Southport

Greylag, Marshside

I decided to have a wander round Southport while it's still an option and the weather should be behaving itself. (As it happens, it was a bright sunny day right to the moment I stepped off the bus.)

All the signs were encouraging as I walked down Marshside Road: the fields were damp, gaggles of Canada geese and greylags and small flocks of wigeon were feeding on the grass, and small parties of pink-footed geese flew over. Once I got my eye in I could see a few dozen curlew in the long grass and groups of teal nestling by the pools. There were a couple of herons about and a dozen little egrets were dotted about the landscape. I'd hoped for cattle egret amongst the cattle today but no joy: one of the white blobs by their feet was a little egret, the other a Tesco carrier bag.

There was some work being done near the Sandgrounders Hide but that didn't seem to be bothering the birds on the marsh. I'm not sure what they're doing at the corner of the road, they've cut down the bushes and done some excavation but I couldn't work out why. I'm still wondering what removing the hawthorn hedges from the side of the road did except remove cover and nesting places for small birds.

Black-tailed godwits, Marshside

Black-tailed godwits

There was literally nothing on Junction Pool so I wandered down to Nels Hide. A huge flock of black-tailed godwits lined the far edge of the pool, with a more feeding in the grass beyond with lapwings. Nearly all were now in their Winter greys though some still had rusty tinges to their heads and necks. Something scared up the greylags in the field, which scared up the Canada geese and this, in turn, scared up the godwits and lapwings. Usually this is caused by an aircraft but I couldn't hear or see anything. All the birds settled back down again but ten minutes later the godwits and lapwings were back up, probably in response to a bird of prey but I couldn't see one if one there was. 

Canada geese and greylags

Black-tailed godwits being photo-bombed by a herring gull and lapwings

Greylags

Black-tailed godwits

All the while the ducks — wigeon, teal, shovelers and gadwall — just went about their business as if nothing was happening. A couple of pintails flew in and settled down amongst the shovelers.

Wigeon

Shoveler

The usual reaction of a shoveler to the camera

Pintails

Black-headed gulls

Sandgrounders was quiet: Canada geese on the big pool, teal, wigeon and gadwall in front of the hide.

Marshside Outer Marsh

I walked down the path alongside the Inner Marsh. There were more ducks in the creeks and pools along here, mostly teal and mallard, with a family party of tufted duck and a couple of pairs of shelduck. Over in the Outer Marsh I could see lots of small groups of pink-feet dotted about, mostly hidden in the long grass except for the tops of heads of the geese on guard duty. There was probably a couple of hundred geese out there but it was a struggle to see more than a couple of dozen. Far out, approaching the shore line, a marsh harrier floated over the reeds, much to the dismay of small black dots that may have been meadow pipits or skylarks.

Pink-footed geese, Marshside Outer Marsh

Pink-footed geese, Marshside Outer Marsh

Crossens Inner Marsh is still drier than it used to be so no golden plovers about. There were plenty of lapwings and wigeon about and teal and mallards in the creeks and pools and a flock of black-headed gulls on the big pool by the waterworks. A flock of fifty or so starlings bustled about between the feet of the lapwings and wigeon.

Wigeon, Crossens Outer Marsh

Wigeon, Crossens Outer Marsh

There weren't many geese on the outer marsh and what there was was in the far distance. A few shelduck and a couple of little egrets were a bit closer. A couple of buzzards sat on fenceposts a respectable distance from each other. A herd of bullocks were grazing but no birds accompanied them. Approaching the old wildfowlers' pull-in there was a flock of a couple of hundred wigeon, at least half of them ginger headed first Winter drakes. There was a bit of a kerfuffle as a merlin flew past but it wasn't stopping. Fifty or so teal joined the wigeons near the stream.

Teal, Crossens Outer Marsh

I was hoping for ruff, or even curlew sandpiper, as I headed down the path along the bund at the back of the inner marshes. As it was, the only waders around were lapwings and blackwits. I did meet some friendly dogs. 

I checked the bus times and not wanting to hang around half an hour at a bus stop in the rain I walked down the path through the golf course onto Hesketh Road. I was hoping that any cattle egrets that may have been about would have been with the cattle feeding near this path, sadly not. Looking out on the pool from the Hesketh Road platform there were plenty more black-tailed godwits and shovelers and a party of half a dozen pink-feet were accompanied by a tundra bean goose that was making great play of being bigger and broader than the rest of the crowd. I'm guessing this is the same bird that's been hanging around after it injured its wing last Spring.

Tufted ducks, Hesketh Park

Having walked this far and the rain having eased I decided to walk over to Hesketh Park to see if the female scaup that had been reported was still hanging round with the tufted ducks but no joy there either.

A longer than intended walk, in less Clement weather than I'd expected, and I was knackered by the time I got home but it was a very good day's birdwatching. On the way home, staring out into the twilight in the vain hope for a passing owl I was pleased to be proved right in my prediction that a flooded field near Bescar Lane would have a few whooper swans on it by nightfall.