Frodsham

Reed bunting

It looked like being a decent day so I decided on Frodsham Marsh for the first proper walk of the year. For a change I thought I'd start at Helsby and walk through to Frodsham.

There was a crowd of black-headed gulls on the school playing field as I set out, nearly ninety birds, together with common gulls, a lesser black-back and a couple of first-Winter herring gulls.

Waiting for the train at Oxford Road one of the city centre peregrines circled over for a couple of minutes before flying on over towards the Town Hall. It's been a while since I've seen one, I took it as a good omen.

Rake Lane

I got off the train at Helsby and walked down Rake Lane towards Holpool Gutter. The potholes in the path were ankle-deep with water, a recurring feature of today's walk.

The Spring-like weather was affecting some of the birds: a blue tit sang from the top of the hawthorn hedgerow and dunnocks were chasing each other round the hedge bottoms. There were carrion crows and woodpigeons in the stubble fields, a few pigeons and a pair of stock doves flew overhead and there were lots of small brown birds which weren't for sitting about waiting to be identified. It took quarter of an hour to be sure of the flock of linnets and the skylarks feeding on the ground, the flock of meadow pipits that flew in were rather easier, the one corn bunting I could reliably identify was a bit of a challenge. A small flock of reed buntings took pity on me and posed for the camera.

There'd been odd black-headed gulls and lesser black-backs flying overhead. A great black-back flew over Holpool Gutter while I was trying to see what had brought up flocks of curlews and starlings up off the marsh. I couldn't see the culprit, the great black-back was an innocent bystander. Five mute swans, including a particularly grubby first-Winter bird, flew in to join the sheep in one of the fields.

Buzzard

I'd had a bad night's sleep and the hypnotic swoosh and hiss of the wind turbines down Lordship Lane almost had me sleepwalking through the puddles. Which is how I almost missed a big charm of goldfinches in the dead thistles on the embankment and the flock of redwings in the hawthorns. Half a dozen ravens cronking overhead were difficult to miss, as was the buzzard sitting in a tree by the lane.

Along Lordship Lane

I walked up to No.6 Lagoon. At the top of the initial incline I looked back and had a scan over the fields I couldn't see from Lordship Lane. Three fields away a small flock of pink-footed geese were sharing a stubble field with crows and woodpigeons. Next door, difficult to see through the gaps in the hedge and more often than not hidden by passing sheep, was a small herd of whooper swans and at least one Bewick's swan. I climbed up onto the embankment for a better view but couldn't be sure there was more than just the one Bewick's. I was bounced out of muttering dark thoughts of frustration by a Cetti's warbler that started singing from the nettles by my side.

No.6 Lagoon

There was a small mixed flock of shovelers and teal on the "Phalarope pool," with a couple of mallards and a moorhen. A kestrel hovered over the marsh and a few herring gulls and black-headed gulls flew over the Ship Canal. There were lots more shovelers, teal and mallards on the pools further along the marsh. A dozen common gulls passed overhead including a first-Winter bird and what I think was a second-Winter bird with unusually pale marginal coverts that made me look twice.

Perching mallards

There were a couple of hundred shovelers on No.6 Lagoon, together with dozens of teal, mallards and pintails. A dozen shelducks dabbled by the reedbed on the Western side and half a dozen in the deep waters at the Eastern end. The water was high and there weren't any waders to be seen.

I carried on walking round and over into Frodsham without adding anything to the day's tally.

Frodsham Marsh

A nice walk on a mild, sunny day and a good start to the birdwatching year.