Am visit. 3 common terns 1 curlew sandpiper 1 swift 4 common sandpiper 1 little gull 3 avocet 1 great crested grebe 16 wheatear warblers heard willow sedge Reed and cettis
American golden plover 7 curlew sandpiper 300 bar t godwits 100 black t godwits 20 common terns 9 sandwich terns 11 swallow 5 house Martin 2 sand Martin 2000+knot 19 curlew 1 whimbrel 1 ruff 9 little egret 3pr gadwall and a fulvous whistling duck
Common terns 19 juveniles seen on new island 1 1st artic tern 4 sandwich terns 1 ruff 2 knot 2 ringed plovers 11 bar tailed godwits 19 black tailed godwits
My first common terns of the year also 13 wheatear 8 avocet 3 whimbrel 1 little ringed plover 2 common sandpiper 1 little egret 1 peregrine 1 spotted redshank and a small number of hirundines
A quick visit here in ridiculously windy conditions produced:
Scaup (female) Goldeneye (at least 10) Pochard (around 10) Teal Redshank Curlew Dunlin Oystercatcher Black-tailed Godwit Turnstone Cormorant Shelduck Skylark And the usual gull selection.
Lots of building and road works here. You need your wits about you to get to the LWT huts and car park now
Had a quick look for the Long-tailed Duck on the nearby Crosby Marine Lake, but, could see nothing but 3 Great Crested Grebes. However,it was so windy, it was almost impossible to hold my bins steady, so, could well still be about in the swell somewhere!
Seen here, early afternoon, amongst the usual fare:
Marsh Harrier (possibly a juvenile) passed through bringing pretty much everything into the air and being mobbed mercilessly by the resident Common Terns. Black-tailed Godwits Common Sandpiper Grey Wagtail x 2 Plenty of Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Goldfinch near the new portacabins Little Owl, adult, sat on one of the rocky mounds as viewed back from the main hide
An early morning visit (low tide) produced, amongst the usuals, a Dark-bellied Brent Goose, a single Dunlin and a Whitethroat singing and displaying near the main hide
09.00 - 12.30, sunshine to start with then the rain came, luckily the hides are still waterproof . However the whole place has a run down appearance as well as all of the building activity taking place.
As usual the the birds did not disappoint. Saw my first Swifts of the year, plus Swallows and House Martins. Also present three species of Tern; Common, Arctic and Sandwich and six of gull; Lesser Black back, Herring, Great Black back, Black-headed, Common and Little. A pair of displaying Goldeneye, a female Scaup, lots of Wheatear and a pair of Linnets and Wagtails; Pied and White. Also several Reed Buntings, Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers. Waders; Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit. Also Shelduck and Tufted Duck......and so to Leasowe.
-- Edited by sid ashton on Monday 22nd of April 2013 03:01:53 PM
Got to the reserve at 7am and despite the amount of work going on still plenty of activity. 2 Scaup 2 Sandwich Terns dropped in onto the causeway and were displaying at least 3 Little Gulls Good numbers of Black Tailed Godwit and Redshank Shelduck Goldeneye Tufted Duck Reed Bunting Willow Warbler 3 Wheatear missed the Black Redstart but caught up with one later in the day (see Great Orme) Pied Wagtail Sparrowhawk House Sparrow
Finally got around to picking up my permit for this reserve and then went for a first mooch. The first thing to mention is that there is a lot of work going on at the reserve and, speaking to the local foreman, it will be like that for the next 18 months. The pathways are fairly well marked, though, it's possible I went 'off-piste' once or twice, not being familiar with where one can and cannot go
Anyway, the birds seem totally unfazed by events as can be seen below:
Scaup x 11 (6 male, 5 female) Goldeneye x 30+ Black-tailed Godwit x 20+ Redshank Curlew Pochard Tufted Duck Shelduck Shoveler Teal Pied Wagtail Herring Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Common Gull Black-headed Gull Grey Heron Cormorant
Looks a great reserve and I look forward to visiting more regularly (and maybe when it isn't blowing a blizzard!)
3rd September, 08.45 - 11.45, wet morning in spells but milder than Monday last at 16 - 18 deg
With John Barber, looking into the reserve from Crosby Marina - Citrine Wagtail was present this morning at 10.15 sitting on the perimeter fence, with 2 Yellow Wagtails, giving good but brief views.
Shortly after it flew two port authority police people (1m, 1f) in day-glow jackets came around asking us what we were looking at - apparently we had been picked up on CCTV and they thought we were on the wrong side of the fence as birders - they were looking for possible illegal immigrants the same as we were doing
-- Edited by sid ashton on Sunday 4th of September 2011 08:33:45 AM
29th August, 06.45 - 09.15, temperature 11 deg but felt much colder in the strong wind
Congratualtions to everyone who didn't go to Seaforth this morning, the combination of the strong wind and occasional showers was not pleasant
Unfortunately no sign of the Citrine Wagtail in the small flock of Pied (6), White (1) and Yellow(2) Wagtails or anywhere along the "long bank" where Pete K picked them up yesterday.
Many of the birds present were not very mobile but of interest did find Curlew, Goldfinch, Linnet, Meadow Pipit, Wheatear, Common Tern as well as the many assorted Gulls and Mute Swans. Probably other stuff as well but distant birds difficult to pick up because of the wind and blowing sand.
03.06.11, late morning - Lots of Tern activity today mostly Commons with a few Sandwich but no sign of the recently seen Roseate, although it was reported again later in the day.
Spent a nice morning in the reserve. Its my first visit, but its well worth the long journey just for the terns! Highlights were: c.200 Common Terns 6 Arctic Tern c.20 Sandwich Tern 1 Little Gull- a full summer plumage adult and a lifer for me c.500 Oystercatcher 1 Greenshank 1 Common Sandpiper 1 Grey Plover (in near full summer plumage 1 Little Ringed Plover c.10 Lapwing 1 Peregrine and a fairly large mixed group of linnets and goldfinch
Thanks for the replies folks. I think for my records I shall go for Lapwing that being the first name that I picked up on Thursday as up until then, in my ignorance I had never heard of a White tailed Lapwing and that name will stick with me. As Phil says we were fortunate having had it so close to home. I wonder where it went off to?
PS if Phil's theory about ship assisted arrival is a possibility perhaps we should be checking ships going up the ship canal and at Salford Quays
-- Edited by sid ashton on Sunday 30th of May 2010 02:08:08 PM
I think the name change is down to group characteristics. Birds classed as Vanellus, most of which have been called 'plover' in the past all seem to have broader, more rounded wings like that of the Lapwing, unlike other Plovers which have more pointed wings, Diademed Plover being an exception. As Lapwing is the 'type' (Vanellus Vanellus) someone seems to have decided that they should all be Lapwings.
-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Saturday 29th of May 2010 09:19:58 PM
The bird sightings websites are calling it a White-tailed Plover but the Collins guide 2nd edition (page 146) and indeed the RSPB Complete Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe, both refer to it being called White-tailed Lapwing.
I personally have gone down the "book route" for my records with this one, but the choice is up to you.
Both titles share the latin name of "Vanellus leucurus".
Whatever we decide to call it, one thing is for sure, it's a great UK bird and one which we are so fortunate to have seen so close to home!
-- Edited by Phil Owen on Saturday 29th of May 2010 06:54:34 AM
-- Edited by Phil Owen on Saturday 29th of May 2010 07:14:06 AM
When I was watching the bird from the "wrong side" of the fence on Thursday - see Crosby Marina thread - I heard folk referring to it as a White tailed Plover rather than a White tailed Lapwing and have seen it written elsewhere as well. I know the old name for our everyday Lapwing was Green Plover and occasionally hear them so called. Does the present visitor have the two names because folk can't get used to the Lapwing title or is there a subtle difference relating to plumage for example and its proper title is indeed Lapwing?
Good 'scope views of the White-tailed Lapwing within 10 minutes of arriving. Then it went missing for 20 minutes before it walked from left to right giving even better views for at least 5 minutes. A cracking bird for the UK!!!!
We met a local birder who used to work at the docks and he said that they used to get vagrant birds coming off the ships???
A determined search for the Roseate Tern amongst the Commons was to no avail.
-- Edited by Phil Owen on Friday 28th of May 2010 10:20:02 PM
Nice to know that you are regularly contributing records (via your permitted access rights) to enhance the knowledge of the avifauna of Lancashire Mr Heaton....well done
Me bitter ????? Never..........I like looking through fences
The joys of having a permit means you can laugh to yourself when you see Lee Evans peering through a fence, while I watched the White tailed Plover 3 feet away.
Also cracking Roseate Tern flying over the main hide.
The Grey Phal. was giving strokeable views today on the small pools next to Crosby Marina,at one point it was so close I had to stand back to get it in focus in my bins.
Having received mine too, is anyone going imminently who could possibly drop mine off whilst they're there? I won't be ableto get there for the next couple of weeks so if possible it would be greatly appreciated.
Looking for a bit of help here gentlemen, just remembered my permit needs updating and I cannot find any contact details etc as to who to call?
Steve White rings a bell but no contact number
Any ideas!
Keep birding
-- Edited by Paul Heaton on Thursday 1st of October 2009 07:52:29 PM
Paul
Steve White is indded the contact - his e-mail address is swhite@lancswt.org.uk
I recently communicated with Steve on this issue due to having changed my car - all the permits are due to be renewed in November and Steve was going to liaise with the Port of Liverpool Police on how this process will take place. I am sure Steve will announce how the renewal process will work in due course.