Merseyside

Lesser black-back, Crosby Marine Lake

I decided to attack a fit of the grues with a trip to the seaside. I'd been meaning to go over to Crosby Marina in the hopes that I might bump into a Sandwich tern or a wheatear on its way South and the weather was iffy enough for the visit to be comfortable.

Herring gulls and a lesser black-back, Crosby Marine Lake

The gulls on the "boating lake" gave a hint of Winter gull watching bafflement to come. Most were herring gulls and black-headed gulls with a few lesser black-backs and a common gull.

Common gull,  Crosby Marine Lake

As well as the usual confusion of ages and moults quite a few of the younger gulls were showing signs of sun bleaching.

Herring gulls, including a very bleached individual, and a lesser black-back,  Crosby Marine Lake

There were a dozen or so mallards and half a dozen tufted ducks, together with a family of mute swans. I only saw one meadow pipit fly over and no signs of skylarks at all, twenty-odd pied wagtails skittering about in the grass were a consolation.

Although the tide was quite high there were no waders on the beach, just gulls and crows. I struggled with one small gull out on its own. In the light it looked wholly dove grey and at first I thought it was a pigeon. Eventually, after an embarrassing interval, I realised it was a juvenile black-headed gull.

Juvenile black-headed gull, Crosby beach
I struggled with this bird.

Walking along the perimeter fence I had a look to see what was about on Seaforth Nature Reserve. The only small birds about were a flock of house sparrows and a few linnets, so much for my hopes of any passage migrants. A curlew mingled with a few dozen Canada geese on the grass. I could hear terns but couldn't see any.

There were no waders or ducks out on the water, the only ducks were a couple of dozen mallards on the scrape with some loafing cormorants, a dozen oystercatchers and a few black-tailed godwits. I was surprised to see a pair of black swans steam into view.

Black swans, Seaforth Nature Reserve

I had a saver ticket I wanted to max out so I moved on to the Wirral, taking a walk from Hoylake to Red Rocks. The tide was receding by this time so it wasn't altogether surprising that aside from distant silhouettes of oystercatchers all the beach had to offer were some pied wagtails and a small flock of ringed plovers. I could hear distant terns but they must have been on the far side of Hilbre Island. Plenty of black-headed and herring gulls.

The weather had cheered up and by now it was getting rather busy so I called it quits. I wondered about getting back via Chester (I had an old man's Northern Rail explorer) but couldn't make the connection work so beetled directly back home.