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I woke up early, heard the wind rattling the extractor fan in the bathroom, checked the weather forecast and asked myself if standing on a Wintery windswept beach staring into the distance hoping to see black dots is the most comfortable way I could be using my twilight years. I decided to catch up on my sleep.

I've not been up to Rochdale yet this year. I've not got peregrine falcon or dipper on the year list yet. I decided to head up that way, see if there's been a reappearance of the Town Hall falcons and check out the river for dippers.

On the train I decided to stay on to Littleborough. It wasn't the weather for a visit to Hollingworth Lake but I could get the 458 from the station, get off at Wardle for a quick look at Watergrove Reservoir then catch the 458 into Rochdale. Which is a sound plan, I've done it often before. I didn't do it today. Waiting for the bus I checked the weather forecast, the wind speed numbers offered by the Met Office did not accord with the rattling of the bus shelter. It was so gloomy 91 jackdaws went to roost in the trees by the church. I decided to stay on the bus to Rochdale.

Dozens of jackdaws flew in and gathered in the trees in Hurstead, Wardle and Smallbridge. Black-headed gulls teemed about Rochdale town centre. The weather was set not altogether pleasant. 

River Roch, Rochdale

I checked the river by the bus station, a moorhen had it all to itself. Even the usual gaggle of geese was nowhere to be seen. Walking over to the Town Hall I stopped and checked the river as I went along. A pigeon landed and had a drink before joining the crowds on the treetops.

There was no sign of peregrines on the Town Hall. Not even any droppings on the stonework of the clock tower.

I played bus station bingo and got the 409 to Ashton-under-Lyne. If the weather picked up I could get off at Tandle Hill or I could see if the herons were back on the heronry at Alexandra Park in Oldham. I got the 216 at Ashton Bus Station and went back to Manchester and thence home.

Southport

Pied wagtail

It was an early start. The blackbirds and robins sang a lusty dawn chorus. By the time the early morning errands had been done they'd been succeeded by blue tits, coal tits, house sparrows and woodpigeons. It was a mild grey morning so I got the Liverpool train and an all-areas Saveaway, the plan being to go up to Southport to try and put twite on the year list while I was still awake then drift back calling at wherever and seeing what was what.

Suburban railway stations are an underappreciated birdwatching resource. Waiting for the Ormskirk train at Liverpool South Parkway a mixed tit flock — silent blue tits and long-tailed tits and noisy great tits — bounced through the trees and a carrion crow love triangle played out in the treetops. My year list at my local station currently stands at 24 species.

The highlight of the journey North was the quartet of roe deer grazing in a field just South of Hightown.

Southport Marine Lake 

Arriving in Southport I went straight to the marine lake and had a walk round to see what was about. 

Greylags 

Herring gulls and mute swans

The wind picked up and had an edge to it but it was otherwise pleasant walking. The inland sides of the islands were lined with greylags, Canada geese and coots. The mute swans out on the water were tending to cruise about in pairs but an impressive caravan of them kept passing up and down beneath the Marine Way Bridge. Most of the mallards were loafing on the side by the Promenade, together with a few pairs of gadwalls and yet more coots. The herring gulls outnumbered the black-headed gulls about two to one and I couldn't find any lesser black-backs. I looked in vain for either the smew or the snow goose. The only diving ducks were a pair of tufted ducks bobbing about near the paddle steamer and two female goldeneyes out in the middle of the lake. Dabchicks bobbed up and down in the water with gay abandon. The only white goose was a white farm goose with the mob of swans, greylags, coots and herring gulls on the corner jetty.

Herring gulls 

Gadwall

Tufted ducks 

Jackdaws, magpies and carrion crows idled in the trees on the island. Until they noticed that a sparrowhawk had landed in a tree for a rest. It was quickly seen off the premises.

Blackbirds, song thrushes, greenfinches and chaffinches were busy in the sea buckthorns on the seaward side of the lake. The tide was best part low so I didn't expect much chance of twites in the sailing club compound but it was worth a go. I wasn't surprised to only find a meadow pipits and some oystercatchers. A skein of pink-footed geese flew over and into the salt marsh beyond.

I crossed the road for a look at the salt marsh. Wherever any pink-feet were they were either well in the distance or mid-distance with their heads down, grazing. There were plenty of shelducks about and a drake pintail flew in and landed where the salt marsh meets the beach a couple of hundred yards out from the road. Closer by, skylarks and meadow pipits flitted about the marsh while pied wagtails rummaged about at the base of the sea wall.

I was watching a pair of meadow pipits chasing each other round the marsh when I noticed a flock of finches rise out of the marsh and fly about a bit before settling back down and becoming immediately invisible. I'd seen where they'd gone so it was a simple matter of waiting for them to rise again to move on a bit. I was lucky, I only had to wait a couple of minutes and they were back up. This time I could be sure they were a couple of dozen twites as much by what I wasn't seeing as their snub faces.

The salt marsh North of the pier

Redshanks and black-headed gulls pottered about on the mud around the pier, oystercatchers loafed on the margins of the marsh to the South. It seems strange not to have a snow bunting hereabouts this Winter, I had a look for one anyway, just in case. The only little egret of the day (I seem to be writing that a lot lately) flew in and rummaged about on the marsh with a dozen starlings.

Southport Beach 

I walked down to the Transpennine Trail Gateway and asked myself what I wanted to do next. The day and the wind had caught up with me so I walked down to Lord Street and got the X2 to Liverpool. As the bus waited at the lights to join the Formby Bypass I glanced up at a bird drifting high up in the breeze. As it slowly drifted closer I realised it was a red kite. I should have realised before it got that much closer, nearly anything other than a kite would stall and drop out of the sky flying at that speed. I wonder if it's the same one I saw near Bank Hall last month, or the one that keeps turning up unexpectedly over Marshside.

There was the possibility that after a bit of a breather I could get off and walk over to Lunt Meadows or a visit to Crosby Marine Park. It remained a possibility, I just didn't have the energy. I did somehow rack up 55 species for the day, though.

Wellacre Country Park

Jack Lane Nature Reserve 

It was a bright morning but after a busy week running errands I didn't feel like braving a trip into town for weekend fun with trains. In fact, despite the weather, I was greatly inclined to spend the day in bed. In the end I compromised by having a bacon butty and rather a lot of tea before going for a slow dawdle round Wellacre Country Park.

The moment I stepped over the threshold it clouded over. I had my coat and boots on and had just locked the door so I was committed to the cause so wandered round the corner and got the 256 into Flixton. When I got off the bus robins and woodpigeons were singing in the school yard by the bus stop, which became the constant backing track for the afternoon.

Wellacre Wood 

Wellacre Wood was surprisingly busy of birds. Great tits sang in the undergrowth with the robins. Blue tits bounced about in the trees, goldfinches twittered in the treetops, magpies and parakeets clattered about with the woodpigeons. A dozen redwings in one of the hawthorn bushes on the margins was a nice surprise, the blackbirds flitting about everywhere were more expected. I honestly hadn't expected much this time of year, a useful reminder to keep an open mind as much as eyes and ears.

Carrion crows, magpies and a collared dove fossicked about around the horses in the field by the path, woodpigeons and magpies in the field by Jack Lane. Looking over towards the water treatment works a couple of dozen black-headed gulls fussed about while fifty-odd starlings whooped and whistled from the electricity pylons as they assembled ready to go off to roost.

Jack Lane Nature Reserve 

I was expecting the path through Jack Lane Nature Reserve to be very muddy and was pleasantly surprised to find it was okay. The water in the pools was high and the little drain between the higher and lower pools, which was bone dry most of last year, was an active rush. Unlike the birds. There were magpies, woodpigeons and robins aplenty in the trees around the reedbeds but it was otherwise very quiet until I walked down the lane towards Dutton's Pond and bumped into a mixed tit flock in the trees on the embankment. I'd given up on hearing or seeing any reedbed birds at all until a moorhen piped up at the corner of the reserve.

Mallards, Dutton's Pond 

A dozen mallards drifted about Dutton's Pond with a couple of coots. A couple of chaffinches flitted about in the willows and a song thrush sang from the big trees over the way. It had been threatening to rain and the intermittent spitting turned into a proper shower that lasted all of ten seconds then pretended it never happened. A pair of squirrels took this as a cue to chase each other noisily about the tree tops. Like you do.

Dutton's Pond 

Feeling lazy I didn't walk up to the top of Green Hill, limiting myself to trying to keep tabs of the runners and riders in the tit flocks in the trees at the base. In the end I concluded it was about a dozen each of blue tits and great tits and that the small flock of chaffinches were passersby. Another song thrush sang with the robins and woodpigeons and a carrion crow was doing its operatic best from the top of one of the alders.

Green Hill 

The Mersey was still high and there were no waterbirds about. Yet another song thrush sang from the waterside while woodpigeons clattered about in the trees. I looked at the interesting colour of the clouds blowing in and headed to the bus stop for the 255 back into Stretford. It had been a quiet afternoon ramble about with hints of an early Spring.

Bluebells, Wellacre 

New Moss Wood

Blue tit

No two days are the same lately. Today was cool and grey and the wind had a cutting edge. Still a bit weary after yesterday's efforts I belayed the ambitious plans for today and had a gentle toddle round New Moss Wood.

I got the train to Irlam and walked past the allotments to Moss Road. Despite the weather robins, starlings and goldfinches were singing in the gardens and rooftops. The path through the allotment was busy with blackbirds and a song thrush sang from the railway embankment.

There was a short detour as I had a nosy down the old access road for the junction with the abandoned Wigan to Stockport line. The hedgerows were busy with great tits, chaffinches and robins. The Rowson Drive playing field was busy with black-headed gulls and magpies.

I returned to Moss Road and walked up to New Moss Wood. Robins and woodpigeons sang in the trees of the gardens I passed and every bush seemed to have a singing goldfinch and a mob of house sparrows.

Going into New Moss Wood 

New Moss Wood 

The wood, in contrast, was fairly quiet. There were plenty of birds but not many of them were singing. Wrens, robins and great tits expressed their objections to my passing by. Dunnocks watched me from log piles. Jays and pheasants silently glided across rides and disappeared into the trees. Even the magpies and woodpigeons went about their business quietly.

A lot of thinning out

The Woodland Trust has been doing a lot of thinning out of the trees. By the looks of it there was some significant help and/or hinderance by Winter storms. It was particularly noticeable in the centre of the wood where the transition from the trees to the open rides felt less abrupt. It'll be interesting to see how or if it makes a difference to the Summer migrant birds.

The central ride

I played leapfrog down the central ride with a mixed flock of about a dozen each of blue tits and great tits. Although they were acting as a flock they were moving about through the trees in pairs. Great tits en masse demonstrate a wide range of vocalisations — if you ever hear an unfamiliar small bird sound in woodland the odds are it'll be a great tit. One of these had a classic metallic hammer on anvil call. Another had evidently heard an oystercatcher some time. Yet another sounded like somebody tapping a brass plate with a pencil. There was also a varied selection of squeaks, chips and churrs.

The dragonfly pools looked cold and dark

New Moss Wood 

A song thrush was singing in a willow by the car park as I emerged into Moss Road. More blue tits and goldfinches bounced through the bushes and a flock of chaffinches flew out of the wood and over to the poplars on Astley Road.

Moss Road looking over to Astley Road

As I walked back past the allotments the hedgerows were busy with blackbirds and song thrushes though I couldn't see much in the way of berries that might be attracting crowds. A couple of greenfinches joined the songscape. I was glad to get on the bus and out of the wind.

Martin Mere

Black-tailed godwit

A cold and frosty night turned into a bright, sunny and mild day. The morning's errands completed I got the train to New Lane and headed for Martin Mere.

Pink-footed geese 

It was just after noon when I got off the train at New Lane. I was greeted with the sight of fifty-odd pink-footed geese in a line across the field by the station. I made sure to check they were all pink-footed geese. The only little egret I saw all day sat in the corner of the field behind them.

I worried a bit about disturbing the geese as I walked down the path by the line but I was behind the hedgerow, the birds knew I was there and they'd have seen enough people walking their dogs for me to be okay so long as I kept walking. Sure enough, half the geese were on alert and kept an eye on me until I was well past their field but they all stayed put. Even when another couple of dozen geese flew in but didn't settle and flew off towards Martin Mere.

Walking by the railway

The mild and sunny day had brought out the songbirds. Woodpigeons, wrens, robins and goldfinches sang in the trees and bushes and there was a loud chattering of house sparrows and great tits in the hedgerows. Pied wagtails skittered about the wet fields, there were considerably more of them with the scores of starlings on the filtration pans in the water treatment works. Judging by the clouds of midges I was walking through there would have been good pickings for them. They were joined by a meadow pipit and a small flock of linnets flew over and settled on the ground nearby.

Pied wagtail 

Robins and stonechats fussed about in the brambles by the railway crossing and a charm of goldfinches was fossicking about in the dried grasses and burdocks. A kestrel hovered over the other end of the field. 

The Harrier Hide can be seen in the distance

I walked down to where the collapsed shed had been — I've lost a landmark now it's been tidied away — and had a look over the field beyond. The longhorn cattle were grazing but there was no sign of the cattle egrets I'd been hoping to see. A few crows, yes, but no egrets. Something moved in the corner of my eye so I turned and saw a pair of mallards swim away down the drain. Behind them something blue caught my eye. It was a kingfisher, lurking deep in the reeds. I turned back for another look for egrets. The pair of marsh harriers that had been frolicking in the long grass might have been the reason they weren't there.

Looking over to the railway

As I joined the path around the reedbed boundary I had another look back at the cattle, just in case. Crows. Magpies. A funny-looking crow on a fencepost… The penny was a long time dropping. I've been here, done this, got the t-shirt already. The glossy ibis was back for a return engagement.

The reedbed walk 

The walking was good to soft. Every so often the marshy pools in the wayside would overwhelm the path but they were shallow enough not to go over my boots. The hedgerows were quietly busy with blackbirds, robins and great tits. A family of long-tailed tits were nearly invisible in the depths of some hawthorns. Woodpigeons and magpies clattered about, jackdaws and black-headed gulls made a row as they passed overhead. The little path to the corner of the water treatment works has been fenced off for some reason. I only caught a short look at the chiffchaff I'd been hearing as I was approaching.

Oak apples

A pair of great spotted woodpeckers decided to play court in the tree just above my head just at the moment I was gripping the wire fence to the reserve's bird collections as I negotiated that particularly deep and tricky puddle on the path to the road. 

A party of tree fellers were chopping down the trees at the roadside and there was more felling work being done in the reserve.

The waterfowl were already gathering for a feed

Pochard

I headed straight to the Discovery Hide where, even though the swan feeding wasn't due for an hour yet the waterfowl were all assembling at this corner. There were plenty of whooper swans and greylags amongst the scores of mallards and wigeons and dozens of pintails, pochards, shelducks, tufted ducks and coots. It took me a while to find the ring-necked duck, then I glanced down to get my camera, looked back up, and not only couldn't I find the ring-necked duck again, I couldn't find the six tufted ducks I was using as a reference point for finding it. 

Whoopers, mallards, wigeons, pochards and pintails
This time of year, when I'm staring into the sun at the Discovery Hide, I miss the old Swan Link Hide which faced Northwest.

Cormorants dried their wings on distant islands, black-headed gulls made a racket, a great black-back cruised about on the water. That might have been why the lapwings were being so skittish. Every so often they'd have a panic, spook the starlings, black-tailed godwits and ruffs feeding on the far bank, wheel about a couple of times then settle back where they were. Something had been going on earlier because there was a corpse of a something that a lesser black-back and a couple of carrion crows were jostling over in the far corner. Behind them another crow was picking a fight with a great white egret over something in a drain.

Whooper cygnet starting to show adult colouring

During one of the lapwing panics a dozen black-tailed godwits peeled off the flock and settled down in front of the hide. They spent more time quarrelling with each other than feeding.

Mallard and black-tailed godwit

Pintail

Black-tailed godwits 

Whoopers and mallards

Whoopers and mallards

Pintails, mallards and wigeons

It was a pleasant walk down to the Rob Barker Hide though a bit quiet of birds. A few chaffinches and great tits tried to squeeze past the woodpigeons monopolising the bird feeders by the snowdrops. Great tits, robins and blue tits fidgeted about in the trees. More jackdaws and black-headed gulls flew overhead. The feeders in the hedgerows just before the Ron Barker Hide were busy with greenfinches and chaffinches.

Snowdrops

From the Ron Barker Hide 

The Ron Barker Hide was very busy, it wasn't just me taking advantage of the sun, so I didn't stay long. A gaggle of greylags grazed the bank in front of the hide, Canada geese grazed by the pool to the right. I had distant views of three female-type marsh harriers and a buzzard sat on a distant fencepost before I left. It wasn't really the crowded hide that made me leave, I needed to go and sit on a bench and stretch my leg, the knee was feeling the effects of negotiating that deep puddle. It's not something you can really do in a busy hide.

Greylags

Walking back past the snowdrops 

On the walk back it occured to me that I was exhausted. I'm not doing enough walking lately and my stamina's not what it should be. I decided to call it quits and walk over to Burscough Bridge for the train home. I hadn't added cattle egrets to the year list but had added whooper swan, glossy ibis and ring-necked duck.

Martin Mere, by the visitor centre 

As I crossed the road from Martin Mere the tree fellers were still at work but had moved along a hundred yards or so. A small flock of black-headed gulls were feeding on the ground that had been disturbed. And also a cattle egret. I laughed out loud, which understandably disturbed the egret and it flew over to join the sheep further up the field.

Along Tarlscough Lane

I was treated to some glorious skies as I walked to Burscough Bridge. Ahead of me in the distance Winter Hill was a medley of pinks and greys, the fields by the roadside were emerald greens and golds. A covey of partridges bustling about in one of the paddocks were unidentifiable silhouettes until one flew up onto the lower rail of the fence and the setting sun caught the orange of its tail and told me they were grey partridges.

Along Red Cat Lane 

Just as you get into town there's a fallow field surrounded by hawthorn hedges. The cattle egrets  I hadn't been seeing at Martin Mere were on there.

Cattle egrets

I checked the day's tally on the train home. It came to 71 species. I didn't feel so bad about feeling so tired.

Red Cat Lane