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Bar-tailed godwits, Crosby beach 

I'm a bit shy of waders so far this month so I headed for the Sefton coast to catch up a bit. I got the train into Liverpool, got myself a Saveaway, got off the Southport train at Waterloo and shuffled off down to Crosby Marine Lake on a very grey day.

Crosby Marine Lake 

The usual array of herring gulls of all the ages loafed on the grass by the lake with a crowd of Canada geese while black-headed gulls squabbled by the lake or bobbed about on the water. A few cormorants and lesser black-backs loafed on the rafts out on the lake which was as flat as a mill pond. This time last year everyone was getting the black-throated diver on their year list, this year there were just a few dabchicks and goldeneyes.

Little egret, Crosby Marine Lake 

I walked past the usual little egret, which honked at me, and along the path by the boating lake. The mallards, mute swans and coots were accompanied by a couple of dozen tufted ducks and half a dozen pochards. A couple of redshanks feeding on the grass were chased off by a dog.

Mallards and tufted ducks, Crosby Marine Lake

Pochards and tufted ducks, Crosby Marine Lake 

Carrion crows and "Another Place" figure, Crosby Beach

The tide was lowish and the beach was dominated by large gulls and carrion crows. Herring gulls outnumbered lesser black-backs three to one, there were a few black-headed gulls and common gulls about and a couple of great black-backs stood alone at the water's edge. Redshanks were liberally dotted about, oystercatchers fed at the water line and a lone turnstone fossicked about on the little groyne near the storm cones. Over by the coastguard station, but a safe distance away from the large flock of gulls loafing on the sandbar, a dozen bar-tailed godwits preened and fed with a few redshanks and a couple of curlews. Then, just to confuse matters, a dozen black-tailed godwits flew in and joined them for a few minutes before flying off into Seaforth Nature Reserve.

Bar-tailed godwits and redshank, Crosby beach

There were a few linnets about on the dunes, there was a large charm of goldfinches in the gorse and brambles behind the wire fence of the nature reserve. Out on the lake a few shelducks and shovelers dabbled their way through a crowd of teal. I could see less than a dozen lapwings on the islands with the cormorants, Canada geese and coots.

Goldfinches, Seaforth Nature Reserve 

Goldfinches, Seaforth Nature Reserve 

I wandered back down to the lake and had a nosy round the little nature reserve by the car park. Half a dozen great tits and blue tits bounced about the fringes. For the life of me I couldn't see the water rail calling in the reeds despite there being next to no cover for it to disappear into. A great spotted woodpecker demonstrated that even a postage stamp-sized bit of wet woodland can attract them. I was trying to find where it had flown to when I found a small flock of chaffinches working their way through the willows, heading towards the tit flock. I was watching them when I noticed a flock of goldfinches feeding high in the alders by the road. A carrion crow landed in the middle of them and they flew off in a panic and then landed back where they started. I heard a siskin call amongst the goldfinches, it took a few minutes to find the couple hiding in the crowd. I was feeling greedy so searched for any redpolls and got my just deserts of none.

The next port of call was Freshfield, the plan being to have a quick wander round Formby Point in the hopes of bumping into a red squirrel or two then have a late afternoon visit to Southport beach in the hopes of seeing the snow bunting again.

As the train passed between Hightown and Formby the fields were full of many hundreds of grazing pink-footed geese. I realised that I hadn't done any wild goose chases on the mosses round here this Autumn. Ah well, seeing a pile of them from the train will do for now.

Formby Point 

My knees started playing silly beggars on the walk down to Formby Point and it came as a relief to be walking along the soft dune paths through the trees. It was deathly quiet, every so often woodpigeons or carrion crows would call from the treetops and make me jump. I wasn't seeing any squirrels, I wasn't even seeing any evidence of them amongst the masses of unmolested pine cones littering the paths. A lady dog walker asked if I was looking for squirrels, I replied that I was looking for what I could find and it didn't seem to be including squirrels. "I've not seen any here in ages," she said, "But I see them crossing the road every morning when I'm walking the dog." So I didn't feel so bad about not seeing squirrels.

Formby Point 

I decided to have a long meander round Formby Point to get some movement back in the joints and forgo the Southport leg. The pine woods were deathly quiet, it wasn't until I was approaching Blundell Avenue I started seeing small flocks of chaffinches and what appeared to be a tiny mixed tit flock (two each of blue tits and great tits as far as I could determine).

Formby Point 

The open ground on the way to Lifeboat Road was busy with magpies, carrion crows and jackdaws. The sun was setting as I arrived at Formby Station so there was no question of my nipping up to Southport for the snow bunting. Still, it had been a good day out and I'd got a decent bit of exercise.

Crosby beach 

Sefton Coast

Shelducks, Hightown

I've neglected the Sefton Coast South of Southport so far this year so I headed out to Hightown to have a nosy at the waders on the Alt Estuary. It was a cool, grey day so I shouldn't be fighting against the strong light while staring out to sea.

I got the train to Hightown and walked over to the sailing club and had a sit down on the mound overlooking the estuary. The tide was fairly low so there was an expanse of mud beyond the river, most of which was empty bar about a dozen oystercatchers. A couple of pairs of shelducks dabbled in the mud by the jetty and a dozen more loafed on the river nearby. There were plenty of redshanks about and a few curlews further out but only a couple of dunlins. 

Burbo Bank from Hightown

I changed position a few times to get different views on the bends in the river and the mud banks and eventually found a lone bar-tailed godwit feeding on the river. It's always struck me as odd that I'm only ever seeing single barwits here.

Bar-tailed godwit, Hightown

I had a wander round the dunes to see what was about, the answer was robins, dunnocks and magpies so I dropped back down onto the path at the side of the beach. There were more redshanks and curlews feeding on the mud here and also a dozen godwits, all of which turned out to be black-tailed. 

River Alt, Hightown 

A couple of dozen gulls loafed by the river, mostly herring gulls with a few black-headed gulls and a couple of common gulls. Gulls were flying in and out all the time and one particularly caught my eye because its wings looked too big for its head. The familiar "Oh God, it's a gull that looks a bit different" sinking feeling hit me but I kept my eye on it all the same as it spent the next five minutes flying low over the group bothering the other gulls. The wings and mantle were darker than that of the loafing herring gulls but that could be a trick of the light, a gull has only to wheel around full circle to work its way through two or three values on the Kodak grey scale. At first the wing tips looked like a solid black triangle which suggested yellow-legged gull even though nothing else about the bird did. Then I noticed that even though the primary coverts were mostly black there were long grey tongues into the black of the primary feathers and there were white mirrors at the ends of the primaries, the one on the second-outermost being fairly big and the outermost big and square and nearly reaching the tip of the feather. I was starting to think Caspian gull as I checked out the rest of the bird: the head reminded me of a common gull with its rounded shape and beady eye; there was some light streaking about the sides of the neck and the nape but the head was white, as were the underparts and tail; the yellowish bill was long and straight but not as "snouty" as those of the few Caspian gulls I've seen before; the legs looked grey; and it looked rear-heavy with the centre of balance of the body just behind the legs. It finally settled on the river conveniently near some black-headed gulls and a common gull, the wing colour was a close match for the common gull, perhaps very slightly paler. The overall look of a huge common gull with long wings convinced me it was a Caspian gull though I couldn't be sure of its age save that it was more than a couple of years old but probably not an adult. A nice bonus for the day.

National Trust reserve, Formby, the squirrel walk

I walked back to the station and got the train to Freshfield for a walk around the National Trust squirrel reserve. There wasn't a lot about, and away from the car park what there was about was widely dispersed. All the squeaks and small bird clicks and groans were coming from my joints, I've been spoiled by the warm Spring weather the past couple of weeks. I took a few forays away from the well-beaten paths and was rewarded by a bit more bird life and a walk cushioned by sand and pine needles. There were a few goldfinches and chaffinches in the treetops, a couple of great tits and coal tits, robins sang, and woodpigeons and blackbirds rummaged about in the leaf litter and pine cones. These were all outnumbered by magpies, most of which clattered about between the car park and the asparagus field where a dozen jackdaws were foraging in the stubble. A couple of buzzards soared low over the trees by the asparagus field before being escorted back to Formby Point by carrion crows. I didn't see any red squirrels today nor much evidence of their being around, only a few of the pine cones looked nibbled at, but that gives me an excuse to come back later in the year.

National Trust reserve, Formby 

I walked back into Freshfield and took the train into Southport, thinking that I'd have a look at the marine lake and see if I'd have any luck with the snow bunting or twites but I'd run out of steam. So I got the train home, passing herds of whooper swans on the mosses around Bescar Lane and Langley's Brook. I'll have a soft day tomorrow.

Merseyside bumper bundle

Wheatear, Leasowe

After a bad night's sleep I postponed the planned adventure and had a trip out to the Wirral to see if I could pick up any passage migration.

I got the train to Moreton and walked down to Kerr's Field. The fields were quiet, just a few magpies and woodpigeons, but the surrounding trees and hedgerows were busy with robins, goldfinches and chiffchaffs. Birds lined the telegraph wires between the lighthouse and the fishery, alternating between flocks of swallows and family parties of collared doves. There were more chiffchaffs in the trees on Leasowe Common, together with a couple of mixed tit flocks, one of which included a couple of goldcrests. A flock of blackbirds were busy devouring the berries on the whitebeam bushes and didn't much care for my passing by.

Walking towards Meols

I walked down to Meols along the revetment. The tide was fast ebbing so most of the birds were already fairly distant. The hundreds of oystercatchers were very noisy, the gulls less so. The nearest gulls were mostly black-headed, the white drifts in the mid-distance mostly herring  and lesser black-backs, there were a couple of great black-backs with the herring gulls in the distance. Little egrets kept drifting by, a dozen of them congregated on a mud bank near the revetment and were joined by a grey heron. Between them the heron and egrets added a lot of croaks, grunts and barks to the soundscape as they squabbled between themselves. Try as I might I couldn't see why this particular patch of mud was so attractive.

Heron, little egrets and black-headed gull, Leasowe

Heron, little egrets and black-headed gulls, Leasowe

Heron, little egrets and black-headed gulls, Leasowe

At first sight there was just a lesser black-back on the groyne. All the waders were out on the beach but it was worth checking it out just in case. A couple of linnets popped up from the rocks then flew over onto the field inland. I lingered awhile and found a couple of wheatears — a male and a female — and three juvenile pied wagtails with a fine Winter male.

Pied wagtail, Leasowe

Wheatear, Leasowe

The usual transformation scene occurred as I crossed the groyne and suddenly the beach was full of redshanks and black-headed gulls with turnstones and a wheatear scrambling in the seaweed at the base of the revetment. By Meols Parade there were more herring gulls loafing on the beach, the further along I went the more loafing groups of gulls there were. I was halfway along the parade when I found a group of half a dozen common gulls  loafing in a patch of sea plantain.

Redshank, Meols

Wheatear, Meols

Approaching the lifeboat station there's more vegetation on the beach with little patches of marram grass with the plantains and samphires. A few pied wagtails and meadow pipits were foraging near to the seawall but I kept hearing something else. It took me a while to find a ringed plover then once I found one I suddenly found lots of them. And having found them I found a couple of dozen dunlins. There was quite a bit of variation between the dunlins, some being slightly smaller, a couple having longer bills, all of them definitely dunlins I'm sure. I was reminded of the old saying that every smallish sandpiper is a dunlin unless explicitly proven otherwise and it occurred to me yet again that I don't have a cat in hell's chance of ever finding myself a rare peep.

Common gull, Meols

Ringed plover, Meols

Pied wagtail, Meols

Meols

I didn't fancy carrying on down to Hoylake so I got the train at Manor Road and headed North with my all-areas Saveaway. My intention was to check out the waders at Hightown but I realised it would be low tide when I'd be getting there and I'd just be seeing distant shapes in the mud. I remembered I haven't visited Formby Point yet this year so I carried on to Freshfield and walked down to the National Trust reserve from there.

Formby Point 

Rather than walking down to the beach I took a meandering series of paths down to Formby. I hadn't gone far from the car park before I was hearing nuthatches and great tits in the pine trees. About a hundred yards further along I saw a red squirrel as it collected pine cones off the woodland floor. 

Most of the small bird movements I was reacting to turned out to be falling leaves or pine cones so it came as a relief to bump into a mixed tit flock — great tits, blue tits, coal tits and a few long-tailed tits. As I was sorting out the runners and riders another red squirrel came bounding overhead with a pine cone in its mouth and disappeared into a thicket of tall pines.

Red squirrel, Formby

I passed into a patch of deciduous trees and bumped into some goldfinches and chaffinches and spent longer than should have been necessary finding a particularly noisy buzzard.

In a clearing I was buzzed by a dragonfly I didn't recognise, a dark, large dragonfly with a thin blue abdomen. Most of the time there was just a blue patch at the waist of the abdomen but every so often the light would catch it just right and the whole abdomen looked a dark metallic inky blue. And of course would it eck as like sit still for the camera. I looked it up and by a slow process of elimination concluded it could only have been a lesser emperor, a first for me.

Formby Point 

I walked down to Formby Station for the trains home, having a bit of fun with the connecting train at Hunts Cross. Still, it had been a fine day, the birdwatching was good and I'd seen a new dragonfly, which can't be all bad.