Marshside

Shoveler ducklings and mum

I really wasn't sure what the weather was going to be like today so I spent a lot of time carrying my coat around. The pollen count was set to High so I set off for the coast in the hopes that a sea breeze would keep things manageable. I had errands to do first thing so I missed the easy connection for the Southport train, rather than muck about with hanging about for connections in Manchester and Bolton I got the Liverpool train and got the Northern Line up to Southport. It takes about the same time but none of the connections are more than ten minutes' wait and the trains to Southport are every fifteen minutes.

After a grey and gloomy morning I arrived at Marshside on a bright and sunny afternoon. House sparrows, starlings and goldfinches zipped about Marshside Road, there weren't many house martins about, they turned out to be hawking over the marshes.

The marshes were largely empty stretches of grass. A few Canada goose families were dotted about Sutton's Marsh, across the road there was hardly anything to be seen. Handfuls of lapwings and redshanks were about and an oystercatcher rummaged in the grass, and I could hear skylarks and meadow pipits, but nearly all the bird life was by or in the pools and creeks. Nearly all. Three spoonbills — an adult and two youngsters — lurked in the long grass on Sutton's Marsh near the junction with Marine Drive. I wouldn't have noticed them had one of the youngsters not been skittish and chased after a little egret. I have to say that "skittish" is not a word I would usually employ concerning spoonbills.

Spoonbills, adult (left) and two youngsters

I hadn't heard much birdsong on the walk down Marshside Road save a bit of twittering of goldfinches. It came as a relief to hear a sedge warbler quietly singing to itself in the bushes near the Junction Pool and a reed warbler in the drain by the opposite corner.

Redshanks, avocet and curlew sandpiper (centre)

Four curlew sandpipers had been reported on the Junction Pool and lo and behold, there they were. Three kept together in a group feeding besides redshanks and a couple of avocets. One kept wandering about, making me keep checking to make sure there weren't five of them after all. 

Avocet, redshanks and curlew sandpipers 

A Cetti's warbler sang from the drain as I walked over to Sandgrounders. I was keeping an eye out for bee orchids on the bank, they never seem to flower from the same place two years running. This time I found two plants flowering close together with a Southern marsh orchid in between them acting as a handy marker.

Bee orchid

Southern marsh orchid

Bee orchid

The black-headed gulls nesting on the pool were unsurprisingly noisy, clamouring whenever a herring gull passed by. Canada geese, mallards and tufted ducks dozed by the banks. It felt very much like we were already in the Midsummer quiet period.

Black-tailed godwit

The black-headed gulls on the island in front of Sandgrounders and the marsh beyond sounded busy but I couldn't see much in the way of youngsters, the grass already being tall enough to hide most of the adults. Lapwings and black-tailed godwits rummaged about, all the godwits looked to be non-breeding yearlings. The shovelers had been productive and one pair paraded their brood up and down in front of the hide.

Shoveler duck

Shoveler drake

Shoveler duck

Shoveler ducklings

The avocet chicks were striking out on their own but their parents would suddenly arrive on the scene if anything remotely threatening appeared on the horizon. That included the little ringed plover having a bath in the corner of the pool.

Canada geese, avocet chicks (the tiny white figures in the centre) and tufted duck

I spent a while watching the the young birds pottering about then I glanced at the time. The day's errands were not all done yet and it was time to move on. As very pleasant interludes go, this was a good one.