, too, swaying from side to side, presumably feeding on small insects; a first for me. When observing it, I also had three grey heron and three little egret in view, too; herontastic.
Other than that, it was a bit of a wader-fest, with 11 different species seen (all well, too; Nell's hide was especially fruitful late morning); highlights of the day were:
Whitethroat, sedge warbler, goldfinch (lots), linnet, greenfinch, reed bunting, house martin, swallow, meadow pipit (loads), skylark.
Lots of moorhen young, including a nest with chicks that can't have been much older than a day.
1 teal
9+ shoveler
4 shelduck
13 tufted duck (several young)
1 little grebe
2 little ringed plover
45+ lapwing
19 dunlin
1 common sandpiper
1 green sandpiper
9+ redshank
2 snipe
300+ black-tailed godwit
12 avocet (several juveniles)
8 oystercatcher
3 curlew
8 little egret
7 grey heron
100+ black-headed gull
1 sparrowhawk
Might be worth checking the roost on the Marine Lake island, later
Also interesting that a Little Egret with yellow bill mentioned on this website for BMW on Tuesday
-- Edited by John Watson on Saturday 23rd of July 2016 01:56:15 PM
Quick afternoon visit with Simon Gough and Chris Chandler.
- Greenshank 1 stunning individual from Nel's hide
- Black-tailed Godwit approx 150 almost all summ plum
- Avocet, grown young around too
- Oystercatcher
- Common Redshank
- Lapwing
- Shoveler
- Gadwall
- Little Egret
- Linnet
- Skylark
- Reed Warbler 1 infront of Nel's hide
- Starling few groups around, one flock possibly around 300+
- also I just caught the tail end of a bird dashing over Marine Road from the beach, Simon and Chris saw it fully though and they concluded it was a Peregrine that plucked a Starling out of the flock!
12pm - 12.30pm on latter part of tacho break.
Of note...
- Black-tailed Godwit 100-150 mostly breeding plumaged
- Avocet
- Oystercatcher
- Redshank
- Lapwing
- Shoveler
- Tufted Duck
- Little Egret
- Swift
- Sand Martin
- Skylark
- Whitethroat
- Linnet
- Starling group of approx 100
Glossy Ibis active picking round the edge of the pool. Adult and juv Black Headed Gulls seemed irritated by the ibis, screaming and lunging at it.
Good nos of young Avocet.
6:00pm
M Ruff in full Summer plumage looking fantastic. A bit skulking, but showed pretty well eventually. 3 F Ruff, much plainer, of course were perfectly easy to see.
1 Common Sandpiper
Loads of Avocet chicks.
Junction Pool
1 adult Mediterranean Gull
Rob the fighter jet you saw was very probably a Typhoon from BAE Systems at Warton, just across the Ribble Estuary from where you were. I believe that the plane has been flying its display routine every day this week in preparation for taking part in the Royal International Air Tattoo next week in Gloucestershire.
Delivering in Southport so thought it would be rude not to put the wagon on tacho break and get some birding in.
Lots of birds but mainly usuals.
Of note...
- no sign of the Glossy Ibis for me
- Black-tailed Godwit
- Avocet
- Redshank
- Oystercatcher
- Lapwing
- Little Egret
- Shoveler
- Gadwall
- Tufted Duck
- Sand Martin
- Swift
- Skylark
- Whitethroat
...and an even larger aerial figure as a fighter jet was doing some fantastic displays over the marsh opposite Sandgrounder's Hide, it came close to the coast road a few times and put up quite a few birds from the marsh in the process. I should imagine they're used to the planes, being so close to RAF Woodvale.
After a shopping trip to Southport with Mrs A had good views of the long staying Glossy Ibis from Nel's Hide this afternoon. Also present of interest were summer plumaged Ruff and Black-tailed Godwit and families of Avocet, Shoveller, Greylag Geese, Tufted duck and Gadwall.
I had a few deliveries in the area so called in on my break. Nice to bump into Rob and Sonia Adderley.
Of note...
- Sedge Warbler 2 (1 up close)
- Reed Warbler 1
- Whitethroat 2
- Reed Bunting 4 all male
- Skylark
- Meadow Pipit
- Ruff 4 fantastic individuals in full breeding plumage
- Black-tailed Godwits also in full breeding plumage
- Avocet lots around
- Oystercatcher
- Redshank
- Wigeon
- Shoveler
- Gadwall
- no sign of the Glossy Ibis for me and I tried to find the Garganey that Rob and Sonia told me about but my tacho break was almost up so no sign of that either.
Glossy ibis (fifth new species in just over two weeks) showing well if fairly distantly on edges of Fairclough pool late this morning.
The rest:
Whitethroat, sedge warbler, reed warbler, goldfinch, linnet, greenfinch, reed bunting, house martin, swallow, meadow pipit, skylark, starling, blackbird.
Coot, tufted duck, mallard, greylag and Canada geese all with young.
2 little grebe
6 shoveler
13 gadwall
c100 shelduck
1 ringed plover (on outmarsh on opposite side of the road)
c40 lapwing
30+ redshank
3 ruff (looking glorious at close quarters)
20+ avocet
9 oystercatcher
c50 black-tailed godwit
c500 black-headed gull, with chicks at all stages of development.
c10 little egret
1 cormorant (taking, battling with, and finally eating an unfortunate eel)
1 kestrel
Excellent day watching lots of interesting behaviour, and lovely views of species such as reed warbler and skylark, and apparently a garganey about, though I missed that one.
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Monday 30th of May 2016 11:50:48 PM
juv Little Gull showing really well hawking for insects over Sandgrounders Pool
Afternoon visit with Steve Burke.
Of note...
- Glossy Ibis 1 in same location as Friday.
- Avocet plenty about
- Ruff 2 in summer plumage
- Black-tailed Godwit 1
- Redshank few about
- Sedge Warbler 2
- Whitethroat 3
Also, a Great Black-backed Gull was patrolling round the Black-headed Gull colony, and was driven off by them and the Avocet. But unfortunately a large Herring Gull was also patrolling low over the colony, and despite being driven away twice, the colony dropped their guard and it snatched a Black-headed Gull chick and swallowed it whilst being driven off.
No sign of any Little Gulls whilst we were there despite a good scan round
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 23rd of May 2016 01:07:04 PM
glossy ibis feeding & showing well from the small screen inbetween junction pool & nels hide.
2 little gulls still on pollys pool
lots avocets around
4 ruff were flying around a lot, when they did land they were a bit distant for a photo, but I did try.
2 little egrets
2 little grebe
plenty of sedge warbler around
2 reed warbler
shelducks, oystercatchers, lapwings
few black tailed godwit & redshank
lots of swifts around
also swallows & house martins.
Glossy ibis- seen from hesketh road distantly around 13:00. Lifer
2 little gulls, seen from sandgrounders distantly before one came flying quite close in. It looked like it was about to land on one of the pools in front of the hide, but decided against it and flew off. Another lifer
3 sedge warbler
4 reed warbler
2 ruff in brilliant early stages of summer plumage
4 whitethroat
6:00 pm
1 Black Tern full summer plumage hawking low with gulls and swifts, very close in
2 juv Little Gulls also close, flying with the tern at times.