Marshside and Crossens Marsh

Snow goose, Marshside

The top order collapse and middle order collapse in England's Test Match innings gave me an incentive to go out for a walk. So I headed over to Southport to see what was on the marshes. 

For once the trains behaved impeccably. It's that time of year when I notice the lack of woodpigeons. There was the usual complement of carrion crows, jackdaws and magpies as we chugged through Greater Manchester and West Lancashire but the first woodpigeons were at Southport. Along the way there were jays in Lostock, a huge raft of coots on the lake at Pemberton Park, fields full of black-headed gulls and field drains full of mallards and teal. As I waited for the 44 bus to take me to Marshside something, I know not what, caused a huge panic amongst the healthy population of pigeons and herring gulls on the rooftops of Southport town centre. I can imagine a sparrowhawk or peregrine putting up the pigeons but not the gulls, unless they were just being offended by the intrusion.

Geese stopped play

It would have been a relatively warm, if cloudy, day but for the strong breeze. The school playing field on Marshside Road was littered with pink-footed geese with any gaps were filled in by black-headed gulls.

Black swans, Marshside 

The marshes either side of the road were busy with birds. On the side by the golf club Canada geese, greylags and four black swans grazed in the wet grass while hundreds of wigeon, teal and black-tailed godwits loafed by the pools and puddles with scores of lapwings, a handful of ruffs and here and there a few dozen shovelers. 

Shovelers, Marshside 

Black-tailed godwits, Marshside

Pink-footed geese, Marshside 

On Sutton's Marsh, the one on the right-hand side of the road as you walk out, it was a bit different. There were no birds at all within a hundred yards of the road, not even any starlings. Beyond that it was heaving with Canada geese, greylags, pink-footed geese, wigeons, lapwings, starlings and black-tailed godwits. A few groups of curlews fed in the grass and every creek and drain seemed to have a little egret. The waders and starlings were very skittish, something kept bringing them up then they'd settle for half a minute and then they'd be up again. I strongly suspected a merlin was about but I couldn't see one. Eventually I found a kestrel hovering over the marsh close to a lot of very fidgety lapwings and concluded that must be spooking them.

Wigeons and lapwings, Marshside 

The pool by Sandgrounders was empty though the banks and islands were chockablock with ducks. Wigeons grazed the banks while mallards, teal and tufted ducks dozed on the bankside with a couple of cormorants. A great black-back loafed on its own just beyond.

Teal, Marshside 

There was excitement at Sandgrounders as somebody had found a long-tailed duck amongst the gadwalls, wigeons and teal on the pool. I arrived just as it cruised up the channel at the back and out of sight. This channel curves round the back of the pools and you can see bits of it if you're tall enough and standing up. I could find a pair of shovelers, some wigeons and a teal. No matter, there was plenty else about, most of them wigeons, teal, gadwalls or shovelers. In front of the hide pairs of mallards were doing naughty mallard things without a hint of shame about it. There was a merlin about: it made a couple of ambush passes and put up all the godwits, lapwings and starlings feeding in the grass, a lot of the godwits coming in to land on the pools where they'd get earlier sighting of a third pass. The third pass was by the kestrel as it unsuccessfully tried its luck.

The pool by Sandgrounders
The back channel the long-tailed duck drifted off into is the very fine blue line just in front of the cattle on the far left.

I left the hide and walked back to the path by the road, scanning that back channel every so often to see if the changes of angle would help me find the long-tailed duck. It was only when I reached the top of the slope by the road that I was seeing enough of the channel to find my target. At first I dismissed the tiny silhouette as either a teal or a moorhen but neither of them are notable for their diving ability. It took a few minutes but I eventually saw enough of the bird to properly identify it as the long-tailed duck but I'd only been able to do so because I knew it was there and I was specifically searching for it. Had I not known beforehand I'd have missed it. I want a better sighting than that of a long-tailed duck before the year's out.

Pink-footed geese, Marshside

The walk down to Crossens as the clouds rolled in was quietly productive. There were more ducks, geese and waders on Marshside Inner Marsh. Marshside Outer Marsh looked empty until you saw the heads of the pink-footed geese on sentry-go in the tall grass in the distance. A couple of black-headed gulls and a little egret were on the pools. Somebody had reported a snow goose on the inner marsh but the only white birds I was finding were mute swans, little egrets or herring gulls. Ah well, mustn't be greedy.

Looking over Marshside and Crossens outer marshes to the Pennines

I can never remember what this toadstool's called but they always catch my eye

Crossens Inner Marsh 

Crossens Inner Marsh was carpeted with lapwings, black-tailed godwits, golden plovers and wigeon. I was feeling greedy and told myself that this would be a good time of year to be finding an American golden plover in the crowd. The more rational side of me pointed out I didn't have a snowball's chance of finding one at that distance amongst a mass of silhouettes. A few skylarks, linnets and meadow pipits flitted about, greenfinches and wrens called in the hawthorns and when the merlin shot by at chest height none of the small birds took a blind bit of notice.

Crossens Outer Marsh and great white egret 

Crossens Outer Marsh looked empty at first sight, just a few distant little egrets and great white egrets and an indistinct line of Canada geese grazing on the far salt marsh. Waves of pink-footed geese flew in to join them and one of them caught my eye because there was something white in there. Which turned out to be a snow goose. The geese joined the distant Canada geese, the pink-feet shuffling into the long grass, the snow goose hanging about for a couple of minutes before joining them. So that's where it was, then.

Little egret, Crossens Outer Marsh 

Little egret, Crossens Outer Marsh 

The creeks by the old wildfowlers' pull-in were busy with egrets, both little and great white. They didn't mind the traffic but they didn't like me walking past and retreated a few hundred yards away before returning once I'd passed. For once there were only a couple of shelducks out there.

Great white egret, Crossens Outer Marsh 

Great white egret, Crossens Outer Marsh 

Water pipit, Crossens Outer Marsh 

I always check the muddy grass around the concrete water trough a little way further down for wagtails and pipits. Which was as well as a pied wagtail and a water pipit were sitting on the trough.

Wigeons and lapwings, Crossens Inner Marsh 

Wigeons, Crossens Inner Marsh 

Wigeons, Crossens Inner Marsh 
Spot the teal.

I crossed the road to walk back into Marshside along the bund. Luckily enough even though this stretch of walk is very exposed it was sheltered from the wind by the houses and trees on the inland side. The ducks were very skittish, particularly the wigeons, which is unfortunate as there's no way not to be on the skyline as you're walking the bund. Nearly all the drake wigeons so far had moulted into breeding plumage but there were still a fair few on this marsh hanging onto their gingery eclipse plumage. The golden plovers were still distant but at least now weren't in silhouette. I only found a couple of redshanks, there were a handful of ruff out there. All along down this stretch there was a background chatter of whistling wigeons, teal and godwits.

Golden plovers, Crossens Inner Marsh 

Canada geese, Marshside

Greylags, Marshside 

Canada geese, greylags and black-tailed godwits, Marshside 

Walking through to Marshside Inner I had a bit of a suprise. There, amongst a crowd of Canada geese, greylags and black-tailed godwits jostling amongst the grazing cattle was a snow goose. We looked at each other for a good minute. I tried to move along a bit so I could get a photo of it in profile, it shuffled round so it could keep an eye on me. I put the camera away and it started grazing again. It's a funny business the birdwatching lark.

Snow goose and Canada geese, Marshside

Snow goose and Canada geese, Marshside

Snow goose and Canada geese, Marshside

Snow goose and Canada geese, Marshside

Snow goose and wigeon, Marshside

Snow goose and Canada geese, Marshside
When you see one sideways on amongst Canada geese you realise the snow goose is relatively small and compact, not unlike a pink-footed goose.

Snow goose and Canada geese, Marshside

Snow goose, Marshside