Martin Mere

I had planned on going to Martin Mere last Friday but didn't fancy the walk from Burscough Bridge in that weather. Better weather today and I decided I could do with some fresh air to blow away a cold I'd been working on over the weekend so off I went.

Red Cat Lane

Plenty of evidence of the past few days' weather about, it looked like some of the houses on Red Cat Lane had had a lucky escape.

Skeins of pink-footed geese flew overhead to join the hundreds on the fields on the other side of the railway line. Another harbinger of Winter was a stonechat which was working its way along the fence of the field of leeks. No little owl this time, or corn buntings, and just the one stock dove along this stretch.

Stonechat, Red Cat Lane

I hadn't realised how much a flying stonechat looks like an Angry Bird

Half a dozen swallows and a couple of house martins hawking high overhead at the corner with Curlew Lane were a welcome reminder of Summer. A passing common hawker dragonfly might be the last for a while.

The rain had made the pedestrian entrance to Martin Mere impassible

Time was the pedestrian entrance to Martin Mere was really hard going. It's been much improved over the past few years but the weather beat it this time. Ironically, I'd managed to get to the end of the path only to be defeated by the depth of the puddle at that corner of the car park.

Thousands of pink-footed geese had arrived. The call of these geese flying overhead is one of my favourite Winter sounds. The water in the main mere was very high, with most of the margins and islands underwater.

Mallard

Besides the geese the most conspicuous birds were the flocks of lapwings and starlings moving between the fields and the islands in the mere

Lapwing

Lapwing

Lapwing

A few green sandpipers were flying about and thirty or more ruff jostled for position on one of the islands. Three whooper swans were probably individuals that had stayed over Summer.

After just over an hour I decided that enough was enough and that if I had any sense I should go for the next train from New Lane rather than wait another couple of hours. Another nice walk down Marsh Moss Lane to the station with plenty of time for the train.

Marsh Moss Lane

Local patch

The calm between the storms, Barton Clough

Afternoon stroll around my local patch in between rain storms. Everything seemed quiet at first but a couple of jays put paid to that. The Winter flocks of magpies are starting to build up, nineteen birds all told today. A couple of dozen woodpigeons were scattered about.

Jay, Lostock Park

Jay, Lostock Park

Jay, Lostock Park

Jay, Lostock Park

A couple of chiffchaffs joined the small mixed tit flock that worked its way through the bushes by the old railway line. Good to see a couple of blackbirds, they've been a bit thin on the ground here just lately. Four mistle thrushes flew over but didn't land. 

Just as I was getting a bit worried about this Autumn's goldfinch numbers twenty-three of them flew in and landed in the top of one of the alders. Still down on last year but not bad.

A kestrel came in and hovered over the school, spooking a flock of pigeons and a third jay. Then I scuttled off back home while my luck was holding with the weather.

Harwood House

Had a trip out to Harewood House in Yorkshire with friends yesterday (they were doing the driving). Took the opportunity to try and get some photos of red kites. The jackdaw was a practice run to get my eye in.

Jackdaw

Red kites

Red kite

Red kite

Red kite

Red kite

Red kite

Red kite

Red kite

Marshside

The view from Marshside Road across the reserve and on to the Pennines

A hit-and run lunchtime visit to Marshside for the red-necked phalarope. Sadly, today it was keeping its distance at the far side of Polly's Pool so only pretty poor long-range record shots.

Red-necked phalarope with geese and black-tailed godwits

Nice to see it anyway, it's been twenty-five years since my last one (this is my perennial "There was one here up to a couple of hours ago but it's flown off" bird). A frosty-looking first Winter bird moving like a whirligig up and down the back end of the pool. Even at this distance the needle-thin bill could be seen.

Red-necked phalarope with geese and black-tailed godwits

A friendly birder let me have a look through his telescope for a closer look, which was very good of him.

Pink-footed geese

Plenty more incoming pink-footed geese both on the reserve and commuting between inland fields and the salt marsh.

Walking back to the Marshside Road bus stop I counted seven cattle egrets feeding round the cattle in the field. 

Cattle egrets

Cattle egrets

Cattle egrets

Local patch

Barton Clough, rosebay willowherbs in the foreground

A quiet, very quiet, hour's wander round my local patch. No blackbirds, just the one robin and a lone chiffchaff. The blackcaps and whitethroats have evidently moved on. Only three goldfinches, this time last year there were dozens.

I've come to the conclusion we've lost our local buzzard. I hope it's moved on to more productive pastures.

There should be plenty for the Winter thrushes to eat when they turn up.

Pyracanthus

Gulls flying overhead included half a dozen lesser black-backed gulls, a couple of first calendar-year common gulls and a first calendar-year yellow-legged gull, all drifting South towards the Mersey Valley.

Morecambe Bay

Leighton Moss

A few hours' wandering round Leighton Moss. I didn't go down to the saltmarsh hides as the tide was out and there weren't many waders about as the train passed the pools. I decided that now I know I can get a over 55's train ticket that's £7 cheaper than the usual day return to Silverdale I'll come back next week for these hides.There were plenty of little egrets about, though and also a group of four great white egrets at the edge of the Eric Morecambe pool.

Lillian's Hide

It was relatively quiet, for all intents a late Summer's day without most of the Summer's visitors. The only warblers about were a few chiffchaffs and four singing Cetti's warblers. Dragonflies, particularly common hawkers and common darters, were very much in evidence.

As always the robins insisted on being photogenic

At least three great spotted woodpeckers, two males and a female, made themselves obvious in the willows around the reedbeds. Probably two of these flew over to the marsh harriers' favourite perching tree opposite the Griezedale Hide while I was there. One flew back over and fussed about in the willow tree next to the hide door.

I was trying, and failing, to get a photo of a great spotted woodpecker in the willow tree by the path.
This dunnock was not impressed.

Not sure if there was one or two male marsh harriers around, the one I saw late afternoon from the path by the road might have been the same one I saw from the Griezedale Hide.

The Causeway itself was exceptionally quiet but there was plenty to see from the Causeway Hide. Star of the show was probably the cormorant fishing very close to the front of the hide, swimming around with its head only just below water as it worked its way through a school of small fish. Every so often it would dive and reappear a few yards away, usually to the consternation of a raft of shovelers that were trying to have an afternoon kip. A couple of wigeon working their way along the edge of the reeds on the far side were harbingers of Autumn.

This cormorant was fishing close to the Causeway Hide

Shovelers, an eclipse male (right) and a couple of immature males

The light suited the shovelers nicely

Mute swan family off the public causeway

I seem to be seeing fewer marsh tits than usual at Leighton Moss this year, and nearly all on the path to the Lower Hide. I'm hoping this is just bad luck on my part and not an indication of decline.

Marsh tit

I did wonder if it was going to be the first day of Autumn without hirundines when, about four o'clock, a flock of swallows descended on the fields by the path to the Lower Hide.

Grange-over-Sands

It was still only half five by the time I'd finished at Leighton Moss so I thought I'd milk my old man's rail rover ticket and move a few stations on for an hour or two's birdwatching on the Cumbrian side of the bay. After checking the train timetables it looked like Grange-over-Sands was my best bet as it allowed a good hour and a half's window before the train back to Preston.

Kent Estuary from Grange-over-Sands

From the Promenade I could see a big flock of black-headed and lesser black-backed gulls out in the estuary with a few herring gulls and a couple of great black-backs. Nearer to shore there were half a dozen black-tailed godwits and a handful of curlews, with a dozen shelduck dabbling in the mud. Walking along the Promenade towards the river I found a flock of goosanders swimming in one of the channels and a lone whimbrel walked along the shoreline. A flock of about thirty lapwings clustered on one of the rocky islands.

With twenty minutes left I decided I should go and find somewhere that might offer a cup of tea (no such luck). Passing the ornamental gardens by the station I think I found out where Hodbarrow's bar-headed geese come from.

Bar-headed geese and friends, Grange-over-Sands ornamental gardens.
Sadly, I can't count the snow goose to the year list.

As I waited for the train a flock of twenty or thirty swallows flew high over before descending for a few minutes to grab a last few midges from over the salt marsh and then going on their way.

A picturesque sunset on the way back.

Arnside

Eric Morecambe Pool, Leighton Moss

Lunt Meadows

Yesterday's plan was to bob over to Lunt Meadows to see if the two American golden plovers were still there, have a nosy round Roughley's Wood then get the train back to Kirkby from Waterloo, taking in a quick wander round Crosby Marine Lake and a look at Seaforth Nature Reserve through the wire fence. This involves eight trains and two buses and seeing as the first train out was so late I'd have to wait an hour for the second one I jacked it in and went for a walk over at Etherow Country Park. Being a natural optimist I tried again today.

Both birds were showing well, though quite distant so I've had to heavily crop copies of the pictures to show that the small pale thing amongst the lapwings is one or other of them. Never seen an adult American golden plover before, they reminded me more of grey than golden plovers.

Adult American golden plover and lapwings

Adult American golden plover and lapwing

Adult American golden plover and lapwings

Adult American golden plover and lapwings

American golden plover with lapwings and Canada geese

The Canada geese, greylags and lapwings were very flighty. possibly because of a buzzard that flew low overhead as I arrived.

Buzzard

The supporting cast included a common sandpiper, quite a lot of mallards and teal, a few shovelers and gadwall and a few dozen pink-footed geese flying low and landing in fields on the other side of the river.

Mallard

Pink-footed goose

Nice to still have a few dragonflies and butterflies about, too.

Common darter

Roughley's Wood was very quiet except for a small flock of goldfinches, a couple of pheasants and a lone chiffchaff.

Over at Crosby Marine Lake there were plenty of gulls about, mostly herring and black-headed, with a few lesser black-backs and common gulls added for luck. Also quite a few swallows and house martins hawking low over the small pool. Strangely, no meadow pipits or skylarks.

On the beach there were a few flocks of gulls loafing about while redshanks, dunlins and oystercatchers fed close to the water's edge together with a lone whimbrel. A small flock of linnets bounced around in the vegetation by the sea wall.

Linnet

Not much on the water at Seaforth Nature Reserve, though a large flock of waders — mostly black-tailed godwits and oystercatchers — nearly covered one of the islands. What we once would have thought as being a small flock of starlings were stripping the brambles of any ripe blackberries. A couple of dozen curlews were roosting with the Canada geese by the rabbit warrens but were scared off by the rather overly boisterous appearance of a raven.

Back home to a "What time do you call this then?" welcome from the cat.