The tide is high.

Ribble Estuary at Hesketh Out Marsh today.

With tides in excess of nine metres this weekend I spent a few hours on the Ribble. Awaking to the slushy sound of the odd passing car this morning I was a little surprised to see a fair bit of snow on the ground as I drew back the curtains. The RSPB's Big Garden Bird Watch survey was easily completed as we downed tea and toast this morning before heading out to the estuary.

By the time I reached the outer sea wall at HOM the tide was already pushing plenty of birds off the saltmarsh. About 2,500 Wigeon were fleeing the marauding Great Black-backed Gulls with a Peregrine putting hundreds of Lapwings up every so often too. About 2000 Pink-footed Geese passed over during my time on the seawall this morning, all heading north over the Ribble towards the Fylde. There appeared to be a lot more passerines around on the marsh than on the last high tide watch; mostly Skylarks (130+), but also a few Meadow Pipits and a single Water Pipit. Water Pipit is an expected bird here with small numbers being seen regularly on the opposite side of the river at Warton, especially during these spring tides. A Short-eared Owl flew over being mobbed by a couple of Carrion Crows as I scanned across to Warton and counted 30 Whooper Swans. A subsequent "sweep" of the marsh produced six more shorties, including three perched on the edge of the marsh.

High tides produce spectacular winter estuary birding but these Brown Hares get caught out every time. This one made it out onto the seawall thankfully. As the tide ebbed a few waders began to show: 30 Oystercatchers, 90 Golden Plovers, 2 Grey Plovers, 60 Dunlin, 10 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Black-tailed Godwit and a single Turnstone. Another Short-eared Owl hunted along the seawall complimenting a fine collection of predators including 3 Merlins, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard and a male Hen Harrier being mobbed by a female Merlin.

Yesterday Mrs B joined me for a stroll along Marine Drive in hope that the Bittern would still be showing. No sign of it while we were there but we did see 9 Barnacle Geese with the Pink-footed Geese on Crossens Marsh and 3 Merlins on Crossens Out Marsh. Two Tufted Ducks had joined the 23 Pochard on the Sandplant Lagoon but that was about it. Plenty of folks out looking though on such a brisk winter's morning.

Red-crested Pochards at Southport Marine Lake 30 January 2010.

The two Red-crested Pochards were still at the marine lake yesterday too. More surprisingly there were 6 Shoveler on the lake but they soon headed north. We followed them soon after.
We ended our Saturday afternoon with a quick trip out to HOM where we failed to see any Barn Owls but did hear Little Owl.