Oglet (again)

Oglet

The shore lark(s) at Oglet have been appearing with startling regularity on the bird reports this past couple of weeks. I know a taunt when I see one. Today was forecast to be a bright, fine day so I set out to see if I can find it.

I got the train to Liverpool South Parkway and the 82 into Speke. The clear blue skies of Stretford had clouded over by Hunts Cross but it was still a bright morning. I walked down to Hale Road then along the bridleway beside the airport fence to Bailey's Lane. There were plenty of pigeons and herring gulls about and a kestrel hunted over the bit of waste ground on the other side of the fence. Goldfinches, greenfinches and blue tits flitted between the trees and robins and a song thrush sang in the background. A couple of ravens flew by and went out of their way to discomfort every carrion crow they passed.

The path down to the old dungeon salt works off Bailey's Lane 

I walked down Bailey's Lane and joined Oglet Lane where I bumped into a family of birdwatchers trying to work out which direction to take for the shore lark. I gave them directions as best I could and we spent the next couple of hours sort of playing leapfrog along the path. I hung back a bit, mostly because I was scouring round to see what was around, partly because I've been feeling jinxed lately and I didn't want to put the mockers on them.

There were a hundred or more woodpigeons in the trees by the farmstead at Oglet and a handful of pheasants rummaging about in the field by the path. The path beyond Oglet Shore was muddy and harder walking than when it was frozen the other week. It was high tide and small groups of mallards bobbed about on the water near the bank.

A light shower over the Wirral

A band of filthy weather was blown inland. As I trudged my way through the sleet and hail I wondered why I do these things. Did I really want to see a shore lark this badly? Dammit, yes, I told myself and trudged on.

Redshanks and oystercatchers called as they flew along the bank of the river and a handful of teal joined the mallards. A flock of black-tailed godwits flew in but didn't seem to want to settle. Curlews flew about the far edges of the fields with a crowd of jackdaws.

Oglet

The path got muddier and more treacherous in the descents and rises across the gulleys. I caught up with the family at this point and pointed out the line of trees which marked the boundary of the first of the ploughed fields the lark had been seen on. I was a bit uncomfortable acting as guide, it felt hubristic on my part, but I did my best.

We eventually reached the first ploughed field which was pretty much empty save a couple of magpies. We trudged on to the next field. On the approach we bumped into a birdwatcher who told us he'd just seen the shore lark amongst a flock of skylarks. As he was talking a flock of about a dozen skylarks flew over the hedge and settled onto this field and almost disappeared into the muddy furrows. I had a long look at them, it would be just my luck to have the shore lark in the crowd and me walk past it. They were all skylarks and were joined by a handful of linnets. As we negotiated the muddy boundary between the ploughed fields the larks flew back over the hedge and joined a much bigger flock over the far side of the field.

We spent a long time scanning this flock. They were very fidgety, every time I got my eye in on them they took flight and swirled round low over the field. One time they did this one of the birds caught my eye as being quite contrasty and pale-headed. Was that the shore lark? No idea but it looked promising and I promptly lost it. I thought I saw it again a few minutes later then I saw it skittering across a distant furrow but not well enough to identify it. I was trying my best to describe where the flock was but was finding it hard work myself to keep track of them. Then much to my shock a pale-headed bird popped up from a rut. A sort of very pale lime green paleness to the face with a black mask and dark cap. I had me a shore lark. And promptly lost it. I was starting to worry that I was stringing myself and the others along when a chap with a dog walked up and asked if I'd seen the shore lark when it just jumped up into the open. The others were still struggling with the flock and I wasn't helping any and was probably just winding them up. After a short while I wished them luck and left them to it. I hope they got it, they'd worked damned hard to find it.

Oglet Shore, Helsby Hill in the distance

It was a long trudge back to Oglet Lane in bright sunshine. The tide was ebbing, bringing in lots of redshanks and curlews to the emerging shore. I couldn't find any black-tailed godwits but there was a bar-tailed godwit and a sprinkling of grey plovers and dunlins. Way out over by the far bank a few hundred large gulls loafed on emerging mud banks and glistened in the sunshine like damp pebbles.

A buzzard flew low by as I walked back up the bridle path and the kestrel was still hunting over the waste. I had intended moving on either to Widnes to try and find the Kumlein's gull or Marshside for the American wigeon that's just turned up. Two and a half hour's trudging through the mud had me knackered so I walked up to the bus stop, got the 89 bus and thence the train home.

I do hope that family got the shore lark, they deserved it. 

Oglet and Widnes

Buzzard, Garston 

The day started with an astonishing assemblage of gulls on the thawed school playing ground:

• Black-headed gull 22
• Common gull 2
• Herring gull 32
• Lesser black-back 8

When I first glanced out of the kitchen window I thought there'd been a snow clearing operation and it had all been dumped on the field.

I fancied exploring somewhere new today, just to recharge my batteries. A shore lark had been seen at Oglet yesterday, I've never seen a shore lark and Oglet is on my to-do list so I headed thataway. Looking at the map I reckoned I could get the train to Liverpool South Parkway, the 82a into Garston and walk down into the coastal park and along the Mersey into Hale. Part of me thought of continuing through to Pickering Pasture and on to Widnes. There's certainly a walk to be had there but not by me and certainly not in January. Not knowing the terrain at all it might be ambitious getting to Hale. As the train passed Flixton and its frozen flooded fields and back gardens I wondered if getting to Oglet might be a bit ambitious.

Buzzatd

The train and bus did the required job and I was soon walking down Estuary Road. The paths were mostly clear, it was the crossing points that were icy. The string of pools alongside the road were all frozen. Robins, magpies and blackbirds rummaged about and a flock of goldfinches mobbed a kestrel as it flew by. A buzzard was sitting in the car park of the Argos warehouse, I'm getting used to seeing them in industrial estates.

Dropping down into the coastal reserve 

Just after the warehouse I noticed a flight of steps going down into the Speke and Garston Coastal Reserve, so I took it, disturbing two herons and a fieldfare that had been feeding by the bottom of the steps. The path at the bottom was a metalled roadway and easy walking up to the sailing club. Where the path dived into a hedgerow and became a patchy quagmire of half-frozen mud which looked worse than it really was. A mixed tit flock of equal numbers blue, great and long-tailed tits passed along the hedgerows, some of the birds coming back to have a look at me when they realised I was there and none of them up for staying still to have their photos taken. The same could be said of the blackbirds and robins, a couple of fieldfares were invisible rattles until one flew over to some trees behind the hedge.

Walking towards the airport 

I'd been hearing redshanks and curlews. The path emerged onto an icy road in open country leading to the viewing point by the fence to the John Lennon Airport. I was baffled and wondered if I'd taken the wrong turning. Luckily there were dog walkers about so I asked one of them. He'd never heard of Oglet but said there was a very muddy path at the end that followed the fence round. He emphasised that it was very muddy. He wasn't wrong, it looked better than it really was and I was doing well if I was making half speed. On the other hand I was getting increasingly good views of the near bank of the Mersey through the trees and started to see dozens of redshanks and a few curlews. 

Grey plover

The tide was on the ebb and the waders were impatient to get feeding. Here and there they'd be joined by small groups of dozing mallards. A couple of bar-tailed godwits mingled with a crowd of redshanks along one stretch of mud, a grey plover worked alone, a pair of oystercatchers flew down the river. I'd walked about a mile upstream when I started seeing groups of dunlin at the water's edge and a flock of about eighty teal loafed and whistled on the mud by a low grassy bank.

Teal, mallards and heron

The path slipped through some trees and into farmland. The paths along the field margins were mostly a good deal more reliable than the ones I'd been walking so far. This is where the shore lark had been seen the day before. I could hear skylarks but couldn't see them so I didn't hold out much hope for the shore lark. All the action on the first ploughed field was over the rise of the field on the other side: every so often a small flock of lapwings rose and settled back again, every so often a woodpigeon or jackdaw and, finally, the briefest glimpse of a flock of about forty skylarks which disappeared over the brow as soon as I realised what they were. The next field was quieter, just half a dozen carrion crows rummaging about. I bumped into a lady who told me this was the field where her friend had found the shore lark, she was only seeing skylarks about today.

Looking over the Mersey to Stanlow 

The next couple of fields hadn't been ploughed. There were more carrion crows and woodpigeons and half a dozen pheasants. Something floated up out of the long grass by a hedge and disappeared through it. "That was a short-eared owl," I told myself. Try as I might I couldn't pick the bird up again to confirm it was an owl. I gave myself a stern telling off for getting giddy and carried on my way. I passed a gent who was going after the shore lark, I wished him better luck than I'd had.

I made a bit of a muck of the connection between the path and Oglet Lane but I got onto it and walked down to Hale Lane. If I make a repeat visit I'll get the 82a to Bailey's Lane and walk down this way. I was waiting for a gap in the traffic to cross Hale Road when the bus arrived. The driver took pity on me and I was on my way to Widnes.

Little egret, West Bank

The 82a passes West Bank on its way through Widnes to Runcorn, which was convenient as there were reports over the weekend of an adult Kumlein's gull on the river there by the bridges. I got off the bus and walked through the subway and under the railway viaduct onto the West Docklands Park and scanned the river. There was a crowd of unidentifiable large gulls on the mud banks across the river. Closer by it was all black-headed gulls. A little egret and some redshanks fossicked about by the near bank. I reckon I ought to be able to recognise an adult Kumlein's gull unaided but if it was out there it was a job for a telescope and a lot of patience. Perhaps I'd have more luck on the other side of the bridge.

Mallards, black-headed gulls, common gulls and lesser black-backs 

I walked under the bridge and onto the old transport bridge wharf where crowds of gulls were finding what they could on the newly-emerged mud. Most were black-headed gulls with a few lesser black-backs and common gulls, nearly all the herring gulls were loafing on the mud banks with a few great black-backs and cormorants. It was good to see a variety of ages of common gull, we generally only get adults round our way so I appreciated the chance to get my eye in on first- and second-Winter birds. I'd written off my chances of seeing a Kumlein's gull but was happy enough with the consolation prize of a first-Winter Caspian gull standing tall over a group of herring gulls.

Mallards and black-headed gulls

Lesser black-back, common gull and mallard

I walked round to Spike Island in the fading light. I thought it would be nice if the usual ruddy shelduck were around to be added to the year list. I was staggered when there it was the moment I turned the corner.

Shelducks and ruddy shelduck, Spike Island 

I headed for the bus stop to get the 110 to Warrington and thence home. I went onto Birdguides to pass on the records of the Caspian gull and the ruddy shelduck and noticed a report of a short-eared owl at Oglet. Judging at the time it was submitted the chap I'd been talking to must have seen it just after we'd spoken. I made myself give myself an apology.

Gulls and carrion crows, West Bank