In the garden

The old alpha male from the house sparrow family that commutes across the railway line

Laid up with a bad cold this week, last week's was just overture and beginners. Consequently I've been confined to barracks and going stir crazy. Luckily I had enough bird food in store to keep them ticking over all week. Just as well: both of the local house sparrow families have more or less set up camp for the Winter and the day the school field was frozen the starlings made do by dismantling all the fat blocks.

The two house sparrow families arrive in from different directions. The larger, 15—17 strong, family flies in from the right hand side. They split their time between my garden, the bushes behind neighbours' sheds, the railway embankments and the field across the railway line. They used to be headed by a male with an impressive bib and bright silvery white cheeks and underparts. His male descendants have less gaudy variations on silvery cheeks and flanks, even so a fleeting glance of one's face deep under cover of leaves very often make me think great tit at first guess. The other family, about eight strong, come in stage left. They live in the rambling roses in the garden by the station and spend most of their time around the station and the school playing field. They're somewhat yellower, the males having straw-coloured flanks and pale grey, not bright silver, cheeks. There's a bit of interbreeding between the families, evidenced by a couple of first-year males in the "right hand" family with the bright silver cheeks of that family and the bright straw flanks of the other.

Long-tailed tit

The pecking order in the garden's interesting because it isn't a simple linear arrangement. The coal tits defer to the blue tits, who defer to the great tits, they to the house sparrows and they to the starlings, all according to Hoyle. But the coal tits won't have any bullying from the house sparrows (or squirrels for that matter). They all let the goldfinches do as they please, I suspect because they're too damned fussy to be bothered with. Long-tailed tits and goldcrests seems to be allowed a bye as well, possibly because they don't stop long and don't account for much.

Chiffchaff

We had the last of the breeding blackcaps and whitethroats in September and the last of the chiffchaffs in early October. The Mahonia's in full flower now so I'm expecting the first of the wintering blackcaps and chiffchaffs any day now. The blackcaps tend to settle in proper around Christmas and leave in February. The chiffchaffs don't have an obvious last date: I'm never sure whether the birds singing in early March are coming or going

Marshside and Crossens

Merlin, Crossens

Felt better today after a few days' chest cold so I decided to pick up the excursion I had planned on Wednesday. The plan had been to have a mosey round Marshside but as the  weather was greyer and duller but also slightly warmer than it had been earlier this week I walked up to Crossens.

Walking down from the bus stop on Marshside Road I was pleased to see a dozen curlew feeding in the goalmouth on Marshside School's playing field.

Curlews, part of a flock on Marshside School playing field

More curlews, along with good numbers of wigeon and teal were in the pools in the field by the road. Junction Pool had flooded and more or less took over half the field, a few hundred lapwings and golden plovers were standing round in the puddles. Further along, towards Nels Hide, the grassy bits were covered with greylags and canada geese and the water covered in more wigeon, gadwall and shovelers.

Golden plovers and lapwings, Marshside

The Sandgrounders Hide was closed but it was easy enough to have a look round from the screens by the hide. There were a few teal, mallard and shelduck and a couple of curlews came in quite close.

Curlew, Marshside

I tend to forget that curlews swim just as well as any other wader

Over the past few days people had been reporting plenty of raptors over the salt marsh. I'd been hoping to see some but aside from a sparrowhawk which flew over Marshside Road it didn't seem there was much about. A buzzard perched on the boundary fence between Marshside and Crossens changed my luck. Three marsh harriers were hunting pretty far out into the marsh. It was low tide so the pink-footed geese were largely out in the long grass, small groups rising up when buzzed by one of the harriers. The flocks of wigeon near the road were largely unmoved by them, they were too far away for them to worry about.

Wigeon, Crossens

A dark bird dashed low over the grass as I approached the wildfowlers' pull-in. I was dead pleased to realise it was a merlin, and even more pleased when it perched on a fence post not ten yards away from me. With bated breath I moved a little to try and get the brambles out of shot for some photos and managed to rattle off a few pictures. It was finally spooked by a passing cyclist so I could get my breath back and carry on. A distant kestrel brought the day's raptor tally to five, which isn't bad.

Departing merlin, Crossens

I got the bus back to Southport and decided not to go looking for twite near the pier as I was starting to feel a bit delicate and the cough would have scared them off. Good job really, Northern were having another railway meltdown and I managed to get the last train before the cancellations.

Lapwings, Marshside

Pine Lake and Leighton Moss

Pine Lake

Lunchtime stroll round Pine Lake, just outside Carnforth, which turns out to be quite easy to get to by public transport. I was hoping for the ring-necked duck that was there yesterday, which would be a lifer for me. After half an hour's straining my eyes staring at a raft of tufted duck in the bright, low light (with a few scaup to add to the mix) I realised I'd overlooked it twice because it had been asleep with its head tucked behind it. When it woke up it steamed behind a group of tufted ducks and I lost the damned thing again. It took a while to pick it up again but I couldn't get a photo of it.

I'd got an Old Man's Ranger ticket so I decided to move on from Carnforth. I considered getting the train through to Carlisle for a lark as I last did it thirty years ago but on a whim, and not wanting to waste the good weather, I decided to have a couple of hours at Leighton Moss and spend a bit of time in the Causeway Hide.

Cetti's warbler

Good job I did. Cetti's warblers were very active on the causeway; it's not often I get to see a whole Cetti's, usually it's a fleeting glimpse of a head, wing or tail, today I got three. Two were so intent on fighting for their territory close to the hide that they didn't care that I was stood there. A lot of kerfuffle at the base of some reeds then two Cetti's warblers rolled out onto the path then carried the fight on in the reeds on the other side. A third was being very noisy by the grit feeders so I stopped to see if I could see it. Imagine my surprise when it jumped onto the wooden rail, sang at me then dived back into the reeds on the ground. I eventually got a photo of it and was feeling quite pleased with myself when I turned round to find a couple of bearded tits on the grit trays a couple of yards from me.

Bearded tit

A distant short-eared owl flying low over one of the cow fields was a bonus.

Local patch

An hour's wander round the local patch and what a difference the wind not blowing a hooley makes!

A mixed tit flock working its way through the Lombardy poplars by the old Old Hall footpath included four goldcrests and a treecreeper. Trying to photograph goldcrests in uncertain light and drizzle is one of the more unrewarding pastimes and I got a few blurry pictures of empty branches encased in gloom.

Aside from blackbirds we're still very thin on Winter thrushes so far. Good news were the group of greenfinches in one of the bramble patches and the flock of a couple of dozen goldfinches in the alders by the car parts depot.

Pigeons — feral pigeons and woodpigeons — continue to be scarce this month. After reviewing this year's sightings I've come to the conclusion we've lost our resident buzzard. Odd ones float over every so often but they're new bords.

Black-headed Gull   1
Blackbird   17
Blue Tit   8
Carrion Crow   1
Chaffinch   1
Common Gull   5
Dunnock   2
Feral Pigeon   2
Goldcrest   4
Goldfinch   26
Great Tit   5
Greenfinch   6
House Sparrow   3
Jay   1
Lesser Black-backed Gull   5
Long-tailed Tit   4
Magpie   10
Robin   4
Starling   8
Treecreeper   1
Woodpigeon   1
Wren   2

Pennington Flash

Pennington Flash, the pool by the path to the Tom Edmondson Hide

A nice, crisp November day so I toddled off for an afternoon stroll round Pennington Flash. It started raining heavily as I got off the bus near the entrance.

A lone buzzard was perched on the far fence by Bradshaw Leach Meadow and a mixed tit flock worked its way along the base of the hedgerow, the birds taking what cover they may.

Goldeneye

Ducks on the flash included half a dozen goldeneye and a couple of rafts of ducks. The Winter gull roost was starting to build up: mostly black-headed gulls close to, herring and lesser back-backs further out, with scattered common gulls and four great black-backs.

The spit at Horrocks Hide was still largely underwater. None of the usual lapwings but there were half a dozen snipe on the submerged grass under the trees. Plenty of teal with them, too.

Cormorant

Walking over to the Tom Edmondson Hide a mixed tit flock working its way through the willows included a willow tit and a redwing. A weasel skittered along the path and disappeared into the brambles.

The pool at the hide was full of gadwall, with a handful of mallards and teals. The most eye-catching bird was the cormorant perched on one of the poles that are popular with juvenile kingfishers in Summer.

Despite the sun deciding to poke out from under the clouds it was still pouring down so I decided to call it a day. I don't know what was going on with the traffic in Leigh town centre but it added an hour to the journey back home.

Pennington Flash

New Brighton

Sketch map of New Brighton

New Brighton lies on the Northeast corner of the Wirral Peninsula, across the River Mersey from Liverpool Docks. There are more spectacular birdwatching locations but in Autumn and Winter it can be well worth the visit: seawatching from the promenade and around Fort Perch Rock and checking out the marine lake.

Herring gulls scrapping over a crab

New Brighton's the terminus for one of Merseyrail's Wirral lines. There are also plenty of buses from Liverpool and elsewhere on the Wirral stopping at the bus stop outside Morrisons' opposite the Marine Park.

Unusually for the Wirral the shore is rocky, making this this one of the best places in Northwest England for purple sandpipers. Having said that, there's no guarantee that you'll be lucky. The best place and time to look for them is on the wooden pontoon at the side of the marine lake next to the cafés at high tide between mid November and mid February. Waders roosting on the pontoon are usually redshanks and turnstones, this time of year there'll also be a lot of dunlins, perhaps one or two sanderlings or greenshanks and, if the fates are kind, a purple sandpiper or two lurking in a corner (up to half a dozen if you're really lucky). Failing that, it's worth scanning the rocks and sea defences around Fort Perch Rock (the little abandoned castle affair at the corner near the lighthouse).

New Brighton Lighthouse

Redshanks, a couple of turnstones and a purple sandpiper on the marine lake pontoon

Turnstones and dunlins on the marine lake pontoon

Redshanks on the marine lake pontoon

Perhaps the softest twitch ever was a few years back when you could sit in the window seat of a café by the lake and stare at a first-Winter laughing gull loafing on the pontoon.

When conditions are right the seawatching can be very good. The right conditions are when it's blowing a hooley from the sea straight into your face. If it's raining as well the right conditions are sitting in the window seat of one of the cafés (the birds may be more distant but your hands will be steadier and the lenses on your binoculars won't be streaming with water).

In Autumn passing seabirds may include skuas, phalaropes and Manx shearwaters, there's an outside chance of a Sabine's gull or possibly something scarcer. In September this is the place to look out for Leach's petrels as they pass through the mouth of the Mersey. Usually they'll just be distant dark dots skimming over the water. If the wind's right they'll be blown closer to shore, the best place to look is from the river side of Fort Perch Rock (not least because you'll get some shelter from the prevailing wind). On a high tide with a strong incoming wind the petrels will skip over this corner and you might get a very close view (the bird pictured below was one of half a dozen that came within ten yards of us over the course of an hour's watch).

Leach's petrel

The Dee Estuary Birding site is always worth checking before a visit.

Windy Wirral

Redshank

I timed a visit to the Wirral to arrive after the rain and much to my astonishment I was successful. It was, however, very windy and gloomy.

Arriving at a bracing New Brighton at high tide I thought I'd check out the pontoon on the marine lake to see if any purple sandpipers have arrived yet. It was jam-packed with redshanks, the only other wader being a lone sanderling.

Redshanks

Black-headed gulls and common gull

A big flock of herring gulls played in the surf. Black-headed and common gulls loafed on the beach with oystercatchers and a few redshanks. I wandered down to the end of the sea defences, a small flock of turnstones and a couple of redshanks on the rocks and a great black-back loafing on the beach.

Turnstones

I got the 414 bus from New Brighton to Leasowe and walked down the path by the Birtle to Kerrs Field and Leasowe Lighthouse. The stretch along the Birtle was the most productive: mallards, moorhens, a little egret and a pair of grey wagtails along the river; house sparrows, blackbirds and goldfinches in the hedges. Things were quieter in Kerr's Field and around the lighthouse, not entirely surprising given the time of year, time of day and the weather. Plenty of gulls, mostly black-headed and herring gulls rather fewer common gulls, overhead and on the beach. Plenty of oystercatchers and redshanks also on the beach and there was a fly-by by a murmuration of dunlins.

Off home before sunset and back home an hour late due to trespassers on the line in Liverpool.

Data big and small

Magpie

After one of those nights when I only get to sleep just before 5am I wasn't really up for the planned early start (though given the weather it probably turned out to be no bad thing). An afternoon wander round my local patch started quiet and got considerably quieter as the sky turned black and it started pouring down.In the end it was just me, the gulls and a few of the magpies who'd noticed I'd put suet pellets in the usual feeding niches.

Lostock Park. Wet. Very wet.

I logged my sighting on BirdTrack as I always do. Why bother, just for a handful of birds you may ask. The answer's the same as the one I give when friends say: "There's no point, I don't see anything special." There's any number of places where you can find out about rarity sightings, where do you get to find out about distribution and numbers of common (or what used to be common) species?  We know the first Siberian accentor for Britain was in Shetland on 9th October 2016 but when did we stop getting hundreds of starlings in our suburban parks? The danger is that we may not know what we've got till its gone and we don't notice that species we take for granted have crashed like those of yellow-breasted buntings in Asia or, worse yet, like the passenger pigeon.

The fact I'm getting over a dozen sparrows in my garden every day lately is a fact but so what? A year's daily totals for my garden is interesting to me but who else? Ten years ago I routinely got twenty goldfinches in my garden every day, now I'm lucky if I get four, is it my garden? my feeding strategy? a crash in goldfinch numbers generally? does somebody else locally have my goldfinches? The numbers lack context.

Projects like Birdtrack, eBird and the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch collect and analyse big data on bird sightings. So, for instance, I can have a look at my figures for the day I did the Big Garden Birdwatch and compare them to the national results to see how unusual or not my sightings were. And researchers can use the 40 years' worth of data to see trends like the crash in the number of starlings and the rise in the number of coal tits. The Big Garden Birdwatch collects the data for a snapshot in time: one hour of one weekend each year. BirdTrack and eBird take this a step further, collecting data for any day any time (if you've still got your old notebooks you can add historical data, too). BirdTrack is mainly focussed on UK & Ireland (though you can add records for other countries), eBird is US-based but has a wordwide remit. I quite often review past years' data for particular species or locations to get a feel for how things are changing or what I should be keeping an eye out for on my next visit.

"Big data" is made up of huge amounts of small data, nothing is too small as it all gets aggregated and collated to make it useful. There are good reasons for submitting your sightings, even if it's just two woodpigeons. Yours may be the only data for that location that day (or at all), or the only sighting of woodpigeons at that location, so you're filling in a gap. I quite often find myself kicking my heels at a train station or a bus stop and my train into Manchester is routinely stuck at signals at Castlefield for five or ten minutes (the record is forty) so I've taken to doing a bird count while I'm waiting as it's better for my blood pressure than keeping looking at my watch; quite often it turns out mine are the only records for that location that month. Or your sighting could support and reinforce other people's sightings: six people in a hide, each doing their own bird count will have very similar but not identical figures — someone will be looking left when everyone else is looking right, or may have a better view of whatever was half-obscured behind a tree trunk or whatever.

So please submit your bird sighting records if you can. It's free, it's useful to other people and you're doing your bit for citizen science.

Local patch

Lostock Park

An astonishingly quiet afternoon visit to the local patch. The weather was dull and cool, which usually means thrushes, magpies, pigeons and jays but not today. The mealworms I left behind me in the usual feeding places were still there when I made my way back.

Black-headed Gull  4
Blackbird  12
Blue Tit  3
Common Gull  2
Feral Pigeon  2
Goldfinch  15
Greenfinch  2
Magpie  8
Robin  2
Starling  14
Woodpigeon  1
Wren  1

Cholrton

Ring-necked parakeet, Hardy Farm

Taking advantage of a mostly-dry afternoon for a stroll through Hardy Farm and down to Chorlton Water Park. A day's strong winds and heavy rain had stripped the leaves off many of the trees in the more exposed areas and wading gingerly through deep puddles was the order of the day.

A troupe of parakeets made a racket as they flew into one of the ash trees next to the football pitch by Hardy Farm. Watching them lurking disconsolately up there it occurred to me to wonder once again what they find to eat once all the berries and ash keys have been accounted for by early Winter. There were plenty of jays and magpies kicking about, perhaps the parakeets learn where to find the acorns the jays forget. None of them were remotely concerned by the buzzard lazily making its way over to Chorlton Ees.

A juvenile heron was fossicking round in the puddles by the path.

Juvenile heron, Hardy Farm

The River Mersey at Jackson's Boat. There's usually four or five feet of bank below that first grassed terrace.

The river by Jackson's Boat was alarmingly high, and looked like it had recently been a couple of feet higher. Almost as many mallards were dabbling in the puddles in the grass as were on the river itself (it was probably a lot less hard work for them). Just by the tram bridge they were joined by a grey wagtail and further down there was a flock of Canada geese. Walking down to towards Chorlton Water Park a female goosander flew downriver and a cormorant flew upriver. I expected to see more given the weather and the time of year but these were the only ones today.

Barlow Tip

Barlow Tip was a tad damp. A couple of mixed tit flocks worked their way through the trees then disappeared sharply as a male sparrowhawk sailed through. His appearance spooked a small flock of redwings which set off across the river for the golf course.

It started raining again at this point, which is starting to be a pattern. The west end of Chorlton Water Park was very quiet, both in the trees and on the water. Further along there was a couple of dozen black-headed gulls and a similar number of coots. Just a handful of gadwall and one each of shoveler and tufted duck, which doesn't feel right somehow. Possibly they were having better pickings over at Sale Water Park.

A small mixed flock of goldfinches and siskins were working their way through the alders next to the fishing piers. The light was shocking so all my attempts at getting photos of them turned out like those Czech children's cartoons that were all strange shapes and silhouettes.

Siskins in alders

Chorlton Water Park

Llandudno

The Little Orme from the Great Orme

I've been intending to visit Llandudno and the Great Orme all year but just haven't got round to it. I usually aim for early Summer when there's a good chance of choughs on the summit and auks out in the bay. Anyway, I've left it late so there's no trams and the bus from the station only takes you to the bottom of the hill at Tyn-y-Coed. The lure was a Lapland bunting that's been on the summit for the past few days, with a chance of snow bunting as well as a couple have been reported over the past week. [Spoiler: I didn't see either.]

I had to change at Llandudno Junction on the way in. Seeing as there was a thirty minute wait for the Llandudno train I wandered over to the bridge over the river to see what was about. Lowish tide so nothing was very close. A lot of redshanks on the mud, with oystercatchers further out with mallards and shelduck. A pair of red-breasted mergansers worked their way along one of the channels. Conwy RSPB reserve's a short walk upstream but I didn't have time for a look round today.

A bracing walk up the steep first stretch of the road from the bus stop gave me my first couple of pairs of stonechats and a small flock of meadow pipits. There were small numbers of goldfinches, blackbirds and mistle thrushes in the trees. A large flock of jackdaws were making a racket about the escarpment just before the Halfway tram station.

Up top crows, herring gulls and jackdaws were the most obvious birds, with small flocks of meadow pipits, linnets and goldfinches working the scrub. Also a few more stonechats and a couple of robins.

An unfamiliar call attracted my attention, something like a reed bunting but softer, deeper and a little sadder. Whatever was calling worked its way down one of the grassy slopes and then decided to shut up as it approached some gorse bushes. Try as I might I couldn't pick it up. Referring to Xeno-canto I found the call was very likely to be a Lapland bunting. So I've probably heard one but that's not good enough for me to claim it as a lifer. Ah well.

Back down on the promenade I spent a while doing a bit of seawatching. The beach was full of jackdaws rummaging through the seaweed brought in on the tide. Far out I could see herring gulls, cormorants and shags shuttling between the wind farm and the Little Orme. Closer in the only birds on the water were two great black-backs and a great crested grebe.

And a straight trip back home. For the second time this week all the trains ran more or less on time, too!

Leighton Moss

Female shoveler

Thought I'd take advantage of the cool, rainy weather to do a quick repeat visit to Leighton Moss. It turned out to be a good idea, a good day's birdwatching, a lot less irritating than last week and all the trains ran on time (a Monday miracle!).

More Winter ducks had come in, including a handful of goldeneye on the Lilian's Hide pool. The majority of the rest were shovelers and teal but there were also plenty of mallards and wigeon, a few tufted ducks and half a dozen pintail.

Away from the marsh hides waders were in short supply except for the dozen or more snipe around the Griesdale Hide. Water rails were making a racket in the reeds and a couple of them came out into plain sight for a moment before skittling back where they came from. Three reedbeds held mixed tit flocks, including treecreepers, nuthatches and goldcrests, and there were the usual raiding parties on the feeders by the "Hideout." Just the one marsh tit, though, and that only fleetingly.

Three marsh harriers showed well and I could hear but not see a soaring buzzard.

A mixed flock of goldfinches and siskins were feeding high in the alders by the path between the "Hideout" and Lilian's Hide. No redpolls yet but they must be due soon.

Leighton Moss

Male marsh harrier

Common snipe

Common teal

The recent bad weather has knocked the reedbeds about a lot

Taking advantage of my Old Man's Day Ranger ticket I took the train to Barrow to do a bit of Morecambe Bay coast watching while there was still some daylight. Low tide so it was mostly black-headed gulls, little egrets and pied wagtails on the salt marshes and distant specks that may have been ducks of some sort but it's a nice ride when the trains are running.

Berry Head

Sketch map of Berry Head

Berry Head is a promontory forming the southern margin of Torbay. It's good for a nice walk round, the seawatching can be very good and the scrub and woodland provide a breathing space for passage migrants. It's also my top "You should have been here yesterday" site.

Buses to Brixham stop by the car park behind the main shopping road, five minutes' walk to the harbour. You can catch the 17 bus (an hourly service) up to Shoalstone Beach on Berry Head Road but you'd be missing out on a very picturesque harbour and the chance of a bit of seawatching. From the harbour you can carry on up King Street and thence up Berry Head Road but if you're doing that you might as well get the bus.

Walking along the South side of the harbour check out what's in the water: you might see a seal or a dolphin winding through the boats, possibly a shag or a red-breasted merganser. If you walk down to the end of the breakwater you can do a sweep of Torbay, in Winter you've a chance of great northern or black-throated diver.

Once you've got as far as the breakwater you can take the road or the steps up to Berry Head Road. There are a couple of places where you can stop and have a look over the bay.

Just after the Berry Head Hotel there's a gate to the footpath through the woodland and up to the head. This is a rough path which includes a long sequence of steps so you may prefer to go the long way along the road.

Once you get to the top of the path the landscape opens out. The first port of call is over a moat and into a Napoleonic War fortification for a cup of tea in the café. Sitting outside you get a view out over the headland and into the English Channel.

Berry Head from the fort

Shags and gulls are generally the most obvious birds around. At the right times of year you'll also see guillemots and razorbills, these nest on the cliffs. To get a better view of these there's a hide on the other side of the wall that gives a grandstand view of the most popular cliff face.

Coming back from the hide and wandering down to the lighthouse most of the area is grassed with a few patches of brambles and scrub. Meadow pipits, robins and wrens are the most obvious birds round here but you never know your luck. Looking out to see you'll usually see gannets, if the dolphins are hunting close to you can get very close view of the gannets as they follow the hunt. Depending on the time of year and conditions you could also strike lucky with skuas or shearwaters, particularly look out for Balearic shearwaters in late Summer.

Gannet

Leaving this fort and following the path round the headland you'll get to more abandoned guardhouses and the visitor centre. On a nice day this is a very pleasant wander.

The fort from Berry Head

Meadow pipit

Getting back you can retrace your steps along the path or you can take one of the paths into the scrubby woodland. Depending on which paths you follow you'll either get back to Berry Head Road or the path that takes you back down the steps to the road.