Wild goose chase

Juvenile cattle egrets, Marshside

It's a daft old game is birdwatching and today is an object example. I didn't go out on yesterday's planned hunt for a snow goose because Thursday night was unexpectedly busy and I was knackered. So it stayed all day on Plex Moss. I went out for it today, didn't get it and found myself a little stint instead then went off looking for the snow goose elsewhere and ended up with an embarrassment of cattle egrets.

On my way to Southport I saw a report that the snow goose had been seen in the flock of pink-feet on the Alt Estuary at Hightown first thing. So I got the train down and walked down to the sailing club to see if it was still about. I didn't have high hopes, it was lunchtime when I arrived and I'd expect the birds to have moved inland to feed. Sure enough, not just no snow goose but no geese whatsoever.

Hightown Beach, with the River Alt

The tide was low, the mud was exposed and despite there being a large (but very quiet) group picking litter off the beach there were plenty of birds out there. Small groups of black-headed gulls were the most immediately obvious birds, it's remarkable how easily curlews and mallards blend into a mud background. Redshanks foraged on the river banks while a large flock of shelduck dabbled about way out on the beach. 

Mallards, Hightown

I walked down the little metal grid jetty to the edge of the river bank and was rewarded with a little egret and a greenshank. I noticed a pale blob over near one of the beached buoys and kept it in sight while I retraced my steps and walked up onto the seated area by the sailing club. The change in angle worked in my favour, I could see that it was a grey plover. This spurred me to spend half an hour scanning round the mud from this vantage point. I quickly found a couple of teal on the river with some bathing mallards and as I was watching them a bar-tailed godwit wandered into plain view. 

Little egret, Hightown

Mallards and greenshank, Hightown

Grey plover, Hightown

Bar-tailed godwit and teal, Hightown

Aside from the curlews and redshanks I was only seeing single birds of other waders. I turned back to the plover to see if any more were about and noticed a small wader walking just over the brow of the bank. At first I thought it was a dunlin then it came up onto the bank so I could see it properly. A very small wader, less than half the size of the redshanks that walked by. I'd hoped to catch sight of a little stint some time this month but I wasn't expecting one today.

Little stint, Hightown
(Heavily cropped record shot)

I decided to move on to try and find the snow goose. There had been no further reports so I decided to head off for Plex Moss and try my luck there. I got the train back to Ainsdale and set off walking towards Woodvale and thence Plex Moss Lane. I'd got as far as Liverpool Road when the 44 bus to Crossens stopped at the bus stop by me. I thought it would be rude to ignore it so I headed off for Marshside instead. (A good call as it happened: while I was heading North the goose was heading South and was soon reported flying about on Altcar Moss).

Cattle egrets

I got off the bus on Marshside Road and wandered down. I hadn't gone far when I noticed some white figures skittering round the feet of the grazing cattle. You wait all year for a cattle egret and nine turn up at once, every one of them doing what it says on the tin. Two adults were readily identifiable by the traces of breeding plumage orange on their crowns. The others looked like they were younger birds, including two skinny individuals that almost looked like little egrets until they fell into the the characteristic hunchbacked posture and looked like almost typical cattle egrets. These two had darker bills than the others, the bright butter yellow being mostly confined to the base of the bill, a sign of youth. I sat on the roadside bench to watch them and they flew in closer. I know that elsewhere in the world cattle egrets are a bit wary of people, the ones in Southport couldn't give a monkey's. 

Cattle egrets, Marshside

Cattle egrets, Marshside

I spent a while watching them. I was particularly interested to watch the way they catch flying insects. I could tell when one was in the sights of an egret because it would stand very still then slowly stretch out its neck with a strange sideways movement like a snake travelling over a floor, then a sudden snap and the bird would fold back into its usual hunched posture. While I was watching the egrets a covey of red-legged partridges emerged from one of the furrows in the field and trooped across my eyeline. Definitely a day for surprises.

Red-legged partridges, Marshside

I hung on a little while then called it quits and went home. I was lucky with the trains but less lucky with the passengers once we hit the busy period at Bolton and the maskless Saturday revellers heaved on. Ah well, I won't let that spoil a good day out.