Etherow Country Park

Drake mandarin

I took advantage of the decent weather (once the morning's downpour stopped) for a quick hour's wander round Etherow Country Park to enjoy the mandarin ducks and to see if there were any dippers about. Family commitments meant I had one eye on the clock so I didn't have a wander round Keg Wood.

Mandarin duck

Drake mandarin

Mandarin duck

The river was very high after the past few day's rain so not only weren't there any dippers about there wasn't anything at all on the water. Luckily the ponds were teeming with birds. The cormorants loafing on the islands on the big pond included four sinensis.

Sinensis-type cormorant

Sinensis-type cormorant

Third time lucky.

Third visit to Ashton's Flash and the first bird I see when I reach the fence on the bund is the Siberian stonechat. A bonny little bird showing its unstreaked apricot-orange rump exceptionally well.

Martin Mere

The strong winds brought some funny weather today: it started off sunny with occasional bursts of rain or hail then over lunchtime it turned filthy with occasional bursts of sunshine. I decided to take my chances and go out to Martin Mere for the day.

Along Marsh Moss Lane, just before it started hailing

Walking down from New Lane Station the fields and trees were chock full of fieldfares and woodpigeons. The lack of swans or geese on the fields was made up by the number of little egrets and shelduck on the field between Martin Mere and Marsh Moss Lane.

Whooper swan

The water on the mere was very high. Although there were plenty of whoopers, pintails and wigeon about the most numerous wildfowl by a long chalk were shelduck. On the far side of the mere cormorants, greylags and lapwings loafed at the water's edge. The lapwings were spooked by a flock of lapwings that in turn had been spooked by something in the field beyond, which brought along with them half a dozen black-tailed godwits, a handful of ruff and a single green snadpiper. A flock of twenty-odd avocets flew in but didn't settle.

There weren't many tree sparrows along the path to the Kingfisher Hide, it turned out they were all in the brambles there waiting their turns on the feeders. A buzzard floated in low and looked like it might settle, which upset the woodpigeons that were monopolising the feeders and gave the sparrows the chance to get in there.

Tree sparrows

Shovelers were the most numerous ducks at the Ron Barker Hide. As the weather closed in it became easier to pick out the five avocets feeding far out on the water. It's surprising how easily avocets disappear into choppy water in high contrast light. The wigeon, teal and gadwall were keeping to the water's edges and the ditches. There was a brief flash of pale grey wing with a black panel — a male hen harrier! I've only ever seen ringtails at Martin Mere. That's as much as I saw of it: the sky went black and a torrential hailstorm put paid for any hopes of seeing any raptors flying about.

After a cup of tea I wandered over to the Janet Kear Hide. It was nice to see the willow tit's still there.

Pennington Flash

A bracing couple of hours' stroll about Pennington Flash where both wind and water were very high and the overall impression was that the tide was coming in. The Flash itself was so rough most of the swans and geese were sat in the car park and even the goldeneyes had been driven close to shore.

Male goldeneye

The spit outside the Horrocks Hide was almost completely underwater, with a bunch of mallards and oystercatchers huddled on a tiny island. Further out (and difficult to photograph in the windy conditions) a striking sinensis cormorant stuck out amongst the others with its almost completely white head.

Cormorants
Phalacrocorx carbo carbo on the left, P.c.sinesnsis on the right.

The reeds and  islands in front of the Tom Edmondson Hide were entirely submerged. A small raft of tufted ducks on the water were torn between courtship display and having a nap. Most of the activity here was in the brambles where a large mixed tit flock, including a dozen long-tailed tits and a couple of willow tits, were bouncing round.

Tufted ducks

The ground in front of the Bunting Hide was entirely submerged, which didn't stop the reed buntings and blue tits having a go at the feeders.

Reed bunting

Merseyside

I don't know why I bother planning days out based on the weather forecast according to the Met Office app. When I set off the Merseyside coast was scheduled to be grey, dull and windy, which was better than the pouring rain forecast for Greater Manchester. It was so wet and windy at Crosby Marina that the skylarks were staying firmly on the deck for their singing.

Skylark, Crosby Marine Lake

The wild and woolly weather put everything off the marine lake and even on the boating pond the ducks were generally hugging the sides. Most of the mute swans and all the Canada geese were feeding on the grass accompanied by oystercatchers and a dozen black-tailed godwit. Nice to see three goldeneye — a drake and two ducks — amongst the tufties. A few redshank and a single turnstone flitted also round the pond.

The gulls' favourite loafing pontoon was underwater so they had to make do with lounging round on the grass and keeping an eye out for passing dogs. Mostly black-headed gulls, with a few herring and common gulls, joined by meadow pipits, pied wagtails and eighty-odd starlings.

I used the sand dunes as a wind break for ten minutes' seawatching. A lot of herring and black-headed gulls with a few great black-backs but strangely no cormorants. Dunlin and sanderlings fed along the tideline while a few dozen redshanks were peppered across the beach with a couple of curlews.

After ten minutes I called barleys and sloped off for the train. I decided to have a look see if the purple sandpipers were still at New Brighton. Sadly, no joy there and the only waders on the pontoon on the marine lake were about fifty redshanks and a turnstone.

Redshanks, New Brighton Marine Lake

Lots of black-headed, common and herring gulls about and a first-Winter lesser black-back flew along the beach. A couple of great black-backs were on the lighthouse but strangely there were no cormorants here either. There had been reports of little gulls earlier in the week so I worked my way through all the gulls being blown about in the wind. No little gulls but a kittiwake passing by a hundred yards out was a nice surprise.

Home time and the sad discovery that Northern's new trains are no more reliable than the old Pacers.

Damp

I've still got a few free train rides to fit in before Northern loses its franchise so I was thinking about having a bit of an adventure into Yorkshireland to look for a couple of exotic ducks in a stray pond. Then I looked at the weather forecast and remembered that last time I visited that pond it hadn't rained for three days and the path was still shin-deep in mud so I thought I wouldn't do that. So I went to Leighton Moss in the rain and only got my feet wet (the water was top of the boots high on the path to the reedbed hides).

This marsh harrier could only sit and wait for the rain to pass. Which it didn't.

From Lilian's Hide the most obvious birds were the shovelers dotted round in rafts about the water. Teal kept themselves mostly in the reed edges, together with a dozen snipe. In the open water further out there were three male pochards amongst the tufted ducks and gadwall.

Leighton Moss

A large mixed tit flock was very much in evidence along the path to the reedbed hides, including three marsh tits and a pair of treecreepers. Strangely, no nuthatches. It was very wet walking and the rain was blowing straight into the hides.

Gadwall and teal, Tim Jackson Hide

There were plenty of teal and gadwall and small groups of wigeon loafing about. By then I was thoroughly wet and in need of a sausage butty and a pot of tea.

I then decided to max out the value on my old man's daily rover ticket by going for a hot chocolate in Barrow-in-Furness. I couldn't make the train times work to safely go a bit further up the coast then get back in time for the Manchester train so I went back down and had fifty minutes' torrential rain and generally filthy weather at Arnside.

River Kent from Arnside Station

The Kent Estuary was thick with redshanks with a few black-headed gulls coming in to join them in the rain. A redhead goosander sat at the water's edge opposite the railway station, some shapes in the distant murk might have been a couple more.

Time for a cup of tea and the Manchester train back home.

Wild goose chase

All sorts of interesting geese had been reported from Crossens Outer Marsh over the weekend so I thought I'd go on a wild goose chase. 

The wind had died down a bit but it was still a *very* bracing walk. Pretty much everything except me had hunkered down for shelter, the only geese out in the open were a party of Canada geese and a few small groups of pink-footed geese well out in the distance, amongst which was a single Todd's Canada goose. This is the second one I've seen, or the same one twice as it was this time last year I saw my first, it was difficult to identify but definitely different to the "ordinary" Canada geese: the most obvious difference being that the black hood stretched right down to its back and overall it looked slighter. I couldn't get a record photo, the combination of distance and wind-blown camera shake reduced the bird to an indistinct blur in the picture. Had a bit more luck getting photos of these pink-footed geese in the long grass a bit further along Marine Drive. It always helps to have a road sign to steady against!

Pink-footed geese, Crossens Outer Marsh

Crossens Inner Marsh (and most of Marshside) was very waterlogged. No signs of the Bewick's swans from the other week but still large numbers of wigeon, teal and black-tailed godwits. These oystercatchers on the pool by Sandgrounders seem to be pairing up.

Oystercatchers, Marshside

Nice to see this kestrel perched on the viewing screen by Junction Pool.

Kestrel, Marshside

Mersey Valley

Chorlton Ees

The weather forecast was ambiguous so I thought I'd stay local for an afternoon stroll and within scuttling distance of a bus stop. As it happened it only rained for ten minutes and there was even some sunshine. I got the bus into Chorltonville and had a wander round Ivy Green and then down to the river and back into Stretford.

The paths were clear but there was enough twiggy debris around to give evidence of this week's storm and a couple of big crack willows had literally split in two down the centre of their trunks. Despite the weather there weren't many people (or dogs) about so there wasn't much to scare off the birds if I stopped to look round. Two, possibly three, great spotted woodpeckers were working the trees along Chorlton Brook. The mixed tit flocks were almost exclusively blue and great tits with nuthatches following along behind, a large flock by the school included some long-tailed tits. A small flock of goldfinches in the beech trees included a couple of siskins. Strangely I didn't see any chaffinches. As usual, the ring-necked parakeets were heard more than they were seen, though three came screeching low over just by the little bridge to the car park. A couple of jays added to the soundscape. Towards the bottom of the brook, about a hundred yards from the bridge over to Chorlton Ees, a pair of willow tits were feeding around the base of the trees at the top of the bank, I've not seen them here before.

I wondered about walking down through Chorlton Ees and then to Sale Water Park but the weather didn't look promising so I walked back into Sretford past Stretford Ees and through the cemetery.

Hail Lancashire!

A cormorant in the hail

So the plan for today was to take advantage of the storm's abating and shuck off the combination of cabin fever and the last dregs of a cold with an adventure. The idea was to get an old man's day rover ticket for the trains, get a bus to Longton Brickcroft for an hour's nosy round then a bus to Hesketh Bank to have a bit of wader and goose watching over the marsh, after which either a bus and train back to Preston for home or ditto to Southport and home. That was the plan.

It was a nice, crisp, sunny day, albeit a bit blowy, when I arrived at Longton Brickcroft (two and a half ponds halfway between Preston and Tarleton). A dozen each of goosander and tufted ducks were on the South pond together with a couple of gadwall and a great crested grebe.

Goosander

Tufted ducks

"Middle pond" turned out to be a big puddle in a wooded hollow, the sort of place where you spend a while looking for willow tits and not finding any. Which is when the first hailstorm happened.

North pond was littered with black-headed gulls and tufted ducks. A cormorant sat by a little island in the pond and a dabchick worked its way along the water's edge. Cue the second hailstorm.

A cormorant in the hail

Dabchick

The cormorant not in the hail

Song thrush

The third hailstorm happened while I was trying to excuse myself to the four robins that had decided that I must be a source of mealworms.

Robin

So I took the hint (bottled it) and got the next bus, which happened to be the one to Ormskirk. I got off at Rufford, had a look round the marina in the fifth hailstorm of the day (the fourth was when I was waiting for the bus) and train-hopped down to Burscough then up to Preston and out over to Blackburn then home. Which turned out to be not a bad way of spending an afternoon full of funny weather.

Frodsham

Raven

Afternoon stroll across Frodsham Marsh (it had been intended to be a lunchtime stroll but the train was very late). I had hoped that a day out in the fresh air at muck spreading time might have allayed the cold symptoms I've been playing with for a couple of days but apparently not. The other hope was to see one or other of the short-eared owls that have been on the marsh lately but I ran out of steam and didn't linger till the late afternoon.

Kestrel

There were four or five kestrels patrolling the fields along Lordship Lane on Frodsham Marsh. None of them were much fussed about my presence.

Kestrel

kestrel

Something scary was obviously patrolling the salt marsh as waves of lapwings (and a handful of golden plovers) kept billowing up overhead. A couple of buzzards floated low overhead but they didn't coincide with the panics amongst the waders. A clue as to what might have been happening came when a peregrine came hurtling over the top of the ridge to Number Six Bed and sped off down Lordship Lane then back over towards the salt marsh.

Lapwings

Ravens were very much in evidence, this is easily the most reliable place I know for them. This raven was torn between carrying on rummaging about at the bottom of a hawthorn and coming over and finding out what my camera was about. In the end it came and had a nosy.

Raven

The marsh harrier kept its distance over Number Six Bed.

Marsh harrier

The ponds and puddles on the salt marsh were full of teal, mallard and shovelers and there were a couple of large flocks of wigeon out amongst the sheep and Canada geese. I could hear but not see pink-footed geese somewhere out there. 

Buzzard

I decided to call it a day after I'd walked down Lordship Lane as far as the Holpool Gutter and done a circuit of Number Six Bed. It had been a decent couple of hours' birdwatching.

Crossens and Marshside

Wigeon, Crossens Outer

A stroll around Crossens and Marshside on a windy day to have another look at the long-billed dowitcher (the first one I've actually liked as opposed to just ticked off in my list) and see what geese were about.

I started off a couple of stops down Elswick Road and took the cut through past the school and onto the path on the ridge towards Crossens. The dowitcher wasn't playing nice today, possibly because a female merlin was doing the rounds: at one point she shot off the marsh just to my left, sped down the ridge away from me and then down the length of the ditch towards the waterworks. Crossens Inner Marsh was thick with wigeon and teal, mostly bathing and sleeping.

Wigeon, Marshside

These black-tailed godwits had been fighting on and off for five minutes.

There were five Bewick's swans on Crossens Inner Marsh, including one juvenile. It's nice to have some within camera lens range, they're pretty scarce in Northwest England these days.

Bewick's swans, juvenile second left

Bewick's swans

On Crossens Outer Marsh the geese were very distant, all Canada or pink-footed geese no matter how hard I might wish for something more exotic.

Canada geese and pink-footed geese on Crossens Outer Marsh with the River Ribble and Lytham in the distance

I didn't get to see a Siberian stonechat on Monday but this rather nice European stonechat accompanied me most of the way along my walk along Marine Drive by Crossens Outer Marsh.

The regular great white egret was on Marshside Outer Marsh again.