Late post for yesterday evening.

Pectoral Sandpiper showing well, despite the local Mallards best efforts to move it on. Think this is the third year in a row that one has been here now. Also of interest, a pair of Dunlin, a single Little Ringed Plover, a juvenile Yellow Wagtail and 10 Snipe.

Oh, and a message to the 'birder' who was stood in the field when I got there who "thought it was a reserve" (How?), get yourself a new scope and a decent field guide, because it definitely wasn't a Reeve!


-- Edited by Patrick Earith on Saturday 2nd of August 2014 11:14:09 AM

1 Little Ringed Plover
30 Black-tailed Godwit
5 Snipe
1 Dunlin

-- Edited by James Walsh on Thursday 24th of July 2014 10:56:44 PM

Wood Sandpiper still present for it's second day, on the far pool in the right hand corner as viewed from the gate on Town Lane. Snipe numbers building up nicely too with at least 5 visible. Also a pair of Little Ringed Plover, 6 Redshank, 20+ Black-tailed Godwit

A large number of Black-tailed Godwits here this evening. I gave up counting at 400, but would guess nearer 750. Nothing rare amongst them that I could see but only had bins and not much time.

Yesterday evening 2 Yellow Wagtail, both males Little Egret 30+ Swift Also at least one brood of Shoveler ducklings and another of Gadwall ducklings

From yesterday evening

5 Ringed Plover

1 male Yellow Wagtail around pools then flew off over road

A cracking adult Curlew Sandpiper in full breeding plumage still here at 15:00 today

A quick visit after work last night around 18:30:

Female Yellow Wagtail
2 Pied Wagtail
3 Wheatear all female
3 Dunlin
4 Redshank
Small numbers of Swallow and House Martin

A pair (m&f) of Yellow Wagtail and a dodgy Cape Shelduck were the highlights here this evening.

Nipped down to Hale Head and on the mud, around the lighthouse were a single Whimbrel, 20 Ringed Plover, 6 very gingery looking Dunlin, 2 Great Black-backed Gull, a Grey Heron, 40+ Oystercatcher, 30+ Shelduck. In and around the adjacent fields/reeds, Swallow, Skylark, at least 2 Reed Warbler and something else deep within the reed bed, whose song I didn't recognise immediately, but, may have been a Whitethroat

Just a single Yellow Wagtail and a single Little Ringed Plover of note this evening.

Also, around the bridge and in the small reed bed along Carr Lane itself were two singing Sedge Warblers and a pair of Whitethroat

A search for the earlier reported Whinchat was unsuccessful. However, my compensation was the following:

2 Yellow Wagtail
1 Wheatear (m)
2 Little Ringed Plover
1 Mistle Thrush
6 Redshank
4 Reed Bunting
1 Grey Heron
Shoveler (lots)
Shelduck (lots)
Gadwall (quite a few)

And best of all, while I was scanning a flock of Starling feeding on the ground, a female Sparrowhawk shot through them and grabbed one right in front of me!

Then a quick trip down to Hale Head and left past the lighthouse produced:

Whitethroat (f)
Sedge Warbler (heard only)
Reed Warbler (3 heard only)
4 Skylark
2 Grey Partridge
6 Curlew
1 Great Black-backed Gull

An after work visit produced 7 Wheatear, of which, two were Greenland flavour. A sprinkling of Swallow too but not much else of real note

Visited last Monday; my first visit to this site


Little egret-4
Grey heron-2
teal-30
Shelduck-2
Lapwing-300
Skylark-30
Meadow pipit-30
Buzzard
Common pheasant-4

Wood Sandpiper Greenshank still present this evening along with 14 Dunlin 12 Black-Tailed Godwits
MIKE

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Tuesday 14th of May 2013 08:20:15 PM

Jon Greep wrote:

---

Wood sandpiper this evening also 3 Yellow wagtail, 2 Grey partridge and a Greenshank. Love this place even if it can be a little tricky to view at times especially from the main road. But it certainly does turn up some nice birds

---

Welcome to the forum Jon, I have sent you a PM.

Sid

Wood Sandpiper and Greenshank still present this evening. Also present many Sand Martin and Swallow and the regular pair of dodgy Ruddy Shelduck hybrids. In a field off Carr Lane, a pair of Grey Partridge

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Tuesday 14th of May 2013 08:20:32 PM

Wood sandpiper this evening also 3 Yellow wagtail, 2 Grey partridge and a Greenshank. Love this place even if it can be a little tricky to view at times especially from the main road. But it certainly does turn up some nice birds

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 12th of May 2013 09:49:55 PM

Pectoral Sandpiper showing nicely from main road on nearest pool which was lucky as i didn't have scope. Yellow wagtails i'd say double figures but might have been looking at the same group but definately at least 2 groups of 4 or 5 birds. White wagtail present again and an unidentified wader that i gave up on as too distant probably redshank.Grey Partridge in fields opposite.

Just too far away for pics especially in the bright reflective sunlight off the water & the low evening sun, but as you say Mike we had cracking scope views of the smart little beast

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Saturday 4th of May 2013 08:40:51 PM

Pectoral Sandpiper still present at 12:45 today amongst 30+ Dunlin. Also single male Yellow Wagtail amongst the usual fare

Pectoral Sandpiper showing well from town lane 4.30 pm also 4 yellow wagtails 1 white wagtail 20 Dunlin 9 black-tailed godwits
MIKE


-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 4th of May 2013 06:22:50 PM

A very brief stop off here at around 12:30 found a male Whinchat, my second of the day (see Leasowe under The Wirral thread) and my third of the week (see Frodsham thread!). Obviously, this was due to the fact that on none of these occasions did I have my camera with me!

Quick visit at 16:00ish:

Yellow Wagtail - male
White Wagtail x 6
House Martin
Swallow
Black-tailed Godwit
Dunlin x1

An evening visit produced, amongst the usual fare:

A pair of dodgy ducks that were Shelduck-sized and I think were Cape Shelduck
Swallows x 4
A small wader that defied identification in failing light with just bins, but was probably a Dunlin

Carr Lane Pools around 1pm

Little Egret x 2
Curlew x 8
Black-tailed Godwit x 5
Dunlin x 4
Teal
Wigeon
Lapwing
Grey Heron
Shelduck
Canada Goose
Lapwing
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black-headed Gull
Stock Dove
Pheasant

then, across the road on Hale Marsh

Great White Egret (well hidden initially, in a ditch, then, thankfully, took off and flew further down the marsh)
3 x Grey Heron
Buzzard

Thanks for the info terry.so many sites so little time!now if a few more of those birds would be good enough to land...
Cheers Chris

Around this time last year i done exactly the same thing chris , i've since met the guy who i know now is the finder of the vast majority of the hale reports , a fantastic birder. For a little more info see some recent posts on frodsham marsh birdblog.

Cheers terry.I did think that could be the case as the same post mentioned brambling and redwing over but thought it might be worth a punt.never stopped there but from the road it looked like Carr lane pools were fairly quiet.
Cheers Chris

chrisdorney wrote:

---

Quick drive to hale head after work looking for the Lapland bunting.no joy on that one but birds present included:
60 meadow pipit
60 curlew
1 bar tailed godwit
1 turnstone
15 ringed plover
6 redshank
8 grey partridge
Kestrel

---

I think the recent sightings from Hale Lapland Bunting,Hawfinch etc are flyovers reported by vismiggers from the area. The recent Yellow-browed warbler was an actual landed bird but only seen for about 20 minutes.

-- Edited by Terry Long on Wednesday 10th of October 2012 10:39:00 PM

Quick drive to hale head after work looking for the Lapland bunting.no joy on that one but birds present included:
60 meadow pipit
60 curlew
1 bar tailed godwit
1 turnstone
15 ringed plover
6 redshank
8 grey partridge
Kestrel

Dark and rainy this afternoon but checked Carr Lane at around high tide - two flocks of waders flew in - one of circa 30 Black Tailed Godwits included two colour ringed birds [could only get partial readings with bins but I've reported them anyway]. The other flock was of smaller waders but they promptly settled into the long grass. Also:

Snipe 3
Shoveler, Teal, Mallard, Canada Geese, Coot, Lapwing [lots]
Ruff 3
Greenshank [which was a nice surprise]
Buzzard
Black Necked Grebe [juv]
Swallows through

No sign of pectoral sandpiper last seen saturday. Today
8 ruff
100+ black-tailed godwit
1 redshank
1 barnacle goose
few hundred canada geese
lots of teal and mallard
1 hobby


-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 17th of September 2012 07:25:27 PM

1 Pectoral Sandpiper
9 Black-tailed Godwit
1 Ruff
1 Dunlin
1 Curlew
1 Barnacle Goose
1 GreyLag
6 Wigeon
2 Gadwall

Hale Head

1 adult Mediterranean Gull with Black-headed and 2 Common Gulls in field on approach to the lighthouse 14.10
1 Hobby over the field 14.47

Quick trip down this morning for reported pectoral sandpiper I was not disappointed as it was showing well from Town Lane Hale end, feeding at waters edge among black headed gulls on long island on big pool must admit I did not have to look for it as two local birders had already located it
Other birds present
2 Ruff
5 Black-tail godwits ( one color ringed bird)
1 Dunlin
lots of Teal and a few Lapwing
Though I did not stay that long as to have a proper look
MIKE

9 black tailed godwits
1 juv redshank
1 ruff
1 stock dove
1 kingfisher
1 buzzard
2 meadow pipits
1 gs woodpecker
3-4 reed warbler
And sadly a lapwing hanging from the barbed wire
Also single wigeon

Lighthouse

c40 ringed plover
20-30 dunlin
4 grey partridge
10 curlew
Oystercatcher
2 meadow pipit
2 black tailed godwit

-- Edited by chrisdorney on Saturday 8th of September 2012 07:57:11 PM

Re colour ringed Black-tailed Godwit.

Ive had a reply from Peter Potts from the Project Jadrakan (who also provided the details of the Frodsham bird). 'Ringed this summer in Iceland on 10/07/2012 at Siglufjordur, N. Iceland. It was a very big chick almost fledged, so c25-26 days old'. I was also sent a photograph of the bird in the hand .

He would also like to hear of any other sightings of this individual.

-- Edited by Pete Hines on Monday 3rd of September 2012 09:27:58 PM

HI Pete re your ringed Black-Tailed Godwit.

There has been a color ringed Black-Tailed Godwit at Frodsham marsh as well of late information on this bird is on the frodsham marsh birdbog.
Your bird seems to a different bird as ring colors are not exactly the same though it may well be from the same site as the Frodsham bird as they ringed a large number of bird at the same site in Iceland this year.
MIKE

First visit to this site this morning, however the only pools I saw from Carr Lane were best viewed from Town Lane due to light conditions and proximity SJ473823.

2 Ruff
53 Black-tailed Godwit *
75 Lapwing
51 Teal
2 GreyLag

* One of the Godwits was colour-ringed. Left tibia RO (red ring above orange ring), right tibia OYflag (orange ring over yellow flag). The tarsus were largely obscured by tall grass as the bird was foraging. Plumage score 2-3 (approximation) Time 10.15. Attempts to report this information via the Project Jadrakan online recording form failed.

Hale Head

1 Wheatear
1 Skylark
71+ Linnet
1 Dunlin
19 Ringed Plover
2 Curlew

Hour and half this afternoon
150+ Black-Tailed Godwits
30 teal
1 Wood Sandpiper
1 Ruff
Vist cut short when some youths came on adjoining Fields letting loose there dogs spooking every thing and chaseing both the sheep and cattle and ponys
MIKE

-- Edited by Mike Turton on Sunday 26th of August 2012 06:48:39 PM

-- Edited by Mike Turton on Sunday 26th of August 2012 06:49:08 PM

2 Hours early afternoon today
2 Garganey
50+ Teal
400+ Black-tailed Godwits
MIKE

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 22nd of August 2012 10:06:52 PM