Southport

Pink-footed geese 

It was a cooler, more blustery day though the early morning was quite sunny and I wondered if I was overdressed as I stood at the station listening to the blackcap and the chiffchaff. The blackcap's a regular Spring feature, the chiffchaff much less so. It doesn't seem settled in yet, I've heard it singing all around the school grounds as well as at home and at the station. I hope it becomes a fixture.

It wasn't until the train was going through West Lancashire that we were seeing more than the very occasional black-headed gull, lesser black-backs being by far the most frequent gull in Greater Manchester. Just outside Burscough Bridge a crowd of black-headed gulls jostled with herring gulls, rooks and jackdaws and all so close to the tractor and plough it's remarkable there were no casualties. Further along a buzzard was digging for worms near the crossing by the fennel field and a pair swooped round each other at head height just before Bescar Lane. I was surprised to see most of the land drains full of water given how dry it's been lately.

I got the 44 to Marshside and walked down Marshside Road. The sun had retreated behind the clouds and the wind seemed to come straight from South Georgia somehow bypassing the Equator.

Canada goose keeping a low profile on her nest

The spadgers and starlings were busy commuting between marsh and gardens. Greylags and Canada geese were dotted about the dry, grassy landscape either side of the road. Some of the Canada geese were on nests, the greylags still seemed to be thinking about it, very loudly. Small groups of pink-footed geese flew in, settled for a few minutes then flew out to the outer marshes only to fly back in, never anyplace long and fidgety ready for migration. There were plenty of lapwings and redshanks about and the shrunken pools held small flocks, none more than a couple of dozen, of dozing black-tailed godwits. Pairs of mallards, gadwalls and shovelers dabbled about, a handful of pintails lingered with the shovelers and tufted ducks on the Junction Pool, the drake wigeon here was the only wigeon I saw all day. A pair of stonechats look to have settled in the relict undergrowth by the drain by Marshside Road.

Pink-footed geese and Canada goose

There were black-headed gulls all over the place though the colony is a fraction of the size it was a few years ago before the first outbreaks of bird flu. Most had their nesting territories sorted out even if they weren't yet sitting on nests. The large gulls — mostly herring gulls — were loafing on the marsh opposite Nel's Hide.

Black-headed gulls 

It was quiet at Sandgrounders. The gulls dozed, a couple of black-tailed godwits fossicked about and a handful of avocets shrimped in the pools. A common sandpiper flew in and was a welcome addition to the year list.

Black-tailed godwit

I walked beside Marine Drive towards Crossens. There were more avocets in the pools of the outer marsh than the inner and the pink-feet were more settled feeding in the long grass with some Canada geese and a lot of singing skylarks. A couple of meadow pipits did their parachute song, rising quickly and spiralling down, the song becoming more intense on the descent.

Pink-footed geese 

Waves of small groups of pink-feet passed overhead to join the flock jostling for loafing space with a roost of about fifty black-tailed godwits on the big pool on the inner marsh.

Pink-footed geese 

Pink-footed geese 

Pink-footed geese 

Crossens Inner Marsh was busy with Canada geese, greylags, lapwings and mallards with a small flock of black-headed gulls roosting way over by the water treatment works.

The outer marsh was littered with hundreds of pink-footed geese, mostly distant, with smaller numbers of Canada geese and shelducks and a few very fidgety little egrets. I looked in vain for anything "different" amongst the geese as I sat at McCarthy's viewpoint. One of the pink-feet in the mid-distance had an unusually pale breast which kept catching my eye, otherwise they were pretty uniform, the youngsters losing their dark chocolate tones over Winter.

Black-tailed godwit 

Rather despite myself I walked back along the bund at the back of the inner marshes. Which turned out to be a good idea, not least because the water treatment works and the houses afforded a bit of shelter against that biting wind. And also because the birds on the pools close to the bund are used to passersby and go about their business with few sudden panics. 

Black-tailed godwit 

Shovelers, teals and mallards milled about in pairs. Godwits, redshanks and avocets fed in the shallows, never more than a handful at a time. A couple of the godwits were still mostly in their Winter greys, the rest were ginger and copper in various stages of mount.

Avocets

Avocets 

Shoveler

Avocets

Black-tailed godwits, a range of plumages

A few pied wagtails skittered about. A dozen herring gulls loafed to one side on the dry land. The lapwings, some of which had been feeding quietly alongside a couple of carrion crows, rose up and chased off a passing raven.

Wheatear

I'd been bemoaning the lack of Spring migrants, not a Martin or swallow to be seen over the water treatment works. So I was especially pleased to find three wheatears bobbing about the fence further along.

Wheatear 

Wheatear 

I did well to miss the rain as I walked into Marshside for the bus back to the station. It had felt like a quiet walk but there had been a hell of a lot about, which is how it often is, it's not always the most dramatic days which are the most productive.

Walking along the bund to Marshside