Pennington Flash

The car park oystercatcher

I was woken by the garden warbler singing in the garden. It took me a while to realise it wasn't the blackcap which had joined in the dawn chorus.

By the path to the car park

It was another of those days where if you don't like the weather something very different will come along in a moment so I went over to Pennington Flash where at least there's some cover to be had on a retreat to the bus stop.

Between showers

Despite the heavy rain as I walked down from St. Helen's Road there were plenty of birds in the trees and hedges by the path. The songs of blackcaps, wrens and a goldcrest were almost drowned out by a song thrush. Blue tits and great tits skittered around in the branches. Just the one chaffinch, a female.

Three-cornered leeks

As I got to the car park I noticed the three-cornered leeks were in full bloom. The sun came out as I scanned the flash. There were plenty of mute swans and Canada geese about, with a couple of dozen each of black-headed gulls and lesser black-backs. A handful of swifts hawked over the water and a couple of common terns were feeding over on the far side of the flash.

The water was understandably high and the spit at the Horrocks Hide was a series of small islands. I could see a few more geese and black-headed gulls, a couple of lesser black-backs sat on the compass pole and a pair of teal dabbled at the edge of the water.

Adult (left) and immature grey heron

A few herons loafed on the banks of the pool in front of the Tom Edmondson Hide. A few mallards, mute swans and gadwall were on the pool in the company of a male tufted duck.

A couple of reed warbler sang in the reeds either side of the path. The usual Cetti's warbler was nowhere to be heard this time.

Ramsdales scrape

One of the panels on the screen by Ramsdales Hide had been wrecked which made it a bit tricky for observation without disturbing the birds. A few Canada geese, mallard and gadwall loafed on the islands with a pair of lapwings. A dozen great crested grebes dozed in the bight. As I turned to go down the path a family party of bullfinches scattered from the brambles.

I had another look over the flash from Horrocks Hide while the weather was behaving itself. There were a few more common terns about, including one that looked a bit different, a short head and neck giving it an almost parakeet-like shape. Luckily for me the sun came out and the Arctic tern wheeled into the light showing a clean translucent wing with a thin black trailing edge. Good job it did otherwise I'd have had to leave it as a "Commic tern."

While I was watching the terns a flock of a dozen or so swallows fed high overhead and a sedge warbler sang from the patch of scrub by the water.

Not boding well

I watched the next weather front coming our way and decided to call it quits, pausing only to say hello to the car park oystercatcher.