This morning's highlights included:

4251 Woodpigeons moved through SE in 85 flocks from first light up to 8:30am when passage seems to all but cease with only small numbers (uncounted) moving after that.

2 Raven flew south together very early morning. 

Around 08:30, a fantastic flock of 210 Snipe 'appeared' in the sky above Ramsdales, presumably having been flushed from their roost around there and the spit. The flock split into smaller flocks which circled high above Ramsdales and the ruck for some time before at least most of them seemed to drop back in. A look at the spit shortly after revealed around a hundred birds crammed into the end of the spit (phonescoped record shots of part of the flock attached!).

2 adult Great Black-backed Gulls resting around the flash.

25 Goldcrests spread mainly in tit flocks on and around Ramsdales Ruck alone.

The resident Oystercatcher remains...resident.

Fairly quick visit this morning:

37 Shoveler

1 Little Egret at the western end, flew in from the north, perhaps from Bickershaw

c32 Pink-footed Geese over SE

Woodpigeons moving over SE in relatively small numbers but uncounted 

4 Skylark and 8 Meadow Pipit on Ramsdales Ruck

Late afternoon/early evening at the gull roost:

2 adult Yellow-legged Gulls (including the recent bird also seen by Phil Rhodes last night)

358 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

449 Herring Gulls

6 Kingfishers, with four in Ramsdales and two around the Sorrow Cow shore

Cetti's Warbler singing from bushes around Sorrow Cow shore

This morning’s highlights from first light to 09:30 only:

97 Redwings through SW in several small flocks and two singles 

449 Woodpigeons though SE

2 Yellowhammers together over Ramsdales Ruck at 08:55, at least one of which was an adult male

2 Little Egrets

48 Snipe on the spit (disturbed at one point which allowed counting!)

47 Cormorants flew in from the west in smaller flocks but some carried on through east

1 Chiffchaff on Ramsdales Ruck

33 Song Thrushes on and around Ramsdales Ruck, including a couple of birds dropping in from the NE

From first light this morning:

1753 Woodpigeons SE in 37 flocks, with virtually no movement to the east of the flash and all birds coming in from the NW over the flash or just to the west of it, with passage slowing to an almost full stop by 8am.

1 Little Egret on the sailing club shore

3 Kingfishers in Ramsdales

Plenty of Snipe along the spit but typically extremely well hidden

3 Greylag Geese over with two east and one west

1 Raven NW just after first light

This morning:

1 Linnet SE 

18 Goldfinch S in a single flock

178 Tufted Duck

1 adult Great Black-backed Gull

27 Cormorants

Preparation for more filming today by Sorrow Cow Farm continues with more boats, cameras, divers and people everywhere (now having to park in the sailing club car park too). Must be an epic production…

This evening the adult Yellow-legged Gull roosted again and 33 Snipe were present.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

A ringtail harrier flew low SSW this late afternoon but was too brief for an identification and an adult Yellow-legged Gull roosted.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

This morning's highlights from first light:

2857 Meadow Pipits south from c7:30 to 10am, the bulk of what was a pretty impressive passage for here came between 08:15 to 08:50 with some decent sized flocks. This number was clearly only the tip of a much larger iceberg as counting at this location is very challenging and I knew I was missing loads!

228 Swallows S

2 House Martins S

16 Chaffinch S in singles other than two together at one point

9 Skylarks over with most south but three north!

13 Snipe dropping into Ramsdales from very high out of the NE sky, mainly in small numbers (ones or twos) but four together was the largest flock

46 Song Thrushes, with 32 down on and around Ramsdales Ruck (mainly from shorelines bushes) but a surprising 11 dropping in from high in the sky from the N/NE as singles other than a flock of four together and a further three singles flying straight through south. Their 'zit' calls seemed to be everywhere at one point and many of the birds dropping out of the sky did so around 08:30 as a very dark and brooding looking cloud front moved in (but swiftly disappeared again).

9 Greylag Geese, with five together over west (seen flying in from very distantly over Leigh) and four flying in from the west, doing a big U-turn and flying back off west again.

10 Linnet (decent here), with two flocks of five flying over south

171 Tufted Duck

1 Common Sandpiper still on the sailing club shore

5 Kingfishers around the shore of Ramsdales Ruck from the very western end to Ramsdales itself

23 Shoveler

1 male Cetti's warbler still holding (new) territory along the shore of the ruck

This morning, 8:15 - 10:30;

Common sandpiper still at the boat club (day 15)

Single redpoll on the ruck

74 pink-footed geese over in 2 flocks, 39 west, 35 east

4 buzzards over the ruck

10 snipe in Ramsdales, at least 2 on the spit

Teatime wander 17:05 - 18:40

Highlights:

• 14 snipe on the spit at the Horrocks Hide (I was dead jammy: they took flight, wheeled round and landed as I sat down in the hide). Also a singing Cetti's warbler here.
• Sixty-odd lapwings flying out to roost.
• The gull roost included an adult great black-back and a 2CY Mediterranean gull.
• I had no luck finding the Egyptian goose when I scoured the banks by the car park on the way in. On the way out there it was, cruising about with the Muscovy ducks.
• It's always good to see the car park oystercatcher.

Just out of curiosity: is everyone else finding this a bumper Autumn for crowds of gadwall and shoveler in the region?

Also today, a black-headed gull on the car park wearing a metal ring on it's left leg ST170852. This bird was ringed at Sipoo, Finland on 23/06/2020 which is approximately 1130 miles from the Flash. I first saw it at the flash on 02/11/2022 but despite looking through the gulls on the car park almost daily ever since, this is only my second sighting.

Groundhog day at the flash (again);

Common sandpiper still at the boat club

Egyptian goose off the car park

19 snipe on the spit

4 swallows heading south

300+ lapwing on the spit

130+ tufted ducks including bird with nasal saddle CH1

This morning, 

Common sandpiper still at the boat club

26 pink-footed geese over East

Grey wagtail

10 snipe. Horrock's hide still closed when I left so couldn't do a proper count.

Egyptian goose still off the car park

Also, 9 Snipe this morning.

Info thanks to Barry Hulme

Early afternoon today:

Common Sandpiper still on the sailing club shore

183 Tufted Ducks

314 Lapwing (290 on the spit, the remainder on the sailing club shore)

43 Cormorants

46 Great Crested Grebes

Egyptian Goose still on the shore by the car park

Juvenile Cetti’s Warbler in poor song by The Point at Ramsdales Ruck

3 House Martins (together)

A good early morning at the flash,

Juvenile arctic tern on the end of the spit and later flying around the flash. 

Hobby 1 shot through East

Common sandpiper 1 still on the boat club shore

Snipe at least 25 on the spit

Egyptian goose off the car park

This evening an adult Yellow-legged Gull roosted, 3 juvenile Common Terns were around at 6:40pm then flew off. Water Rail and 17 Snipe in Ramsdales.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

This morning, 6:45 - 7:45 from the boat club,

1 common sandpiper 

1 Egyptian goose

200+ lapwing on the spit

2 snipe

130+ tufted ducks

Also this morning, 36 pink-footed geese flew west at 10:07am and little egret in front of Horrock's hide.

I was surprised to find that todays common sandpiper was not only my latest ever at the flash, but it's only the second that I have ever seen in September at the site!

Second winter Mediterranean Gull present around 6pm

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

Beautiful morning from first light to 9am on and around Ramsdales Ruck with the following highlights:

844 Pink-footed Geese E or SE between 07:30 and 08:20, following the usual two lines of movement seen from here with 399 birds from the Mersey area heading due east in 10 skiens south of the flash (some well south) and 445 birds from the Ribble area moving north of the flash in 5 skiens. 

2 Greylag Geese together low east

Good pipit movement with 374 Meadow Pipits over south in small flocks through the morning

3 individual Tree Pipits south though all of them were within two minutes of each other!

7 Skylarks over south in three flocks

11 Chaffinches over south in 5 flocks

19 Goldfinches over in two flocks, the largest was 16 strong

2 Little Egrets in Ramsdales Scrape

28 Snipe, some along the spit but mainly around the mini spit feeding out on the open but very flighty

Egyptian Goose at the sailing club

7 Chiffchaffs

5 Coal Tits 

12 Swallows 

This morning, 8am - 10am;

Egyptian goose 1 on the end of the spit then swam past Horrock's towards the car park. It's unringed for what it's worth. For at least the past five years a pair of Egyptian geese have spent a month or two at the flash over the summer and in 2021 they had a juvenile with them. However this is the first record that I have from the flash this year, just as I was beginning to think that this was going to be the first blank year for a while.

Snipe 2

Little egret 1 in Ramsdales

Note: In the unlikely event that anybody actually wants to "twitch" the Egyptian goose, please be aware that the main car park is now closed until next Monday 18th.

This morning's highlights from first light:

Single Siskin over west

106 Tufted Ducks

8+ Snipe feeding on the mini-spit

2 Greylag Geese

2 Wigeon

36 Swallows feeding over fields around Sorrowcow Farm

15 Chiffchaffs and 12 Goldcrests around Ramsdales Ruck (mainly mixed in with the large Long-tailed Tit flocks)

1 Nuthatch at the very western end