Southport

Curlew sandpiper, Crossens Inner Marsh

Off to Southport for a wander round Marshside and Crossens on a bright, windy day.

Cattle egrets, Marshside

I'd barely got to the reserve on Marshside Road when I noticed there were a couple of cattle egrets with the cattle feeding by the path to Hesketh Road. As I was looking at them another couple flew over from the other side of the road. I decided to go down the path for a closer look and to see if I could get a photo. As I got closer I spotted more cattle egrets, most of them juveniles. There were eight all told. I took a few pictures and watched as the egrets squabbled with each other and with passing black-headed gulls. I started back towards Marshside Road and walked down towards Junction Pool. A couple more cattle egrets flew over, one flew back, another flew over. In the end o concluded there were eleven of them; it might have been twelve but with them skittering around so much I couldn't sure sure. It was interesting watching a little egret flying over with a cattle egret, the difference in body shape and the more rounded wings of the cattle egrets showed well. There must be a local breeding population, the regular arrival of juvenile cattle egrets here every Autumn can't just be coincidence.

Cattle egrets, Marshside

Black-headed gull and cattle egret squabbling

My first pink-footed geese of Autumn flew over amongst the flock of greylags spooked by two army helicopters flying over. Just a couple of dozen but a start. There were a lot fewer house martins this time, another hint of Autumn.

Junction Pool was quiet: half a dozen each of tufted duck and mallard. Further out in the field the dark continuation of a ridge of dark earth turned out to be a hundred or so black-tailed godwits and a single curlew.

Kestrel, Marshside

Walking down to Nels hide I noticed there was a large flock of swallows hawking low over the salt marsh and taking no notice whatsoever of a hunting kestrel. It was very quiet at Nels Hide, a few black-headed gulls, mallard and coot.

I walked down to Sandgrounders Hide where a small group were trying to find a pair of swan geese that had been reported earlier among the Canada geese. I'd found a Canada goose with a white head and was trying to work out if it was a touch of leucism or farmyard parentage when the whole flock were got up by the return of the helicopters. They settled back down again but I couldn't find either the white-headed Canada goose or any swan geese.

Heading towards Crossens there were plenty of shovelers and teal in the ditches on Marshside Inner and a marsh harrier was hunting far out on the Outer salt marsh. A ruff flew past, heading towards Crossens Inner Marsh with a flock of starlings.

Pink-footed geese, Crossens Outer Marsh

There were more pink-footed geese, fifty or so, and another hundred over on Crossens Outer. They were very skittish, rising and flying round in a panic whenever an aircraft flew over. I scanned them all, just to make sure there was nothing exotic amongst them and found the only shelduck of the day. Approaching the wildfowlers'pull-in there were dozens of teal and the first half-dozen wigeon of Autumn, all drakes in bright ginger eclipse plumage.

Pink-footed geese, Crossens Outer Marsh

I crossed back over to Crossens Inner and walked down the bund back towards Marshside Road to see what waders were lurking in the muddy puddles at the back of the marsh. A couple of hundred lapwings had made themselves obvious when they were spooked by the panicking geese. About a hundred black-tailed godwits were scattered about in small groups and half a dozen redshanks were feeding in the mud. Eventually I found some more ruff feeding with the teal and with them were eight very nice curlew sandpipers. A couple of dunlin made me go back to make sure I'd identified the curlew sandpipers correctly. I've never seen that many together in one place before, I usually just see one or two. I found another three of them further along feeding with redshanks.

Curlew sandpipers and ruffs, Crossens Outer Marsh

Ruffs, Crossens Outer Marsh

Curlew sandpiper, Crossens Outer Marsh

By the time I'd got back to the bus stop the weather had turned, a dirty big cloud hid the sun and no amount of wind was blowing it out of the way, but it had been a very splendid September afternoon.