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

Along the Mersey

Black-tailed godwit, West Bank

A report of a couple of scaup at Moore Nature Reserve was a reminder that I've not been there in ages so I got the train to Warrington and walked down. It's been so long since I've done this walk that despite its being a dead straight run from the station to the river and along the river down Chester Road I hared down the wrong road from the big roundabout. Twice. Still, third time lucky.

River Mersey, Warrington 

A pair of buzzards circled low over Warrington town centre, upsetting the pigeons and lesser black-backs. It was a bright, sunny morning with enough cloud about for me to take heed of the weather forecast and carry my raincoat. The river was high but still nowhere near the tidemarks on the bank from the New Year floods. Cormorants and mallards gently drifted downstream. I heard an unfamiliar call from the far bank but my efforts at identifying it were thwarted by the delivery of a load of asphalt to a road-digging gang. The first of the many mixed tit flocks of the day bounced through the trees by the river.

I dropped down onto the Transpennine Route and followed it along the old canal cut. Back gardens abut the other side of the canal. Fancy having Cetti's warblers as a garden tick! Mallards dabbled about in the canal and one pair of moorhens had young chicks. Another couple of mixed tit flocks bounced through the trees, each time it was a struggle to pick up many of the runners and riders and I was going by hearing more than by sight. The long-tailed tits were obvious enough but the blue tits, great tits and chiffchaffs were actively furtive.

The Mersey Viaduct 

At the railway viaduct I joined the path into Moore Nature Reserve. Wrens, robins and more mixed tit flocks moved through the trees. Robins, blackbirds and dunnocks rummaged in the verges while woodpigeons and magpies barged about the treetops making as much noise as possible. Perhaps in protest at having a buzzard sitting in one of the trees.

Moore Nature Reserve 

Pumphouse Pool 

I looked over Pumphouse Pool from the charred stumps that used to be Colin's Hide. I'd been seeing a few dragonflies along the way — migrant hawkers patrolling the hedgerows and the occasional common darter sunning itself on the path — but nothing like what there was here. Common darters swarmed over this end of the pool. There may have been ruddy darters out there, too, I can't tell them apart at any distance. All the darters close to the bank were common darters. A broad-bodied chaser shot across the pool, I was surprised as I'd have guessed it was late to be seeing those.

Heron

Small groups of mallards and gadwalls lurked around the edges of the pool while coots, tufted ducks, great crested grebes and dabchicks puttered about in the open water. A couple of cormorants loafed on sticks. Black-headed gulls flew over but didn't settle. I walked round to the Pumphouse Hide where I picked up a couple of shovelers amongst the mallards. A large mixed tit flock which almost had as many chiffchaffs as blue tits bounced around in the trees round the hide.

Birch Wood 

I walked through Birch Wood. Chiffchaffs squeaked, wrens and robins sang, there were yet more mixed tit flocks, every one a challenge to pick through as they bounced through the leaves and twigs. It looks like it had been a good year for both blue tits and long-tailed tits.

A flock of Canada geese sitting on the island on Birchwood Pool were in a grumbly mood. The island was fringed with gadwalls, mallards and tufted ducks.

There's a feeding station by the path to the car park. I hadn't realised this, I just wondered why there were so many small birds fussing about in the hedgerows and had stopped to let them move ahead of me which they definitely weren't doing. Great tits, chaffinches, coal tits and blue tits flitted to and fro. In the end I had to make my apologies and walk by, which didn't much fuss the great tits and coal tits.

Gadwalls 

It started to rain and I put my coat and cap on. I walked down the road and joined the path to the Lapwing Pool. This is where the scaups had been seen over the weekend. There was a chap there having no luck with them, he told me a chap who'd been in earlier had had no luck and I had no luck with them either. So I had to content myself with watching a kingfisher zip across the pool a few times while a crowd of gadwalls felt the fires in the blood welling up inside them. A couple of migrant hawkers kept tempting me to point a camera at them as they patrolled the nearby reeds, darting off at abrupt right angles whenever the possibility arose. The chaffinches, robins and great tits rummaging about by the hide were too close and too fidgety for photographs.

Moore Nature Reserve 

The showers had passed over and it was sunny as I walked down into Moore. I checked the mallards on the Ship Canal to make sure the scaups weren't hiding in plain sight. I had ten minutes' wait for the X30 to Chester, changed at Murdishaw for the 79C to Liverpool and got off just over the river by the bridge on West Bank.

Silver Jubilee Bridge from West Bank

The wind got up as I walked down into West Bank Docklands Park and the clouds and light were ominous. The high tide was starting to ebb and already on the far bank there were lines of redshanks and shelducks on the tideline while crowds of herring gulls and lesser black-backs loafed on the mud behind them. 

Redshank 

I walked round into West Bank and the rain started, big blobs of water at first then it became biblical. I tiptoed past pied wagtails on the path and watched the mallards, black-headed gulls and waders on the rocks and mud beneath the seawall. Redshanks skittered about and godwits probed the mud. The first godwit I saw was a bar-tailed godwit so I assumed the next one was until I got closer and saw it was a black-tailed godwit. All told I saw six godwits, all of them on their own well away from the others, and four were black-tailed, two bar-tailed. Which I suppose is a lesson to me to keep my eyes open and not make assumptions.

Black-tailed godwit

Redshank and black-tailed godwit
The godwit seems to have caught the grandfather of all ragworms.

Bar-tailed godwit 

Way over a mudbank not far downstream from the Millennium Bridge was awash with large gulls. Even from here in this light I could pick out the lesser black-backs and very occasional great black-backs. There were darker objects that may have been young gulls or lumps of wood. And there was one very bright ginger object with a paler head. So the ruddy shelduck was still about.

Herring gulls and ruddy shelduck 

I carried on walking onto Spike Island. The ruddy shelduck still stuck out like a sore thumb even though the crowd was dispersing as the water retreated. Teal dabbled in the mud by the locks with a couple of dozen redshanks.

The canalside was awash with pigeons and magpies and there were plenty of Canada geese and mallards but, strangely, no mute swans or coots. A pair of mute swans and their couple of full-grown cygnets loafed with a few mallards and moorhens on the large puddle that's usually a pond.

Herring gulls, lesser black-backs, carrion crows and cormorants 

I found a seat overlooking the mudbank for a closer look at the ruddy shelduck and it had gone. All the dark objects were young gulls or curlews. There was no ginger object. I'd convinced myself that I'd hallucinated it and somehow taken a photo of the hallucination when I found the bird in a crowd of black-headed gulls on this side of the bank though just as far away as before. At this point I realised I'd been holding my breath.

Black-headed gulls and ruddy shelduck 

A perfectly-staged rainbow appeared over the Millennium Bridge, the wind dropped and the rain died down. I pottered about Spike Island in the sunshine without adding anything to the day's tally.

Millennium Bridge 

The thing I always forget about getting the 110 back to Warrington from Widnes, besides their being every forty minutes, is that they arrive at Warrington Bus Station five minutes after the 100 to Manchester has left and with two minutes to run across the road for the train back home or to Urmston. There was an hour's wait for the next 100 and Forty minutes for the next train to Urmston. By the time I'd walked home from Urmston or waited for the bus and walked home from the Urmston Hotel I could get a shop in, get the next train to Oxford Road and stay on it because it becomes the train home. Which I did.

Widnes

Ruddy shelduck

It was a cool, grey day with the hint of rain always in the air. Gull-watching weather, I told myself. The Kumlein's gull is still at Widnes and has been reported every day this week from the recycling centre on Ditton, I thought I'd try and find it.

I got the train to Warrington and the 110 to Widnes, getting off at Ashley Way and walking down Ditton Road to the recycling centre. I checked every passing gull, just in case, but all the large gulls were herring gulls or lesser black-backs.

Herring gulls

There was a huge crowd of gulls at the recycling centre, it was standing room only on each rooftop. Most were a confusion of herring gulls of all ages with a few dozen each of lesser black-backs and black-headed gulls and a handful of common gulls.

Herring gulls, black-headed gulls and pigeons

I crossed the road for a better view of the depot rooftops. There was a small group of people there already. "I've got it in the scope, come over here and have a look!" The "it" was implied. And it was the Kumlein's gull, showing very well indeed. "You're dead lucky," he said, "We've been here since half nine." The generosity of birdwatchers is one of the nice things we can still have. I could see the bird well with my binoculars now I knew where to look. Or at least I could until it wandered behind a couple of first-Winter herring gulls. Something brought all the gulls up, we couldn't find the culprit, and when most of them settled back down I couldn't see the Kumlein's gull anywhere amongst them.

Herring gulls, black-headed gulls, lesser black-backs and Kumlein's gull (centre)

Herring gulls and lesser black-backs

I walked back and round the corner to Spike Island to see what was about. The mute swans and Canada geese were being fed by tiny tots, attracting a swarm of black-headed gulls to fight over the scraps. The mallards, coots and tufted ducks nipped in for a feed when they could.

Herring gull

The tide was low and the mud banks crowded with gulls. A few great black-backs and a couple of loafing herons stood out aloof from the crowds. There weren't many redshanks about and they were all skittishly roaming the watersides. The mud in the middle of the channel over near the Mersey Gateway Bridge was peppered with curlews.

Shelducks

Nine shelducks were dabbling in the mud by the near bank but I couldn't see any sign of the usual ruddy shelduck. I walked round, scanning the mud as I went but had no luck finding the ruddy shelduck. I walked back and stap me vittles it was feeding on the mud at the mouth of the canal where I started.

Ruddy shelduck 

Ruddy shelduck 

I walked round to West Bank where half a dozen teal were dabbling in the mud with a couple of dozen mallards then walked through to the Docklands Park. The mud downstream was liberally scattered with herring gulls and black-headed gulls. I'm going to have to do the walk between Widnes and Hale through Pickering's Pasture again this Spring.

West Bank Docklands Park 

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