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Snow goose |
It had been a busy old time on Rimmer's Marsh over the weekend. Rimmer's Marsh is the name I can never remember for the stretch between Marshside Road and Hesketh Road at Marshside. Besides the little gull that eluded me earlier this month there were reports of a Temminck's stint, a green-winged teal and a snow goose. I'd be happy seeing any one of those so I headed for Southport and got the 44 to Marshside Road on a bright, hazy sunny day.
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Goldfinch |
The traffic of house sparrows and starlings between the housing estate and the marsh was constant and gratifyingly heavy. Three house martins wheeling over the rooftops were equally welcome. Goldfinches and a couple of linnets were making inroads on the dandelion clocks along the path.
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Lapwing |
There wasn't a lot on Sutton's Marsh (the bit of Marshside across the road from Rimmer's) that wasn't starlings or spadgers and what there was was two overlain grids of nesting Canada geese and lapwings. The geese apparently needed half a much space as the lapwings. Any magpies, jackdaws or herring gulls were seen on their way by angry lapwings. My first Canada goslings of the year grazed by the drain and gave no hint of how surly and bad-tempered they would be in adult life. A couple of skylarks sang over the marsh as I walked down.
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Canada goose and goslings |
Across the road, Rimmer's Marsh was wetter, the little pools and channels having mallards and black-headed gulls loafing at their edges. Nesting greylags, Canada geese, lapwings and black-headed gulls were peppered thinly across the marsh. The snow goose was a distant white shape by the golf course.
There were more signs of Spring by the pathside: large whites, peacocks and orange tips fluttered about, a sedge warbler sang from the reeds in the drain and a whitethroat sang from the gorse bushes at the end of the road.
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Sutton's Marsh |
I'd been keeping an eye out for a little gull as I walked down the road, without any luck. I crossed over to the Junction Pool where I was told I'd missed it and it was now loafing just out of sight on one of the pools on the marsh. I had a scan round to see what was about besides the mallards, shovelers, tufted ducks and couple of dozen black-tailed godwits I'd seen from the road. I quickly found pairs of oystercatchers, redshanks and avocets amongst the godwits. The only little egret of the day flew by and over the road onto Sutton's. A second calendar year spoonbill flew past and headed towards Hesketh Road. A couple of swallows circled and swooped round the pool.
Nel's Hide was apparently seeing all the action so I headed that way down the roadside path. Goldfinches twittered about the bund, more large whites and orange tips fluttered low over the bank, skylarks and meadow pipits sang on the outer marsh and the wheeling swallows were joined by half a dozen sand martins.
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Gadwall |
Nel's Hide was busy for a Monday afternoon but there was plenty of room and everyone was friendly. Gadwalls, coots and families of mallards slowly drifted about the pool with a mute swan. Herring gulls loafed in a crowd on the far bank. Pairs of lesser black-backs bathed or courted by the waterside.
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Gadwalls and lesser black-back |
The green-winged teal had been showing well amongst the teals to one side of the hide but had drifted further down into the reeds and sedges and out of sight. Redshanks and a few ruffs skittered about the waterside, a few of the redshanks breaking off feeding to strut about with open wings raised to show off to the ladies.
I quickly spotted a little ringed plover skittering about the teal dozing on a muddy island. There's not a right lot dwarfed by a teal. A Temminck's stint would be about the same size as the plover so I set about scanning round for that. The two big problems with Temminck's stints are that they're mud-coloured and they aren't the most energetic of waders and this combination makes them easy to overlook, even if you could guarantee they weren't hidden behind a clod of earth or a clump of sedges. A ringed plover flew in and landed a couple of mudbanks away from the little ringed plover, its bright orange legs being a more immediate identifier than the differences in size and plumage.
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Second calendar year black-headed gull I was puzzled by this until it opened its wings and flew off. |
I was having no luck finding the stint. Suddenly a chap with a telescope piped up: "I've found the stint if anyone wants it." I followed his instructions, it was on a patch of mud where I'd been watching the little ringed plover skittering around for a while before it moved on to the other end of the little island. For the life of me I couldn't see the stint, I could bet I was staring at it and looking straight through it. The chap with the 'scope took pity on me and invited me to have a look. I had been staring at it and seeing right through it.
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Teal and Temminck's stint A heavily cropped photo to give you a fighting chance of finding the stint. |
I spent a little longer in the hide, just in case the green-winged teal might make an appearance or the little gull fly by then made my way back. The snow goose had come in to join the Canada geese on the pool. It's been here, on and off, a couple of months and is officially of uncertain origin. Waterfowl are assumed to be of uncertain origin until proven to have come here under their own steam. It's not unusual to find a snow goose this time of year tagging along with the pink-feet heading back North, it's unusual (and hence officially suspicious) for one to linger. On the other hand, it's not unusual to find a pink-footed goose or two lingering all Summer on the Ribble Estuary after having missed the bus home for one reason or another and not wanting to make the run back North on their own. And it's always nice to get a close look at a snow goose.
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Snow goose |
The Mediterranean gull was a fluke. I'd just looked over the nettles on the bank and there it was with a few black-headed gulls. I couldn't get the white wagtail running along the near bank into the picture.
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Mediterranean gull, black-headed gulls and lapwing |
I sat by the Junction Pool a while on the off-chance the little gull might stray back. House martins had joined the swallows and sand martins which made for a nice confusion. The sedge warbler and the whitethroat sang. Coots and godwits squabbled. Redshanks courted. I checked every small gull that flew about or bathed in the pools and they were all black-headed. I wasn't disappointed in the least, I'd seen plenty and there are worse ways of spending a Monday afternoon.
It might have been while I was chatting to a couple that the little gull came in. I didn't see it. I was scanning round the landscape, just in case, when I saw a group of black-headed gulls I hadn't seen before bathing in one of the pools. Then I noticed that the one standing to one side at the back was significantly smaller than the others. Just in case it was wishful thinking I had a look round elsewhere and came back to it. It was standing side-on to me, was significantly smaller than the others and was an adult little gull. A nice bonus of a bird.
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Stonechat |
As I walked back up Marshside Road for the bus a pair of stonechats told me to keep on moving out of their territory.
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Did you find the Temminck's stint? |
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Gorse |