Marshside and Crossens

Marshside
One of those days when the sky's a painted backdrop

Keen to take advantage of the cool, wet weather and get away from the news of the day I went for an afternoon wander round Marshside and Crossens.

Aside from a couple of dozen low flying house martins the approach along Marshside Road was very quiet, picking up only near the end with ten mallard and a heron. Junction Pool was even quieter but that may be because there's been work going on recently to improve the ditches here.

Junction Pool, as quiet as I've ever seen it

Things changed dramatically at the Sandgrounders Hide. A flock of black-tailed godwits were busy feeding in the company of a few teal. Tucked away in a far corner were a couple of snipe and a curlew sandpiper. While I was trying — and failing — to identify a couple of small brown birds that were being chased by a pied wagtail a very bright female wheatear flitted across my eye line. Just as I was about to leave a common sandpiper flew in.

Black-tailed godwits, Marshside

Black-tailed godwit, Marshside

Black-tailed godwit, Marshside

Black-tailed godwits, teal, a curlew sandpiper and a snipe, Marshside

Black-tailed godwits, teal, and a curlew sandpiper, Marshside

A ruddy shelduck could just be seen from the hide. It obligingly swam close by as I was walking down the path towards Crossens.

Ruddy shelduck, Marshside

Ruddy shelduck, Marshside

Crossens Inner Marsh was very quiet, a combination of the time of year and work being done on the ditches now that this area's been added to the nature reserve.

Information board for Crossens Inner Marsh

Thirty or so curlew feeding amongst the greylag geese gave a hint of the Autumn to come.

Crossens Outer Marsh was similarly quiet, save for a large flock of swallows around the wildfowlers' pull-in and a couple of kestrels hunting over the rough sedge. A dark shape quickly skimming low over the salt marsh turned out to be a very fine adult hobby.

A merlin quartering a potato field alongside the railway line a couple of minutes outside Meols Cop was the icing on the cake. I've seen a report that I missed out on a peregrine about half an hour after I left Sandgrounders, a shame as it's always nice to get a full set of falcons in one day.