Third-quarter review

Goldfinches, Marshside

A warm but windy June gave way to the driest July on record, an extended coo what a scorcher! with pulses of additional heatwaves extending into August, which at least managed a few nights of rain. The landscapes, the wildlife, and certainly this birdwatcher, felt the effects. 

Rixton

The lush greens of June were replaced by parched straw browns in July, a False Autumn in August then a cold, wet Bank Holiday weekend stretched into a cold, wet September and suddenly there was a lot of green about. Then the month closed with a succession of cold mornings and warm afternoons just to make sure we were inappropriately dressed at least twice before teatime.

Stonechat, Chat Moss

Even by traditional standards the dog days were excessively quiet. The advice not to feed the birds over Summer to try and control a couple of epidemic diseases meant that there wasn't the usual crowd in the back garden to tide things over. Elsewhere a lot of Summer visitors looked to have packed up their suitcases early, I made heavy weather of July and August, spending too much of my time hiding from the heat.

Despite that, I had a bumper Summer for butterflies and dragonflies, adding lifers of both to my lists. If I were rather a lot better at identifying Noctuid moths I dare say I'd have added some new ones of them to the tally I don't maintain properly. Bats kept a low profile, and hedgehogs one even lower though my excuse for that is they're not queueing at the front door waiting for me to feed the late cat.

Sand martin, Irlam Locks

Gannets, Bempton Cliffs

Ruff, Marshside

Marsh harrier, Leighton Moss

Woodpigeon punch-up, Chorlton Ees

Despite the weather, and myself, both the year list and the life list ticked over. I added the white-rumped sandpiper at Meols to the life list after years of dipping on this species along the same stretch of mud. An obliging nightjar sat on a branch in a clearing in Kenworthy Wood. And just yesterday I saw my first pallid harrier on Crossens Marsh only just over a year after seeing my first Montague's harrier in the same place.

Nightjar, Kenworthy Wood 

The year list to date is 207, my life list 395, and British list 316.  And I got around a bit. Annual totals to date for BTO recording areas:

• Caernarvonshire 47 species
• Cheshire & Wirral 135
• Cumbria 73
• Denbighshire 34
• Derbyshire 55
• Flintshire 31
• Greater Manchester 128
• Lancashire & North Merseyside 152
• Staffordshire 28
• Yorkshire 91

I'd have got about a bit more had the trains managed to get over the Welsh border the day I tried to get over to Llandudno.

The parakeets flying over the garden have lost their power to surprise. Glossy ibises on the sewage works by Barton Bridge managed to astonish.

Juvenile robin, Clifton Country Park

Grey wagtail, High Rid Reservoir

Little stint, Meols

A third bite of the cherry

Marshside Outer Marsh 

It was a bright, sunny morning and that pallid harrier was taunting me. I headed for Southport for another go.

I got the 44 and got off at Elswick Road. There were more pink-feet on the marshes either side of Marshside Road, plenty of Canada geese and greylags and about a dozen curlews. Something brought up the lapwings on the marsh opposite Sandgrounders, it turned out to be a juvenile great black-back. As I approached the junction a sparrowhawk flying less than a foot above the marsh scared up a flock of goldfinches and linnets. At the corner a robin and a Cetti's warbler told me to get on my way.

Marshside Outer Marsh from the sand plant

Crossing the road I joined the crowd at the sand plant and scanned over the marsh. At first sight it looked empty but I soon spotted meadow pipits and skylarks flitting about. Out on the estuary shelducks flew upstream and a few dozen small waders, either dunlins or knots but far too distant for me to tell which, wheeled around before settling down out of sight beyond the marsh.

Today's reports said that the harrier was showing best from McCarthy's so I started that way. Way over towards Crossens River a buzzard was wheeling high over the marsh, much closer to hand a male kestrel hovered not much over head height over the marsh. I spotted two very distant female-type marsh harriers floating over the marsh in opposite directions.

I was halfway to McCarthy's when I noticed a raptor heading this way, flying fast and direct and skimming over the tall grass. From first sight in was a harrier of some kind and the way it was flying pretty much eliminated marsh harrier. It quickly became apparent it was a ring-tail harrier and the bright ginger underparts wasn't a good fit for a hen harrier. It was now flying parallel to me, I was getting a good side-on look at the bird a couple of hundred yards away. What had first impressed me most was the paleness of the head, which was misleading because now I was getting a better look the head itself wasn't excessively pale, I had been registering the pale collar made to look all the paler by the dark gingery brown top of the shoulders. I had me the pallid harrier.

I think I got about half a minute's view before the bird shot off beyond the sand plant out of view. It had been too far out for me to get a photo with my kit but I would hope someone in the group by the sand plant had some luck with it. I was happy enough, I'd seen the bird and could recognise what had been needed for the identification. And a nice bird it had been, too. Last year I'd seen my first Montagu's harrier here, this year a pallid harrier. I suppose it would be being cheeky to hope for a Northern harrier next year.

Shovelers and gadwalls

I bobbed over to Sandgrounders for a quick nosy. It was pretty much as per the other day but half a dozen redshanks had joined the black-tailed godwits at the hide and a rather gingery looking wader with the lapwings turned out to be a juvenile ruff.

Little egrets, mallards and wigeons

Dewberry flowers, still game

It was blowing for rain as I stepped out of Sandgrounders. I took the hint. I got to the bus stop and just had time to see if the bus was coming and there it was in front of me. I sat on the train home watching the pouring rain.

Martin Mere

Lapwings and pintails 

It was a greyer, cooler morning as I set out for Martin Mere. I got the train to Burscough Bridge and walked down Red Cat Lane, rooks and jackdaws fussing in the trees at the station and the fields by the road. I suspect the activity in the rookery is the older birds putting their beach towels on their deckchairs.

By Red Cat Lane 

It was a fairly quiet walk otherwise. Woodpigeons and black-headed gulls flew to and fro. A skein of about forty pink-footed geese called as they flew overhead. House sparrows, starlings, goldfinches and collared doves fussed about farmsteads. It felt like the shuffling around in the wings between acts.

Pintail
A drake in eclipse plumage 

Arriving at Martin Mere I headed straight for the Discovery Hide as usual for a look over the mere. This, too, had a between times feel to it, very busy with birds but out on the water almost entirely shovelers and mallards. Handfuls of wigeons grazed the banks and not many more pintails dozed on islands or generally pottered about. All the drake pintails were in eclipse plumage, most the drake wigeons were starting to moult out of it, the shovelers had almost completed their moult and the only drake mallards that hadn't were immature birds playing catch-up. 

Lapwings and pintails 

A couple of hundred lapwings were being very skittish, possibly because maintenance work was going on over by the far bank. For the same reason the Canada geese, pink-footed geese and coots were all grazing in one corner. Four swallows called in and quickly moved on.

Lapwings, lesser black-back and mallards

I moved on to the Mere View Hide where the views were splendid but the birdlife underwhelming. A Cetti's warbler singing in the brambles in front of the hide was a consolation prize.

From the Mere View Hide 

The pools at the Ron Barker Hide were a stark contrast. On the left there was literally nothing on the pool, the pool on the right was heaving with teals and shovelers, and a great white egret stalked the drain in between. Way over to the right a couple of whooper swans grazed with some Canada geese. A couple of little egrets flew past. After yesterday's raptor bonanza just seeing the one marsh harrier was a bit of a letdown.

From the Ron Barker Hide 

As I walked back a couple of loosely-connected mix tit flocks fidgeted their way through the trees and hedges. One included a goldcrest having some singing practice. Jackdaws, black-headed gulls and woodpigeons passed overhead. Every so often a small skein of pink-feet would pass by. A couple of robins sang in the undergrowth.

Coots, Canada goose and pink-footed goose 

I had another look at the mere from the screens by the path. All the birds had moved to this side of the pool now, there was work being done with machinery over at the end by the Hale Hide.

From the Harrier Hide 
Mute swans, teals, mallards and gadwalls but you'll have to take my word for it.

I had a sense of having just missed something at the Harrier Hide. All the ducks — teals, mallards, gadwalls and shovelers, were sheltering by the banks under trees and tree roots with a couple of mute swans and some coots. The only birds out on the open water were four dabchicks and a couple of coots.

Female common darter 

After a cool lunchtime the afternoon had warmed up significantly. As I walked back migrant hawkers patrolled the hedgerows; large whites, red admirals and speckled woods fluttered about the wayside and common darters sunned themselves on notice boards along the path.

Male common darter

I walked round to New Lane for the train back to Manchester. It was a very quiet walk, save for the traffic on Marsh Moss Road. A stoat very sensibly waited for a quiet patch before crossing the road.

Crossens and Marshside (again)

Black-tailed godwits and Canada geese, Marshside 

It seems to be a month for having two bites of each cherry. The plan for today was to go for a wander round Martin Mere but a juvenile pallid harrier turned up at Marshside yesterday afternoon and was still around on Crossens Marsh first thing so I headed thataway.

That white domestic goose amongst the Canada geese had my whiskers twitching for a moment

I got the 44 to Crossens and walked down Marine Drive. There weren't as many teal and wigeon on the river as last week but there were significantly more Canada geese and pink-footed geese out on the outer marsh. Ahead of me, stretching round the curve of the road, I could see small knots of birdwatchers scanning the marsh. Which is precisely what I started to do.

Crossens Marsh, by the River Crossens 

The first of many birds of prey I'd be seeing here today was a kestrel hovering over the river bank. About ten minutes later a buzzard floated over the marsh and was ignored by everything except a passing black-headed gull that had one on it. Approaching the curve to the road I started checking out the fenceposts stretching out into the marsh, just in case I was going to be very lucky, but only found a woodpigeon.

Beyond the curve the marsh is ungrazed and is the haunt of skylarks and meadow pipits. Every so often one or other might fly up to move on to a fresh patch of marsh. But then I started to see explosions of larks and pipits erupting from the distant marsh near the river. Something was putting them up but i wasn't seeing anything. One panicky eruption of small birds might be due to a stoat or a mink. A chain of eruptions like this suggested a bird of prey flying very low. My guess was that there was a merlin about but i wasnt seeing it.

Crossens Outer Marsh 

A female-type marsh harrier rose from the distant long grass a bit further along,  putting the scares into some shelducks as well as the larks and pipits. A movement even further out turned out to be a kestrel. That flew inland and on towards the sand plant. I panned back round whence it came and spotted a male marsh harrier flying in and out of the marsh a few hundred yards out.

I'd been slowly making my way along the road for the best part of an hour. The plan had been to stop at McCarthy's watchpoint and linger there but I'd been so busy looking out at the marsh I'd walked straight past it. Small parties of pink-feet, a few family parties but mostly a couple of dozen at a time, flew to and fro. A kerfuffle over on Marshside led to a lot of lapwings and starlings flying over and onto the estuary. There was another wader with the lapwings and I took far too long to realise it was a bar-tailed godwit. Barwits tend not to come inland as much as the black-tailed godwits and they certainly don't congregate in their hundreds like the black-tailed godwits do here.

There was another chain of eruptions of panicked small birds way out on the marsh, this time heading left to right. I caught a glimpse of the culprit, a harrier skimming across the grass, disappearing behind bumps and rises. I immediately concluded it wasn't a marsh harrier by the long, thin shape of the wings then I got a better look at it and saw that it was a ringtail harrier of some kind. In the ordinary course of events I'd have immediately said hen harrier and been very pleased to see it. But there was the possibility it might be the juvenile pallid harrier. All the reading up I did last night highlighted the identication features on the head and neck and the underwings and all I was seeing was tail end on. So it's recorded as "unidentified ringtail harrier."

I carried on walking round, finding a merlin sitting on a post in the mid-distance and getting excited a couple of times by distant kestrels, my sense of scale goes to pot at more than quarter of a mile away. Another female-type marsh harrier put the wind up a distant flock of skylarks and they flew inland onto Marshside. I gave it another hour and packed it in. A tally of three marsh harriers, a buzzard, a merlin, at least three kestrels and a ringtail harrier is a pretty good bag even if i did dip on the pallid harrier. Which made a few more appearances later in the day after I'd gone.

Merlin

I crossed over and tiptoed my way past wall browns and small coppers to Sandgrounders. Some of the small coppers were very small indeed. Blue tits and a Cetti's warbler told me to move on as I passed their bramble patches.

Little egrets, wigeons and black-tailed godwits 

I'd been struck by a lack of little egrets on Marshside last week. There was an embarrassment of them today. There were also appreciably more wigeons on the pools and it looked like twice as many black-tailed godwits on Polly's Pool as there were last week.

Black-tailed godwits 

The godwits and teals on the pool by Sandgrounders were busy feeding. The wigeons, mallards, gadwalls and shovelers dozed in the sunshine.

Wigeons

I walked round and down Marshside Road and had less than a minute to wait for the bus back into Southport. For all that I'd dipped on the pallid harrier I couldn't say it had been a disappointing birdwatching visit.

Mersey Valley

Goosander, Northenden

I didn't feel like doing a right lot today, I'd slept badly and the joints were objecting to the colder nights and mornings and my doing the fortnightly big shop in the rain yesterday. It was far too nice an Autumn day to waste, though, so I went over to the Trafford Centre, played bus station bingo and found myself heading back through Stretford on the 23 bus. 

The options were: getting off in Chorlton and having a walk through Ivy Green and Chorlton Ees, getting off at Southern Cemetery and walking down to Chorlton Water Park, getting off in Didsbury for a walk along the river or staying on to Stockport and moving on to someplace else. I didn't want a long bus ride and I just wanted a gentle toddle so I decided I'd get off in Didsbury and walk back down the river to Chorlton Water Park and get the bus home. So I walked down through Chorlton Water Park, on to Jackson's Boat, through Chorlton Ees and Ivy Green and back to Stretford. Which got me a bit of exercise and an evening full of "Told you so" from my knees.

River Mersey, Didsbury 

I got off the bus at Winster Avenue and walked down Darley Avenue to the river. It was bright and sunny, woodpigeons and magpies clattered about, robins sang, great tits chunnered and ring-necked parakeets screeched in treetops.

Goosander
This time of year duck pictures are as much about the water.

Groups of mallards, mostly drakes, loitered under the banks of the river. As the crow flies it's about a quarter of a mile from my starting point to Princess Parkway, the meanders of the river easily triple that. And it turned out that every quarter of a mile along this stretch I would bump into a redhead merganser. The youngsters are kicking out on their own now.

Mallard

River Mersey 

A couple of cormorants flew upstream. Carrion crows and magpies fossicked about on the golf course across the river and more parakeets tried to put the players off with their screeching.

Goosander about to dive

Just by Princess Parkway I saw a small duck by the bank with a goosander. I expected it to be a young mandarin, there are a couple of pairs on this stretch of the river, I was a bit surprised to find a teal here. 

Teal

I passed under the parkway and followed the river meanders to Chorlton Water Park. Chiffchaffs and great tits squeaked in the hedgerows either side of the river. Carrion crows, magpies and parakeets called from Kenworthy Woods. A couple more cormorants flew upstream and one settled to fish for a few minutes before moving on. I checked out the shoals for grey wagtails and eventually found a juvenile rummaging about between two rocks. A lone house martin flying downstream came as a surprise.

River Mersey
Kenworthy Woods on the left.

Inevitably, Chorlton Water Park was busy. Which was great news for the mute swans, coots, pigeons and black-headed gulls. The mallards were a bit preoccupied. Mixed tit flocks bounced throughthe bushes, robins and wrens ticked in the undergrowth. Most of the noise was coming from juvenile great crested grebes while their parents ostentatiously ignored their begging. The rest of the noise was provided by parakeets.

Gadwalls

Gadwalls were paired up, the tufted ducks were still keeping to their rafts. I'm never sure whether tufted ducks actually do start getting the fires of the blood later in the year than the dabbling ducks or they're just more sneaky about it. A jay flew overhead towards the river, its throat pouch distended with acorns. Jays account for a lot of the sudden bursts of woodland in unsupervised areas, they have a tendency to forget where they cached a lot of their acorns.

Tufted ducks 

Barlow Tip 

It's been a while since I last visited Barlow Tip so I thought I should show my face there. And ended up walking from one corner to another then down the length of the fence by the golf course and the ground was still plenty dry enough to get away with it. Mixed tit flocks quietly drifted through the trees, robins and wrens sang, blackbirds silently fossicked about in the leaf litter, woodpigeons and magpies clattered about in the trees, and parakeets will be parakeets. 

Barlow Tip
Yes, that is the path.

I was negotiating a tricky point in the path by the golf course — the ground suddenly rises and falls while the path takes a sharp turn with a tree in the way — when I came across a drift of Autumn crocuses. They aren't native flowers, they originate from Türkiye and the Caucasus, but they're still lovely and they provide a bit of nectar for the bees.

Autumn crocus

The walk down the stretch of the river to Jackson's Boat was surprisingly duckless, a moorhen was the only bird on the water. The wasps and bees were busy along the banks. A charm of goldfinches twittered in the tops of the larch trees by the golf course, making a start on the first of the ripening cones. I expect next time I come this way I'll be looking for siskins and redpolls.

Jackson's Boat 

The walk from Jackson's Boat through Hardy Farm, Chorlton Ees and Ivy Green was a very pleasant meander through dappled woodland. There were more mixed tit flocks, more robins, wrens, woodpigeons and magpies and a constant backing track of parakeets. I finished what had been intended as an hour's gentle toddle about by walking into Stretford for the bus home.