Southport

Black-tailed godwits, Crossens Outer
Spot the knot!

The weather forecast was vile and the actual weather was viler so there was no chance of a local walk being either enjoyable or fruitful. The coast was promised better weather so I went over to Southport to have a nosy round Marshside and Crossens.

By the time I got off the bus at Marshside it was cloudy and windy but still dry. House martins were feeding low over the fields by Marshside Road. Feeding on the fields were dozens of Canada geese and curlews, the curlews difficult to see amongst the spikes of dock flowers.

The Junction Pool was quiet, just five young tufted ducks. I walked down to Nels Hide. Turns out that the hides are open again, with the seating set out to impose social distancing and sanitiser available for hand-washing. A couple of dozen black-headed gulls shared the little island in front of the hide with a couple of gadwall and coots. Half a dozen herring gulls and a lesser black-back joined them. Out in the water a dozen coot and a few mallard steered well clear of a great black-back that was having a bath.

Bathing great black-back, Marshside

Bathing great black-back, Marshside

There have been reports of cattle egrets here over the past couple of weeks and this is the usual time of year when I usually see my first cattle egrets so I had a good look round for any. It wasn't very promising: there wasn't much showing in the grass opposite the hide so I had a scan over towards Hesketh Road where a herd of cattle were feeding. A bunch of black-headed gulls were fussing about and also a little egret which flew over and landed beyond. I was about to give up on it when a flash of orange caught my eye. It was the crown of an adult cattle egrets. After a couple of minutes I realised it wasn't alone, it had a juvenile with it. The two of them fed around the feet of the cattle, mostly hidden by the tall grass.

A dozen little egrets hiding in sea lavender, Marshside

On the way back I noticed a dozen little egrets loafing by a pool on the marsh across the pond. They were pretty well hidden by clouds of sea lavender. It occurred to me that there was a time when twelve little egrets would have been a twitch.

It was a high tide and flocks of waders were moving about the marsh, most of them being disturbed by walkers heading for the tideline. A cloud of dunlins or knots were far distant. Flocks of oystercatchers rose up from a pool they'd been sharing with a couple of dozen shelduck.

Oystercatchers, Marshside

The Sandgrounders Hide was open and attended by a volunteer. She told me there'd only been seven visitors all day, which surprised me even though Marshside is one of RSPB's quieter reserves. I didn't sit in the hide, I could see plenty from the screen next to it. Out in the grass there were small groups of black-tailed godwits. Further out were groups of Canada geese and black-headed gulls. On the pool in front of the hide were  half a dozen mallard and a couple of gadwall. And a wader asleep on its own. A chunky wader with its bill tucked into its back feathers standing behind a tussock of grass so you can't guage the length of its legs isn't easy, especially this time of year when nearly anything could be nearly anywhere, so it was a relief when it woke up and had a look round and confirmed my guess it was a knot.

Knot, Marshside

By this stage it was quite sunny so I carried on along the path by the road to see what was in the pools and ditches. Quite a few more mallards, coots and little egrets and a dozen male shovelers in a baffling selection of eclipse, partial eclipse and juvenile colours.

I wandered over towards Crossens. I often think that when the pink-footed geese aren't about Crossens Outer Marsh is a bit thin pickings. Days like today remind me I'm wrong. The tide being very high hundreds of waders could be seen roosting on the marsh. A couple of big mixed flocks of knot and dunlin were very skittish and didn't really settle. Three big flocks of black-tailed godwits spread themselves across the ground and large groups of oystercatchers congregated around small pools. Dotted about this landscape were small flocks of shelduck, teal and gadwall. Further out the waders were unidentifiable but large flocks of black-headed gulls stood out. All the time hundreds of Canada geese and dozens of lapwings and oystercatchers commuted between Crossens Outer and Crossens Inner marshes.

Knots and dunlin, Crossens Outer

Oystercatchers, Crossens Outer

Black-tailed godwits, Crossens Outer

Black-tailed godwits and knot, Crossens Outer

Black-tailed godwits, Crossens Outer

Peering out from the wildfowlers' pull-in I spotted a big dark bird flying in from the river. I thought it was a carrion crow at first but it wasn't flying like one so I kept an eye on it as it flew closer and revealed itself to be a juvenile marsh harrier (it's always easier when they wheel round and you get a head-on view rather than trying to work out the wing length side-on from half a mile away).

In the end I'd made a long afternoon of it and it was very worthwhile. Keeping the year list ticking over with the addition of cattle egrets was a bonus.