Drake Common Scoter present all day at Woolston Weir

09.30-13.30

Woolston Weir Pool Area & Old River: 56 Tufted Ducks, 1 Shelduck, 2 Grey Herons, 3 Little Grebes, 1 Buzzard and 3 Bullfinches,

No. 3 Bed : 1f Sparrowhawk, 2 Bramblings, 1 Willow Tit, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Grey Herons and 12 Shelducks.

11.30-14.00

1 Kingfisher and 1 Little Grebe were on the old river.

No 3 Bed

Still a large flock of Lapwings around.

Also there were 14 Black Tailed Godwits, 3 Snipe, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Buzzards, 1 Goldcrest, 3 Little Grebes and 4 Grey Herons.

Shoveler numbers appear to have increased a lot over the last couple of days, as have the Chaffinches around the sunflower patch.

The only hirundines seen though were a couple of Swallows that passed through.

11.00-13.00

Woolston Weir Pool : 39 Tufted Ducks and 4 Little Grebes

No 3 Bed : 1 Redshank, 11 Black tailed Godwits, 172 Lapwings, 4 Snipe, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Grey Herons, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Little Grebe and 3 Jays.

Small numbers of House Martins and Swallows were over the pool throughout.

14.30-17.30

No.3 Bed

1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Buzzards, 2 Cormorants, 1 Sedge Warbler (From F.Linley Hide), 6 Black Necked Grebes, 4 Great Crested Grebes and 3 Little Grebes.

Lots of moulting duck, mainly Mallard and Gadwall, but also a few Shoveler, a couple of Pochard, 3 Shelduck and a single drake Teal.

Not all Pochard are entering moult though yet, 4 smart looking drakes tried to woo a female, whilst another female had a brood of just 1 small duckling, signalling heavy predation.

I could'nt find any broods of Shelduck, so perhaps they were lost to predators too.

A single Buzzard risked flying across the bed, but made a quick exit with dozens of Black Headed and a few Lesser Black Backed Gulls in pursuit.

The Black Heads were not fooled though by the false chivalry of their larger cousins, once the Buzzard was gone, the Lesser Black Backs were attacked too.

The Black Headed Gulls also kept massing over the reedbed in the NE corner, which a couple of decades ago signalled the presence of Mink, but they have now largely been controlled.

As Otters have been glimpsed along the nearby Mersey in recent years, every time the gulls massed, I scanned the edge of the reeds, expecting a predatory mammal to swim out.

At one point lots of duck and Coots erupted from the reeds, so I did think an Otter might appear, but then focus of the gulls wrath emerged into open water.

A Mute Swan in threat mode appeared with a mass of gulls trying to pack its head. The swan and it's mate chased off 3 interlopers, then calmed down.

I can't recall seeing Black Headed Gulls react to swans like this before.

Around 28 young Black Headed Gulls were visible, most now full grown. 1 half grown youngster was attacked and almost drowned by a couple of adults, but then the chicks

parents came to it's rescue and vicious fight broke out. A single tiny Lapwing chick was on the scrape, and often strayed well away it's single parent, it will be a miracle if this little fellow

survives. Small numbers of Sand Martins and Swifts were over the bed throughout.

15.00-18.30

No3 Bed

4 Black Necked Grebes, including 1 with a single small youngster, 2 Little Grebes, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Buzzards and 6 Lesser Black Backed Gulls.

8 drake Pochards plus a female with 6 small ducklings. 2 Lapwings. 6 Cormorants flew over. 6 adult Canada Geese managed a creche of 31 pigeon sized goslings.

The Lesser Black Backed Gulls are not particularly loved both by the resident Black Headed Gulls or WECG, but trying to gain a more favourable reception 3 of

them joined the Black Heads in chasing off a Buzzard. The big gulls made this look easy, although the Buzzard looked completely shocked.

A few Greenfinches are still visiting the feeders together with a male Bullfinch.

A family party of Greenfinches were by the copse on No2 Bed, as was a gnat catching Willow Warbler that frequently hovered.

6 Shelduck. 2 Great Crested Grebes and 10 Tufted Ducks were on the nearby Mersey.

09.30-13.00

No3 Bed

1 Garden Warbler, 7 Black necked Grebes, 6 Little Grebes, 5 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Buzzards, 1f Kestrel and 1m Bullfinch.

Small groups of House Martins, with a few Swallows and a single Sand Martin passed through.

5 Black Necked Grebes from hides

2 Sand Martin

Numerous Blackcap

Fascinating Rob thanks, I'll watch other dabblers too in case I witness this behaviour from them.
Other Shovelers nearby were doing their rotational feeding routine, behaving like big Whirligig beetles, with the males head displaying too.
Perhaps a male that dives impresses the females just a little more.

08.00-11.00

No 3 Bed

7 Black Necked Grebes (1 still in winter plumage), 25 Pochard, 1f Kestrel, 1 Buzzard, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 7 Little Grebes and 2 Oystercatchers.

Amongst the many Shoveler, was a drake that dived like a diving duck.He disappeared completely, then popped up again seconds later, Aythya style.

I have never seen this behaviour before, and can only assume he was trying rid himself of parasites.

Black Headed Gulls are back en-masse, and amongst them a single adult Common Gull.

Several Lesser Black Backed and a couple of Herring Gulls were also on the bed, testing the wrath of the Black Heads in the run up to breeding.

A couple of resplendent male Bullfinches visited the feeders, but overall the number of finches visiting seems down here, perhaps many have now dispersed.

Old River Bed & Weir Pool

5 Great Crested Grebes, 5 Pochard and 12 Tufted Ducks.

Weir Pool & River :

77 Tufted Ducks, 1m Goldeneye, 2f Pochard, 1 Little Grebe, 4 Cormorants and 1 Shelduck.

2 foxes were near the weir on No 2 bed, the larger one, which looked like the dark alpha male on Winterwatch, had a really nasty wound on one of it's hind legs.

No 3 Bed :

34 Shelducks, 35 Shovelers, 1 (ad) Lesser Black Backed Gull. 5 Greylag Geese, 12 Tufted Ducks, 10 Wigeon, 1 Buzzard and 1 Willow Tit.

Teal in abundance.

1 male green-winged teal still present from John Morgan hide although distant. He spent the morning displaying to nearby female teals. I counted 440 teal but suspect a lot more were hidden by the reeds so probably closer to 500 present at the moment, along with 6 wigeon and numerous mallard, shoveler, gadwall and 3 tufted duck. A juvenile male pintail also made a brief visit before flying off north.
Also present were redwings, siskins, 1 kestrel, 1 sparrowhawk and numerous finches.

09.30-13.00

Weir Pool & Old River

20 Gadwall, 34 Tufted Duck and 1 Grey Wagtail.

11 Cormorants sat in a single tree.

No 3 Bed

1 Green Sandpiper, 6 Black Tailed Godwits, 308 Lapwings, 16 Snipe, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Water Rail, 4 Linnets,1m Bullfinch and 7 Redwings.

The John Morgan hide is currently closed for maintenance.

Also, recorded warbler song is currently being played on the reserve, to attract migrants. Don't be fooled by a singing Blackcap, it's only a tape,

or you may end up on "You've Been Framed".

If you park on Weir Lane, please be aware that as there is maintenance work being done on the river bank, and so lots of HGV's are using the narrow lane.

-- Edited by John Williams on Saturday 8th of October 2016 02:43:09 PM

PM
Green Sandpiper-1
Black Tailed Godwit -14
Common Snipe-26
Buzzard-2

pm

Black Tailed Godwit -107(nice to see so many juveniles has well)
Green Sandpiper-3
Common Sandpiper-1
Lapwing-180
Common Buzzard-1
Snipe-12
Black Necked Grebe-1 Juvenile
Chiffchaff-3
Willow Warbler-2
Swift-100+>s
Swallow-40+
:)

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Sunday 21st of August 2016 08:37:25 AM

10:00-2:00

It was a good day for autumn wader passage today with 248 lapwings, 6 black-tailed godwits, 2 green sandpipers, 1 common sandpiper on the No.3 bed. One of the green sandpipers had an orange ring but was covered in mud at times and too far to read when it was clean. Also present were: 1 water rail, 1 female sparrowhawk, teals, shovelers and some of the tufted ducks still had some young following them. A juvenile black-necked grebe also showed from the Rotary Hide.

No sign of the red-necked phalaropes today, but:
1 pochard brood(3 ducklings) which are diving and becoming a bit more independent, 2 black-necked grebe broods (2 chicks and 1 chick) and plenty of coot and mallard broods about. Reed and sedge warblers were showy in front of the Rotary Hide again, with one sedge warbler singing in south meadow too. 3 male teals and reed buntings were in front of Tower Hide.

10.00-12.30

No 3 Bed

The birding doldrums of June appear to have started, with moulting Mallard and Gadwall resting on the scrapes.

5 adult Black Necked Grebes were seen, all appearing to stay noticeably close to the reeds, also 1 family of Great Crested Grebes with 1 youngster that often strays well away from

it's parents, yet appears still small enough to make a nice meal for the local Lesser Black Backed gulls. There were 5 Lesser Black Back gulls around, including the near resident

adult pair, one of which has a silver BTO ring on it's leg. The Great Black Backed gull that had been terrorising the main scrape during the week as gone, even so the pair of Canada Geese

with 2 well grown goslings looked very anxious and kept their young hidden in the vegetation. Last year the Canada and Greylag Geese were confidently strolling along the reserve paths

with lots of goslings in tow, and expecting visiting birders to get out of their way, although they did make a real mess. Things appear to be very different this year.

A female Pochard has 3 small young, and there are still 7 surprisingly smart drakes around. 6 Shoveler were seen, with 2 out of 3 drakes now starting to look scruffy.

A Wren was making long display flights from a willow near the Tower Hide, flying right out above the reedbed. Just when I'm thinking this tiny fellow is foolhardy, I noticed another

miniature bird perched on top of the reeds towards the centre of the bed, it was a juvenile Wren looking very bemused.

Reed Warblers are not just showing well from the Tower Hide, but also as they forage amongst the oaks on the South bank too.

Also seen were 24 Lapwings, 1m Great Spotted Woodpecker and 4 Bullfinches. A Chiffchaff was still in full song on the South bank.

Despite the light drizzle, we managed to get some decent sightings this morning. They included 10 adult Black-necked Grebes with 3, possibly 4 broods, 4 broods of Pochard, a calling Cetti's Warbler, 9 Little Grebes, 2 broods of Great Crested Grebe and a Willow Tit on the Morgan Hide feeders.

Cheers David Bowman (with Alan Warford, David Spencer and John Ireland)

Nice variety on No.3 this morning. Kieran Foster had an early Ringed Plover on the Morgan Hide scrape before we arrived at 6.30 am. Then a Common Tern and Oystercatcher went through, while the Cuckoo which called sporadically around the bed was probably the bird which arrived yesterday. Over the east bank a Hobby showed well among the 100 or so Swifts and dozens of hirundines, before stooping away over No.2 bed. A systematic count of Black-necked Grebes turned up a minimum of 11 adults (max 13) plus at least two broods, each of two young. We were uncertain whether the adults with two young in the north-east corner were birds'd already counted which had moved. Meanwhile it was nice to see a male Lesser Whitethroat in breeding condition, caught by Kieran and his ringing team.

Cheers David Bowman (with David Spencer, Alan Warford, Helen Allan, George Dunbar and Brian Martin)

2 garden warblers on no.4 bed by the sandpit pond
Osprey, with fish, was being mobbed by a buzzard in front of the John Morgan Hide at 10:40
Cetti's warbler singing by Woolston weir

A visit this morning provided views of 5+ Buzzards, 60+ Gadwall, 2 Little grebes and the highlight of the day was a group of 3 black necked grebes of which one was carrying a chick on its back. No sign of the Osprey this morning.

The Osprey flew in to No3 at 9-15 with a fish, it tried to land in bare tree but was harassed by the Black Headed Gulls and headed off towards No4. Also a Goshawk was seen over No1 earlier.

The Osprey was seen again this evening (3rd day). This time it was perched in a dead silver birch on the north bank of No.3. It did fly off but returned and was still present at 20:00 hrs. 2 Common Terns, 1 Turnstone and 1 Marsh Harrier were also present.