Widnes

Ruddy shelduck, Spike Island 

Another day, another change in the weather. There was a fleeting promise of sunshine quickly succeeded by leaden gloom but at least the wind had died down. I headed to Widnes to try and add the resident ruddy shelduck to the year list. A Kumlein's gull had also been seen on the Mersey here recently and Caspian gulls had been reported on the river and the recycling depot on Ditton Road so I thought it was worth having a wander.

St Mary's Church 

I got the train to Warrington and the 110 bus as far as West Bank and walked down to the river. The ruddy shelduck had been reported that morning on the river by St Mary's Church. I usually walk down to the bridge from the bus stop but today I walked down Irwell Street to where the shelduck had been reported and realised that St Mary's is quite a nice-looking church.

Looking over the Mersey from West Bank to Runcorn

Arriving at the river I bumped into a birdwatcher who told me the ruddy shelduck had flown upriver. I was surprisingly laid-back about having been told my bird had literally flown and set about just having a stroll and seeing what was about. The tide was low. Pairs of mallards and teals dozed and dabbled. Black-headed gulls squabbled. Herring gulls and lesser black-backs loafed on the mud. I told myself I wasn't doing anything with subadult gulls today, I was only going to be baffled by adult gulls. I've really lost confidence in my gull watching skills. A little egret flew in, a pair of Canada geese flew out. Every so often there'd be a commotion as a black-headed gull would find a tasty morsel and get chased after by common gulls. I was enjoying the walk and the birdwatching despite the gloom.

I let on to a man emptying a litter bin. "Architecture or birdwatching?" he asked. I admitted both but mostly the birdwatching. He asked if I knew about the peregrine that uses the bridge as a lookout. I did, and that it's nearly always not there when I am. "I see it a lot over the pylons at Pickering's," he said.

Silver Jubilee Bridge and Ethelfleda Bridge from the slipway by the old bridge

Seeing as I was there I pottered about for a bit enjoying the architecture of the bridges and exploring the relict landing of the old bridge that had been demolished. I quite easily resisted the temptation to go down the old slipway for a bit of mudlarking. Good job I did, I might have scared off the common sandpiper bobbing about between the redshanks before I got a proper look at it.

Redshank (left) and common sandpiper 

Gadwalls 

Gadwalls and herring gull

It brightened up a little as I walked back and round to Spike Island. As I walked down the path I saw pairs of gadwalls loafing on the near bank. And the ruddy shelduck on the mudbank opposite with a pair of shelducks.

Shelducks and ruddy shelduck

The usual mute swans mugged for scraps from passersby at the canal's end with a crowd of pigeons and black-headed gulls. Coots and tufted ducks fussed about further upstream. I'd walked along a bit when I heard a honk and saw the ruddy shelduck fly over and start feeding on the mud on this side of the river, which was very good of it.

Ruddy shelduck 

Ruddy shelduck

Shelduck and ruddy shelduck 

Shelduck and ruddy shelduck 

Upstream this side of the river the grassy banks were busy with Canada geese and woodpigeons, the muddy riverside busy with redshanks and teals.

There were plenty of large gulls on the mudbanks upstream. I had a sit-down to look them over. The light was bright enough to cast shadows and the greys on the backs of the gulls moved up and down the Kodak Grey Scale as they shuffled about. Some of the lesser black-backs looked very dark, almost candidates for being Scandinavian intermedius birds, then they'd shift around a little and the contrast between slate grey back and black primary feathers would be textbook local graelsii. I was rather glad I was sticking to only being baffled by the adult birds. A big, dark-looking herring gull was a Scandinavian argentatus bird, I only spotted it because I was scanning intently for anything that might be a Caspian gull. At this distance there wasn't much point looking for a gull with dark eyes any more than looking at shades of grey. A couple had open faces and beady looking eyes like a common gull but were small enough, round-headed enough and relatively short-winged enough to only possibly be female herring gulls. 

It was when I gave up looking for a Caspian gull I found one. I was watching a couple of oystercatchers walking through the crowd of gulls when I noticed one of the "herring gulls" had a long neck, a pear-shaped head and rather a lot of tail end to it. The grey on its back was darker than that on the nearby herring gulls, though not nearly dark enough to be common gull grey. As I was making these mental notes that group of gulls noticed something going on at the riverbank and flew over to have a look. As the Caspian gull took off I noticed a fingerless mitt look to the white mirrors on its black primary feathers, not unlike that of a common gull.

Mersey Gateway Bridge

I was feeling quite pleased with the day's tally. I hadn't found a Kumlein's gull but I'd got the ruddy shelduck, the target for the visit, and a Caspian gull and a bonus early common sandpiper. Finding some siskins in the trees on the walk back to the canal was the icing on the cake. I made my way to the bus stop for the 110 back to Warrington. 

Teal