Sefton bumper bundle

Starlings, Crosby Marine Lake 

A caterwauling of magpies, rooks and jackdaws woke me up and for the life of me I couldn't work out what all the row was about. As I got washed and dressed it all went quiet and the back garden was left to the goldfinches and titmice when, an hour later, the hooligans came back into the trees and resumed their racket. I suspect it's teenage disco fever.

It was a gloomy morning with the threat of wind and rain and distinctly cooler than it has been. I headed out to Merseyside to have a wander round Crosby Marine Lake, check out Seaforth Nature Reserve through the wire fence then see what was about on the Alt Estuary at Hightown. Anything further would be dependent on time, weather and my energy levels.

Crosby Marine Lake 

The wind was a bit fierce at Crosby Marine Lake. Cormorants and a great black-back lounged on a raft, goldeneyes and a drake red-breasted merganser drifted about on the water, I couldn't see any sign of any dabchicks. Pigeons, starlings and a little egret pottered about the banks.

Coot

The old boating pool was livelier, mostly with coots, black-headed gulls and herring gulls. A couple of dozen oystercatchers roosted on the grassy bank. A small flock of starlings rummaged about on the near bank before flying over and joining the fifty or so on the far bank. They were joined by a turnstone which flew in from across the lake. A handful of tufted ducks cruised about, all the mallards were with a mute swan at the far end by the dunes.

Crosby Beach 

I very quickly got very windswept and almost interesting on the beach. I looked over the estuary at the filthy weather being dumped on North Wales and decided I'd best not linger too long, it would be over here in an hour's time. Oddly, though there was the usual complement of black-headed gulls, herring gulls, carrion crows and pied wagtails on the beach there was not one single wader. 

Canada geese and shelduck

I had a look through the fence at Seaforth Nature Reserve. Canada geese and rabbits grazed on the grass while shelducks loafed and dozed. Over a hundred black-tailed godwits were feeding thighs-deep in the pools with a few dozen redshanks and a couple of curlews. I thought I was going to have no luck finding any bar-tailed godwits when one obligingly had a bit of a stretch of its wings then resumed feeding. Usually, when I get an eye in on one I can find a few more but not today I didn't.

Turnstone

The water levels have been lowered on the marine lake for maintenance and this provided rich pickings for half a dozen turnstones scampering about the usually submerged rocks on the edge.

The nature reserve 

The little nature reserve was fairly quiet, the titmice took some finding and the robins didn't feel like singing much. The Cetti's warbler in the reedbed did a warm up but didn't really give it the full song. The weather was hardly springlike so I couldn't blame it.

Alt Estuary, Hightown 

If anything the weather was gloomier and windier at Hightown, though it mostly kept dry. The tide was well out, leaving groups of curlews and herring gulls dotted about the mud. About ten minutes after I arrived the curlews decided it was time to go for a feed and they flew out to follow the tideline. The couple of dozen redshanks stayed behind to fossick about the muddy banks of the Alt while pairs of mallards were content to doze out of the wind. 

Gadwalls 

I was wind worn by the time I headed back to the station. I didn't have enough left in the tank for anything ambitious or energetic so I got the train to Southport and wandered down to see what was on the lake. The answer, naturally, was a lot of herring gulls, greylags, coots and mallards with a supporting cast of mute swans, Canada geese and black-headed gulls. The snow goose had been reported again, if it was around while I was there it must have been hiding in the trees. The great crested grebes were asleep by the islands, the banks of which were thickly lined with cormorants, geese and coots. For once there weren't many dabchicks about. I had a sit-down near the paddle steamer and scanned around. A few tufted ducks, mallards and gadwalls bobbed about by the near bank. A little egret appeared in one of the trees on the island then promptly disappeared. I wonder if they'll be nesting here. 

The wind decided to add an icy note to its buffeting. I noticed the 40 bus was due in ten minutes and weighed up whether to have a quick look at Marshside. I headed back to Liverpool for the train home.