Well, that was a year that was…

Female ring-necked duck, Alexandra Park, Manchester

It's a rum sort of year where by Easter I've seen more ring-necked ducks than wigeon. Having the first quarter of the year under lockdown frustrated the usual Winter birdwatching but made sure the sites within walking distance got a hammering. 

Maps: sites recorded in Greater Manchester in 2021

Greater Manchester's been given a good going over, too: there aren't many kilometre squares I didn't visit this year. I found a lot of new birdwatching walks, revisited a few I've neglected for years, and I've been getting out of the house for a walk at least four times a week. There are places I regret not being able to visit in the circumstances (after watching the mass irresponsibility immediately after "freedom day" I was wary of making any plans) but I still managed to get a few longer distance days out.

Can you spot when Lockdown ended?

The year list ends on 198, a figure I would have laughed at in April. There are notable gaps in the list: no skuas or phalaropes (just the one owl!), no fulmar, bittern, long-tailed duck, bean goose, Caspian gull, cuckoo, pied flycatcher or water pipit. I dipped on wryneck, smew and green-winged teal, and all in all the number of records of seabirds and waders is thinner than I'd like. On the other hand, I've been falling over spoonbills, stonechats and ravens and this is the year I didn't just see an osprey from a train but a few weeks later I found where it was nesting, also from the train. So all in all it's been a very peculiar year.

I could have had one mad dash out today but why stress myself out so? It was a nice day for chilling out, refilling the feeders in the back garden and listening to the coal tit in the blackcurrant bush next to me as it waited for me to finish. So I end the year with my life list at 364, the year list at 198, my British list at 281 and my Greater Manchester list at 168. 

Lifers

I bumped into six new species this year, pretty good going given the circumstances.

• The lesser white-front at Marshside was a fluke and I'm still kicking myself for not spotting it out in the field.
   

  

  Barnacle goose, lesser white-fronted goose and pink-footed geese

  
  
• The Richardson's cackling goose at Lowercroft Reservoir was good to see, especially as it was very obliging about posing next to Canada geese so I could compare and contrast.
   

  

  Cackling goose (left) and Canada goose

  
  
• The elegant tern at Hightown was bloody hard work, worth it for a bird I would never have predicted at the start of the year.
   

  

  Sandwich terns and elegant tern

  
  
• The Savi's warbler at Heslington was a bugger to see but very obliging in song.
   
• The dusky warbler at Ainsdale was, frankly, a punt. I was in the area so decided to have a speculative nosy round and against all my expectations I actually found it.
   
• The red-backed shrike at Meols was a twitch, and turned out to be a distant lovely.
   

  

  Red-backed shrike

Actually, I wouldn't have predicted adding any of these to my life list. Finally seeing some male ring ouzels was a Spring highlight.

For a bit of fun I'll have a go at predicting next year's lifers (secure in the knowledge I'll be dead wrong):

• Lapland bunting
• Wryneck
• Little auk
• Nightjar
• Great reed warbler

Whatever 2021's been like one way or another, I hope we all have a better 2022.

West Kirby

Pale-bellied (left) and dark-bellied brent geese

For some reason West Kirby's often one of the last site visits of the year. The weather forecast looked iffy but it's been wrong all week so I thought I'd be fine for a walk round the marine lake then up to Red Rocks to see if I couldn't add brent geese to the year list.

It was warm and sunny in Manchester when I set off and I wondered if I wasn't overdressed. I needn't have worried.

Little Eye, Middle Eye and Hilbre

I got off the train at West Kirby and walked down to the marine lake in the teeming rain. It was low tide; in less atrocious weather I'd have walked over to Middle Eye. As it was I was wondering, not for the first time, why I do this to myself.

I had an anticlockwise walk round the lake. There wasn't a lot on the lake itself, except the half a dozen black-headed gulls on one of the jetties, as a group of windsurfers were taking advantage of the stiff breeze to do some stunt surfing.

Dee Estuary from the marine lake

There were a few herring gulls, black-headed gulls and redshanks on the nearby mud. There were more of them a little further out, together with a few curlews. Between the poor light and the rain on my binoculars there wasn't a lot of joy in trying to identify anything more than a hundred yards out. By the halfway mark I'd given up on the bins completely because I was doing better with the naked eye than through a film of rainwater. 

A duck flew up from the far end of the lake. Mercifully, it flew out over the mud then wheeled back low overhead before heading off towards Red Rocks so I could see it was a redhead red-breasted merganser.

Redshanks and dunlins

The rain lessened as I approached the far end of the lake, enough for me to wipe my binocular lenses dry enough to see through. The mud was littered with dunlins and redshanks. A few curlews fed a bit further out. The oystercatchers were a couple of hundred yards upstream.

Shelducks and pale-bellied brent goose

A flock of a couple of dozen shelducks kept together about fifty yards out. Along with five brent geese. Three of the geese were definitely light-bellied brents. One was a lot darker, the dark of the abdomen stretching down between and beyond its legs, a dark-bellied brent. And the one that was palling up with the dark-bellied brent was just as dark but the darkness stopped at its legs and was, presumably, a dark light-bellied brent. They moved on, walking along the mud parallel to the walkway before hopping over to feed on the seaweed on the lake margins.

Pale-bellied (left) and dark-bellied brent geese
(These are the same birds as the top photo)

Pale-bellied brent goose

Dark-bellied brent goose
(Notice how far back beyond the legs the dark colouring goes,)

Pale-bellied brent goose

I spent a short while checking out all the gulls and waders, just in case, but there was nothing more to add to the tally so I headed off back to the station before my cap shrank.

Dunlins

The plan was to head over to Southport and have one last try for a short-eared owl at Crossens. I was tempted to stop off at Moreton for the snow buntings on the revetment by Leasowe Lighthouse but the weather had closed in again so I decided to stick with the plan. It at least gave me the chance to dry off a bit.

I got into Southport an hour before sunset. I looked at the weather, I looked at the bad light, I decided to get the train home. Which was cancelled. So I bought rather a lot of crisps for me and some treats for the cat to see us into the New Year then waited for the next one.

One of those days where a really disappointing walk can still make for rewarding birdwatching.

Parkgate

Barn owl

It occurred to me that what with one thing and another it's been a few years since I last visited Parkgate. I was checking the train times and connections to Neston when I noticed there's a regular 487 bus service through to Parkgate from Liverpool. It worked out at four pounds cheaper, arriving at Neston ten minutes later than the train (assuming both connections worked) and at Parkgate about ten minutes before I would have had I walked. So I got the train to Liverpool and got the bus to Parkgate.

The journey into Liverpool was dead quiet up to Warrington (and standing room only from Widnes because it had been cut to two coaches). There were lots of woodpigeons in the trees all the way along the line. As we passed by the landscaped tip near Rixton the train disturbed a buzzard perched by the track, which disturbed a flock of chaffinches and a hovering kestrel as it flew off. There were more gulls than last time I did this journey with a distinct transition from mainly black-headed gulls up to Hough Green with mainly herring gulls on into Liverpool.

The bus journey was a rare treat and took just under an hour. Past Bebington I was the only passenger, we picked a couple more up at Thornton Hall.

Parkgate Marsh

It had been sunny when I left Manchester but raining in Liverpool. I needn't have worried though, it was overcast but dry at Parkgate. The Met Office reckoned it was 7°C but I wasn't convinced and the keening wind didn't back up the Met Office's argument any. Excellent walking weather.

The first bird I saw as I got off the bus was a male kestrel hovering over reedbed by the promenade. Looking out I could see a few mallards and teal on one of the pools and the first of a bumper bundle of marsh harriers. 

Marsh harrier

The promenade was very busy. As I walked down I'd have to hop onto the wall every so often for a scan of the marsh. More mallard and teal, a few distant wigeon, a lot of distant pink-feet. And more marsh harriers. At one point I had four in my field of view, floating over the marsh and putting up flocks of teal, redshanks and lapwings. The first egret of the day was a great white that was spooked by a male hen harrier that had flown in close to terrorise the teal in one of the pools. It was ten minutes after that I saw the first little egret.

Great white egret

Approaching The Boathouse there was another couple of great white egrets in the reeds with a couple of herons and rather a lot of woodpigeons. The "woodpigeons" feeding on a small rise a little further out turned out to be half a dozen stock doves.

I stopped for a few minutes at the car park and added a few meadow pipits and linnets to the tally.

The Boathouse

I walked down the path between the marsh and the golf course. More of the same but I was getting better views of the passing redshanks and curlews. A bunch of carrion crows were larking about on some fenceposts until a couple of the marsh harriers came too close. They were only slightly less jumpy when a raven cronked past.

The birdwatching was great but I wasn't enjoying the walk, it was far too busy (my own fault for choosing to do it this week). The light was starting to dim so I made my way back to the car park and propped myself up against the wall for a twilight vigil.

Another raven flew overhead. Hundreds of distant pink-feet flew in from the estuary. More mallards and teal flew into the reedbeds and small flocks of lapwings and starlings started to fly in to roost. The great white egrets were still out there, half a dozen herons lurked in the reeds by the car park and a few little egrets settled into distant pools.

Barn owl: first sighting

I'm not sure how I managed to stay socially-distanced against the wall but I did. The crowd that had built up suddenly went quiet. We'd all spotted it at the same moment. A barn owl slowly floated low over the reeds like so much tissue paper in the breeze. It came in close, less than fifty yards. Judging by the length of time it was down on the ground a couple of pounces were successful. After a quarter of an hour's sheer delight it flew off into the distance.

Barn owl

After one last look towards the owl I turned back to find myself watching a male hen harrier just over a hundred yards away making one last pass to make sure the lapwings and starlings knew he was there. They took the hint and took flight, together with flocks of a few dozen each of meadow pipits and linnets and a couple of skylarks.

Calm returned as the harrier moved on. Then not ten minutes later the barn owl was back, quartering the reedbeds in front of the car park wall. The light was pretty poor by now, so I was having to set the camera shutter speed manually, and getting better results as a consequence. I don't know why I keep forgetting to do this when I'm taking pictures at twilight.

Barn owl

Barn owl

Barn owl

Barn owl

Barn owl

The owl moved on and I decided I best had, too, I was starting to feel the cold. I'd let myself miss the half four bus from Neston to Liverpool so I'd have to wait for the half five from Parkgate and it was probably a good idea to walk down and have one last scan of the marsh from the benches before the last of the light.

Along the way I marvelled that the female kestrel hovering by the beer garden at the Boathouse could see anything on the ground given all the background light. It didn't seem to bother her, she managed to catch something smaller than a vole and flew off to enjoy its meal on one of the old fenceposts in the reeds.

A lot of disgruntled quacking alerted me to a female marsh harrier quartering the reeds a couple of hundred yards out from the bus stop. 

Parkgate

I had a while to wait yet so I decided to get the week's shop done in Neston. As I walked over in the dark a couple of flocks of pink-feet flew low overhead.

Got the bus at Neston, into Liverpool in time for the train to Irlam and a short wait for the train home. A very excellent afternoon.

Chelford

Wigeon and coot, Lapwing Hall Pool

It's evidently not my month for getting easy ticks on small open bodies of water. I thought I'd go down to see if the smew that's been on Lapwing Hall Pool this past week was still there. It's an easy enough trip: train into Oxford Road then either Piccadilly or Stockport for the stopping train to Crewe, get off at Chelford then a mile and a half walk down Knutsford Road then a walk down a country lane.

It being a Monday morning you can take it as read that it wasn't an easy enough trip today. So it was lunchtime before I arrived at Chelford.

By Chelford Station

It had been bright and sunny when I left home, it was cold, damp and overcast when I got to Chelford. I've not been doing nearly enough walking this past few days so my knee complained bitterly at having to have a bit of exercise. I'll have to do some long walks on the flat this week to get it back into gear.

There had been a family of long-tailed tits and a couple of dozen goldfinches in the trees by the platform when I was waiting for the train at Alderley Edge. A mixed tit flock greeted me at Chelford Station and a large flock of redwings was feeding on the fields opposite the garage on the roundabout further down the road. Walking out of Chelford there was another big flock of redwings in the chestnut trees lining the road and a few dozen jackdaws were making football crowd noises in the field of sheep on the other side.

Redwings, probable Icelandic bird on right, Lapwing Lane

I turned down Lapwing Lane and bumped into another mixed tit flock and yet more redwings. A couple of them were big and dark with heavy dark spotting underneath, probably Icelandic birds. 

A flock of siskins descended onto the tops of the silver birches by the entrance to the Lapwing Hall Pool local nature reserve as I walked in. 

Lapwing Hall Pool

I walked around the pool looking for the smew, reported to be a redhead (female or first-Winter male). It's been three years since I last saw one (I've only seen one male in "white nun" plumage this century.) There were a few mallards and tufties in the corner nearest the road and a couple of teal hiding under the willows by the bank. The only grey ducks with red heads were male wigeons, and there were a hundred or so of them, virtually every one of them one of a pair. There were half a dozen mute swans by the far banks and just a single Canada goose.

Great crested grebe, Lapwing Hall Pool

Every so often a promising looking splash would catch my eye but they all turned out to be coots or great crested grebes, except for the one that was a wigeon having a bath. There were a couple of young-looking first-Winter great crested grebes still with stripes on their necks. And there was one individual that had strikingly clear white cheeks like a black-necked grebe but from the neck down it was a textbook great crested grebe, ditto the dagger of a beak. It made me look twice, mind, as there'd been a black-necked grebe reported nearby before Christmas.

I'd gotten to the end of the stretch of path that skirted the pool with no luck. I had a look to see if anyone had reported it today, it had been seen mid-morning. So I decided to retrace my steps and have another go. Still no luck but I found a couple of pairs of gadwall with a group of wigeons and a heron on the far bank.

Along the bridleway to Congleton Lane

I'd no chance of catching the next train to Manchester so decided spend a while walking up Lapwing Lane then taking the bridleway up to Congleton Lane, thence back into Chelford. I hadn't gone far down Lapwing Lane when I bumped into a hedgerow full of tree sparrows and just before the bridleway a flock of redpolls was bouncing round in the treetops. A couple of jays clattered about by the bridleway and a great spotted woodpecker made it known it wasn't happy at my being around.

About halfway down Congleton Lane my knee suddenly declared that it had had enough exercise to get it moving properly and it was happy to carry on walking all afternoon. As it had spent the previous three hours complaining like the whiny kid that keeps asking: "Are we there yet?" the rest of me wasn't best impressed.

A flock of pink-footed geese called from behind the woods behind me. A couple of them could just be seen flying at roughly treetop height but that's as much as I could see.

Along Chelford Road

The sun had gone down by the time I got to Chelford Station. A pair of greylags flew by, heading towards the pools to the east of the village.

The return home was mercifully uneventful. It had been a frustrating day for the year list but some very productive birdwatching.

Local patch

Birch twigs, Barton Clough

It's Christmas time so the first blackcap of the Winter turned up in the garden this morning, a rather stunning male, all silver grey bar a jet black cap.

• Blackbird 3
• Blackcap 1
• Blue Tit 3
• Dunnock 2
• Goldfinch 3
• Great Tit 1
• House Sparrow 29
• Magpie 1
• Mistle Thrush 1
• Robin 1
• Rook 1
• Starling 5

I was reading that it's been a bad year for many breeding passerine birds. It looked that way here, there weren't many young titmice, dunnocks or robins in the garden this Summer. On the other hand, it's been a bumper year hereabouts for sparrows: the family based just over the railway track ("team silver") is now over two dozen strong, the one by the station ("team tawny") is nearly as big, the family that lives down the road and sometimes visits the far end of the station platform is at least a dozen birds, and the family that lives on Barton Road between the clinic and the shops is also at least a dozen birds. Let's hope next year's productive for all of them.

It now being school holidays I wasn't expecting many gulls on the school playing field. There were more lesser black-backs than usual, though.

• Black-headed Gull 17
• Carrion Crow 1
• Collared Dove 1
• Common Gull 1
• Herring Gull 2
• House Sparrow 6
• Jackdaw 13
• Lesser Black-backed Gull 5
• Magpie 6
• Rook 2
• Starling 1
• Woodpigeon 6

I debated what to do on the last day of playtime. Would I go and have a look for the redhead smew in Cheshire? Or perhaps join the Belted kingfisher twitch in Lancashire? I decided on a stress-free day and went for a long wander round the local patch instead of the usual passing glance I've been doing lately.

Lostock Park

Winter has definitely arrived: a big flock of starlings on the football pitch included half a dozen redwings and we've had an influx of blackbirds in the park. 

Barton Clough

There were more blackbirds on the old cornfield and all those goldfinches that have been nowhere to be seen this past few months are here now. It also looks like a new gang of magpies has joined the regulars.

• Black-headed Gull 3 overhead
• Blackbird 23
• Blue Tit 11
• Carrion Crow 2
• Chaffinch 1
• Dunnock 3
• Feral Pigeon 5 overhead
• Goldfinch 52
• Great Tit 11
• Greenfinch 6
• Herring Gull 4 overhead
• House Sparrow 3
• Lesser Black-backed Gull 4 overhead
• Magpie 32
• Mistle Thrush 3
• Redwing 10
• Robin 9
• Song Thrush 2
• Starling 47
• Woodpigeon 10
• Wren 1

No idea where the usual mass of pigeons and woodpigeons were hiding.

It was nice to see a Christmas rabbit down by the flyover.

Magpies and carrion crow, Barton Clough

Etherow Country Park

Mandarin duck

It was a pretty grey and dismal shortest day of the year so I went to get some pictures of mandarin ducks. Which turned out to be a reminder that taking photos of lively woodland birds in lousy light is a tad challenging.

There was a pair of tufted ducks with the mallards and Canada geese on the pool. There were also more than a hundred black-headed gulls, some of which were closely shadowing a couple of juvenile cormorants in the hopes of stealing a meal.

I'd hoped to see a dipper and/or grey wagtail on the river but no luck. Along the way there there were a couple of fair-sized mixed tit flocks with all the usual suspects and siskins with the goldfinches in the alders by the path. 

Mandarin ducks

After struggling to get pictures of mandarin ducks in dark stretches of the little canal, or hiding under willow branches, it was nice to bump into a couple of pairs perched on the railing by the weir.

Mandarin duck

I had a very brief wander through part of Ernocroft Wood — I didn't fancy the steep slope up on a knee that was objecting to the cold and damp. A couple of pairs of carrion crows made a lot of noise and a few woodpigeons clattered about.

River Etherow and Ernocroft Wood

I wandered into Keg Wood to see what was about. A couple of great tits rummaged in the undergrowth near the gate with a few blackbirds and a couple of robins had a singing contest. About a dozen woodpigeons were gracelessly berry picking in the ivies near the treetops.

Keg Wood, overlooking the River Etherow

My knee strenuously objected to the mad dip-and-rise just before the path to Keg Pool so I decided to not push my luck any. I set off back, taking the top path through the woods back down to the visitor centre. It was fairly quiet, a couple each of great tits and robins, a few blackbirds and magpies and a chaffinch. I finally saw my first grey wagtail of the month as it flew over while I was making patronising noises at a golden retriever.

As I reached the visitor centre fifty-odd jackdaws flew in to roost in the woods. I got the  384 bus to Stockport just as it started properly raining.

Martin Mere

Pintail

It was set to be a grey, cool day, just right for a visit to Martin Mere. I could get a decent walk in and perhaps fill in a couple of gaps in my records: I've seen no owls this year and too few corn buntings for my liking.

The train from Wigan was late, though it had made up a lot of time on the way to New Lane. There was the usual assortment of corvids and pigeons along the way and a large flock of black-headed gulls in the fields just outside Parbold. Halfway between Hoscar and Burscough Bridge I was struck again by the simple beauty of a field of alternating blocks of curly kale and cavalo nero.

Walking down Marsh Moss Road from New Lane Station

The hedgerows by New Lane Station were a lot quieter than usual, just a couple of blackbirds and a robin. I walked down Marsh Moss Road, stopping to make sure that the black-headed gulls and woodpigeons a few fields over were just black-headed gulls and woodpigeons. A chap walked by as I stood on the verge pointing my binoculars at the large trees on the bend. "Anything interesting?" he asked. "I'm looking for Winter thrushes but there aren't any." "No," he replied, "There's hardly been any. And we've been very low on starlings this year, too." A skein of pink-feet overhead were a seasonal touch.

I joined the path that leads through the bit of light woodland to Martin Mere, scattering a few dozen woodpigeons in the process. A mixed tit flock bounced by me: a family of long-tailed tits, a few great tits and coal tits but — strangely — no blue tits. The field by the border of Martin Mere was thick with jackdaws and woodpigeons, which was odd because the only obvious attraction was a big pile of waste carrots which they were studiously ignoring.

Lapwings, ruff, black-tailed godwit and moorhen

Once into Martin Mere I headed straight for the Discovery Hide. The mere was very busy. Wigeons, pintails and mallards dabbled by the sides or loafed in rafts at the old Swan Link end. Lapwings, ruffs and black-tailed godwits loafed on the islands, a couple of godwits fed in front of the hide. 

Wigeon

Rafts of dozens of shelduck drifted across the open water, with more incoming. There weren't many geese, and all of them greylags. There were a few whooper swans about, mostly on the far side of the mere. The rest of the cast list included a couple of hundred black-headed gulls, a few pochard and tufties, a lesser black-back and a brute of a great black-back that dwarfed the couple of cormorants it swam past. A twittering of wigeon alerted me to a marsh harrier drifting over the far side but it stayed over the reedbed walk so the wigeon settled back to grazing on the bank.

Black-tailed godwit

Pintails

Greylags

The pool in front of the Hale Hide was jam-packed with greylags, mallards and teal. More greylags were feeding on a pile of waste potatoes in the company of a few dozen whoopers and wigeons.

Walking down to the Kingfisher Hide I bumped into a tit flock that did include blue tits this time. The hide was very quiet, just a few chaffinches and blue tits on the feeders and some teal and moorhens on the pool.

Ron Barker Hide

Walking down to the Ron Barker Hide I could hear, but not see, a great spotted woodpecker. I finally caught sight of it as I got to the pond. "It" was a pair of courting birds, the female closely following the male as he progressed up the trunk of one of the small trees in the hedge. When he got to the top he called then flew over to one of the taller trees, the female following a moment later. I lost sight of them when they landed though I heard the call a couple more times.

Marsh harrier

There was a couple of hundred teal in the open water of the pool immediately in front of the Ron Barker Hide and a similar number of wigeon on the pool to the right. The reason why became obvious: a marsh harrier floated over towards Windmill Farm, another hunted over the reeds over the far side, while a third was sat in a tree watching the teal.

A couple of pairs of teal dabbled in the drain with a pair of mallards and a moorhen while a stonechat fossicked about in the dead thistles on the bank.

Teal

Small parties of shelducks and whooper swans flew in and headed for the mere while pink-footed geese flew higher overhead, aiming for the fields beyond.

Whooper swans

I wandered back and headed for the Janet Kear Hide, conscious that I hadn't yet seen any tree sparrows or goldfinches. Along the way I checked all the ivy-covered trees in the forlorn hope of seeing a bit of a tawny owl. A charm of goldfinches was feeding with greenfinches in alders on the path. Another mixed tit flock bounced through the hedgerow. "The bramblings are showing well at Janet Kear," said a passer-by.

Chaffinch

A flock of chaffinches were on the feeders when I arrived at the hide. They promptly disappeared with the exit of a noisy party and not many of them came back. Any bramblings must have gone with the pack. There were plenty enough of goldfinches, greenfinches, great tits and blue tits and a couple of robins demonstrated how to hover and pluck sunflower seeds from a feeder.

It was getting on now so I left Martin Mere and had a twilit walk down to Burscough Bridge. The redwings I didn't see at New Lane were feeding in the field at the corner of Marsh Moss Road and Tarlsclough Lane and the hedges held the tree sparrows that weren't at Martin Mere. A couple of skeins of pink-feet flew over and a scan of the paddocks by Crabtree Lane for little owls just found a pair of carrion crows. It was too late for corn buntings, they're early to bed, early to rise.

So I didn't get any of my targets but I'd had a good walk and had some very good birdwatching.